Hunter Wilson/Daily News Potter-Gray Elementary School Principal Jim Tinius (from top left) and state Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday meet Monday with teacher Christina Price as they watch Nathaniel Love (left), 6, and Cooper Correa, 6, during a school visit. Potter-Gray was recently recognized as a national Blue Ribbon School.

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When Potter-Gray Elementary School Principal Jim Tinius opened the door to Deanna Ferstl’s kindergarten room Monday, he was greeted by kindergartners busy with their task at hand - sketching, coloring and eating peanuts.

This was also Kentucky Department of Education’s Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday’s first true introduction to the school.

Outside, the American flag fluttered as the wind blew, and so did the flag deeming Potter-Gray Elementary one of the schools earning the Blue Ribbon School 2009 recognition. As part of that recognition, the school hosted a visit from Holliday.

Holliday found himself immersed in the culture of the school as Tinius took him up and down the hallways and to a few classrooms, including Ferstl’s, where he looked on as the kindergartners prepared to make quilts - sketching out their designs first.

“We have a good triangle,” Tinius said. “We stress work ethic - letting the students know what they do is representing their families, themselves and the school. We have a dedicated staff that works well with our kids and great parental support.”

Tinius showed off the fourth and fifth grades, and spoke of their rotating classes as a way to get them prepared for the rotation they will go through in middle school. In addition to the kindergarten classrooms, Tinius also showed off the first, second and third grades as they moved up and down the hallways, maneuvering around students as they made their ways to their respective classes.

“There is a lot of movement every day,” Tinius said.

Tinius also made Holliday privy to the fact the school has ActivBoards in every classroom, a new science lab that was made possible with the addition to the school’s building where parents come in and help facilitate lessons, and the two computer labs the school has, noting its use of technology. Tinius also shared news of the collaboration between Western Kentucky University’s education students and the school system, and how the university students do their student teaching at the school.

As Holliday and Tinius continued to walk through the school, Tinius spoke of the school’s response to intervention programs and diagnostic tests, like THINKLINK, used to assess students.

“They’ve helped show students’ strengths and weaknesses,” he said. “Not only do they help identify which need help, but help pinpoint even the strong students where we can take them from proficient to novice. ... between Successmaker, Accelerated Reading and Accelerated Math, we feel we’re in a good place.”

Blue Ribbon awards recognize public and private P-12 schools that help students achieve at very high levels and for making significant progress in closing achievement gaps, according to the state’s education site. The program recognizes schools that have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance in reading and mathematics over the last three years in accordance with state assessment systems; and it rewards schools that score in the top 10 percent statewide in reading and mathematics on state assessments.

Schools also must make adequate yearly progress under the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the Web site stated.

Potter-Gray was one of 314 schools honored nationwide and one of six in the state to gain the recognition.

“This is such an outstanding school,” Holliday said. “It has a history of doing well in science and math ... strong instructional leadership and it is technology rich. If we can provide tools like (Potter-Gray) does, we could make some changes, dramatic movements in other districts.”

Holliday said he was impressed, saying he liked that there was a focus on the student inside and outside of the classroom. He said he liked that the school was making sure students received a well-rounded education, noting how the students take part in physical education, art, music and technology.

“It’s not just about academics,” he said. “We need well-rounded students.”

With the goal to visit all 174 school districts in the state, Holliday made special note to visit 2009 Blue Ribbon Schools, seeing what good practices the schools have in place. He said Potter-Gray was definitely worthy of its recognition.

“It has a lot of key elements - strong parental and community involvement, great teachers and, like every great school, a great leader,” he said. “(Tinius) knows the students by name, their classrooms and the programs they are using. When you have these elements in place, the school will be fine.”