Bayside School Wins Prestigious 'Blue Ribbon' Award

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — A public middle school in northeast Queens is the borough’s only school to win an academic honor from the U.S. Department of Education this year.

M.S. 74 Nathaniel Hawthorne, a middle school on the border of Bayside and Oakland Gardens, was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School last week, alongside 325 public and private schools nationwide, which were honored for high academic performance or for closing achievement gaps between student subgroups.

The Queens middle school is one of just six award recipients in New York City, all of which were nominated in the “exemplary high performing schools” category, rather than the achievement-gap category.

Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter recognized that the city’s educators and staff have overcome numerous challenges in order to serve students amid the pandemic.

“Our school communities have done incredible work throughout the pandemic, and they continue to show up and put our students first every single day,” she said in a statement, adding that the “heroic educators and staff at our Blue Ribbon Schools” especially deserve congratulations.

At M.S. 74, school staff adapted programming to fit the virtual needs of 1,100 students during remote learning — including virtual homeroom, recess, and peer-mentorship opportunities, records show.

“This award is a testament to the collective love and dedication of our staff; they continue to make our school a place of excellence,” said M.S. 74 principal Brandon Contarsy, adding that he is “immensely proud of the TEAM 74 community who have always gone above and beyond in service of our students.”

During the pandemic, the middle school not only maintained its team-oriented mission — “Together Everyone Achieves More” — but it also preserved its arts programming, including seven arts “majors” across the disciplines of studio art, graphic art, dance, chorus, band, theatre, and moving image.

Teachers shifted these arts classes and clubs online, with the help of Google Classrooms, prompting more student engagement than in years past, records show.

“As a result of our commitment to these [virtual] initiatives, close to 900 of our students have
participated in clubs and activities this year — far exceeding their attendance and participation in a ‘normal’ year,” M.S. 74’s Blue Ribbon application reads.

“Our teacher leaders have gone BEYOND in ensuring that our clubs… continue to support our
students via dynamic approaches to engagement.”

Read M.S. 74 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Blue Ribbon profile here.