St. Paul School Brings Home National Renaissance(R) Conference Award for 'Outstanding Student Achievement' MADISON, Wis., March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognized for their "outstanding student achievement," Sheridan Elementary School, located in St. Paul, Minn., was awarded the Finding the Funds Award at the fifth annual National Renaissance Conference. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001108/RENAISSANCELOGO ) The National Renaissance Conference, which was held March 16-19 in Orlando, Fla., is hosted once a year by Renaissance Learning(R), Inc., a leading provider of learning information systems and school improvement programs for pre-K-12 schools. In February, Sheridan's achievements were honored by a visit from United States Department of Education, Secretary Rod Paige, Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, acting Minnesota Commissioner of Education, Cheryl Yecke, Superintendent of the St. Paul School District, Patricia Harvey, local media, and ten other St. Paul principals who have also achieved successes. Two years ago, Sheridan applied for a Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) Program discretionary grant from the Title I Minnesota State Funds. The funds were used to implement a research-based reformplan, which includes Renaissance Learning software and other products. In the past two years of the grant, Sheridan has purchased several Renaissance programs. Sheridan was one of three elementary schools in the St. Paul School District last year to receive all five Superintendent's Academic Award for Continuous School Improvement banners. During the 2002-2003 school year, Sheridan Elementary School gained more than 20 percentage points on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) test, which measures progress for the No Child Left Behind, in grade 5 reading and math, and grade 3 reading. The school also gained 14 percentage points on the grade 3 math score. The school was one of four schools in the St. Paul School District to achieve a 20 percentage point gain in three categories. The gains put Sheridan above target in every desegregated area: Ethnicity, ELL, Free and Reduced, and Special Education. This year's National Renaissance Conference was attended by about 3,000 educators from across the country who gathered to network with others dedicated to educating our nation's children, receive professional development training, hear motivational speakers, and view Renaissance Learning's newest products and services. Taking center stage this year were demonstrations of Renaissance Place(R), the Company's enterprise wide suite of products which offers centralized data and web-based consolidated school- and district-wide reporting, and English in a Flash(TM), a revolutionary new research-based product to help teachers address the needs of ELL (English language learners) and ESL (English as a second language) students. The 2004 National Renaissance Conference was also highlighted by keynote presentations by Wally Amos, founder of Famous Amos cookies and nationally recognized literacy advocate, Mary Pope Osborne, author of the Magic Tree House children's series, and Jim Trelease, motivational speaker and author of The Read-Aloud Handbook. Attendees were treated to the opportunity to meetmany famous authors and attend several of the more than 100 professional development workshops offered on a variety of subjects-from the latest teaching techniques and research to funding opportunities, technology briefings, and detailed discussions ofRenaissance products. The 2005 National Renaissance Conference will be held March 3-6 in San Antonio, Texas. Renaissance Learning(R), Inc., is a leading provider of research-based learning information systems software, school improvement programs, teacher training and consulting. Adopted by over 65,000 schools, Renaissance information technology products give students and teachers continuous constructive feedback that helps motivate students, dramatically accelerate learning, improve test scores, and help students master all standards, while reducing teacher paperwork. Over 500,000 educators have received Renaissance training. Renaissance Learning has six U.S. locations and subsidiaries in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001108/RENAISSANCELOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Renaissance Learning, Inc. CONTACT: Jonas Berberich of Renaissance Learning, Inc., Toll free office, +1-800-200-4848, Fax, +1-608-664-3888, Web site: http://www.renlearn.com/

Copyright