Bloomington Schools earn 'What Parents Want' award

Bloomington Public Schools is in an elite group of the nation's school districts.

Bloomington Public Schools earned the 2005 "What Parents Want" Award from SchoolMatch of Columbus, Ohio. Only 16 percent of the nation's 15,573 public school districts (2,528) are recognized for meeting the needs of families choosing schools.

"We are honored to receive this designation again," said Gary Prest, Superintendent of Schools. "This award reflects the mission and goals of the District and the School Board to meet the needs of parents and students. Bloomington strives to create an environment where students are academically challenged, recognized for excellence, and have the state-of-the-art technology and media services to help meet the needs and desires of both students and parents."

SchoolMatch, an independent, nationwide service, helps families find schools that match the needs of their children. SchoolMatch also has conducted more than 1,000 Educational Effectiveness Audits of school systems throughout the country and assists corporations with site selection studies.

Parents most often look for these criteria when choosing a school system:

• Competitive in academic test scores and academically solid, but not rigorous as to intimidate their children.
• Accredited.
• Recognized for excellence by a national foundation or by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Competitive in teacher salaries.
• Above average in instructional expenditures on a national percentile basis.
• Above average in expenditures of library/media services on a national percentile basis.
• Known for small class sizes.