ALBANY—Elementary schools in Westchester, Nassau, Washington, and Ulster counties will receive The Business Council's 2003 Pathfinder Award in separate ceremonies in February. The award honors schools that show the most improvement from one year to the next as measured by their students' scores on standardized tests.

The schools scheduled to receive the awards are:

• Zena Elementary School of the Kingston School District in Ulster County will receive its award at a ceremony Tuesday, February 25 at 10 a.m. The event will take place at the school. For further information, contact school principal Gale P. Aidala at 845-679-8160. This school was selected from all public elementary schools in the state's judicial district 3, which includes Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
  
  
• Salem Elementary School of the Salem Central School District in Washington County will receive its award at a ceremony Friday, February 28 at 1 p.m. The event will take place at the school. For further information, contact school principal Debra Ryan at 518-845-9505. This school was selected from all public elementary schools in the state's judicial district 4, which includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamiltion, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington counties.
  
  
• John F. Kennedy Magnet School of the Port Chester Rye Union Free School District in Westchester County will receive its award at separate ceremonies Wednesday, February 26 at 2 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. Both events will take place at the school. For further information, contact school principal Louis Cuglietto at 914-934-7990. This school was selected from all public elementary schools in the state's judicial district 9, which includes Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties.
  
  
• Franklin School of the Hempstead Union Free School District in Nassau County will receive its award at a ceremony Friday, February 14, at 1:30 p.m. The event will take place at the school. For further information, contact school principal John Moore at 516-292-7069. This school was selected from all public elementary schools in the state's judicial district 10, which includes Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The Council awards the Pathfinder Award to two or more schools in each of 12 regions of the state whose students show the most improvement on the state's English Language Arts and math standardized tests.

Here is a complete list of the 2003 Pathfinder Award winners:

SCHOOL / SCHOOL DISTRICT	IMPROVEMENT IN TEST SCORES (2001-2002)
	English Language Arts	Math
P.S./ I.S. 126 (the Jacob Riis Community School), New York City Community School District 2 in Manhattan	78 percent	13 percent
P.S. 11 (the William Harris School), New York City Community School District 2 in Manhattan	27 percent	23 percent
P.S. 196 (the Ten Eyck School), New York City Community School District 14 in Brooklyn	159 percent	120 percent
P.S. 26 (the Jesse Owens School), New York City Community School District 16 in Brooklyn	75 percent	67 percent
Zena Elementary School, Kingston City School District in Kingston, Ulster County	30 percent	29 percent
School 18, Albany City School District in Albany	50 percent	46 percent
Salem Elementary School, Salem Central School District in Salem, Washington County	42 percent	20 percent
Edwards-Knox Elementary School, Edwards-Knox Central School District in Russell, St. Lawrence County	93 percent	28 percent
Hastings Mallory Elementary School, Central Square Central School District in Central Square, Oswego County	32 percent	183 percent
West Frankfort Elementary School, Frankfort-Schuyler Central School in Frankfort, Herkimer County	40 percent	23 percent
Alton B. Parker School, Cortland City School District in Cortland, Cortland County	47 percent	13 percent
W.F. Prior Elementary School, Oneida City School District in Oneida, Madison County	68 percent	14 percent
School 5 (the John Williams School), Rochester City School District in Rochester	185 percent	120 percent
School 29 (the Adlai E Stevenson School), Rochester City School District in Rochester	118 percent	115 percent
60th Street School, Niagara Falls City School District in Niagara Falls	109 percent	39 percent
Washington Hunt School, Lockport City School District in Lockport, Niagara County	52 percent	21 percent
John F. Kennedy Magnet School, Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District in Port Chester, Westchester County	68 percent	30 percent
Kahlil Gibran School, Yonkers City School District in Yonkers, Westchester County	85 percent	34 percent
Franklin School, Hempstead Union Free School District in Hempstead, Nassau County	26 percent	76 percent
Gotham Avenue School, Elmont Union Free School District in Elmont, Nassau County	63 percent	37 percent
P.S. 82 (the Hammond School), New York City Community School District 28 in Jamaica, Queens County	94 percent	64 percent
P.S. 66 (the Oxford School), New York City Community School District 27 in Richmond Hill, Queens County	94 percent	29 percent
P.S. 19 (the Judith K. Weiss School), New York City Community School District 11 in the Bronx	50 percent	35 percent
P.S. 175 (the City Island School), New York City Community School District 11 in the Bronx	38 percent	26 percent

Background on the Pathfinder Awards: The Pathfinder Award program is in its third year. The Business Council created the Pathfinder Awards to recognize elementary schools that show the most improvement from one year to the next as measured by the state's new academic standards. Last year, 25 schools around the state received the award in the second year.

How award recipients are determined: To be chosen, a school must meet two criteria. First, it must have shown more improvement over its record the previous year than other schools in its region. In addition, at least half of its students must meet or exceed state standards on the fourth-grade English Language Arts (ELA) and math tests.

The Business Council gives Pathfinder Awards to two public schools in each of 12 different regions across the state. These regions are the state's judicial districts; awards are being made by those districts because appointments to the state Board of Regents are based on those regions. In some regions, if more than two schools show nearly identical levels of improvement, more than two may be recognized. Schools that win the award receive $1,000 for the school's programs, an Apple computer, and a trophy in recognition of the achievement.

The employers that contributed in 2002 to support the Pathfinder Awards are: Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; Apple Computers; CH Energy Group; Consolidated Edison, Inc.; Fleet Bank; HSBC; KeySpan; Metropolitan Life; Pfizer; Pioneer Development Company; Racemark International, LP; and Security Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Background on The Business Council's advocacy for education: The Business Council has long been an active and forceful advocate of policies to strengthen the performance and accountability of the state's public schools, and has long encouraged businesses and business leaders to become active partners with schools in their efforts to improve.

For example, The Public Policy Institute used state data to design the prototype for the state's school report cards. Today school report cards are released annually to give schools, teachers, parents, and students a sense of how their schools are doing compared to schools in similar circumstances and their own performance of the previous year. The Council has also supported the state's new academic standards and standardized tests based on them that measure the performance of students, teachers, and schools.

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