Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement after U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recognized Ellen Smith Elementary School in Conway as a National Blue Ribbon School for 2013:
“This is great news for all Arkansans, and especially the children, parents, administrators, employees and teachers of Ellen Smith Elementary. I’m proud of what they have accomplished together, and I congratulate them on earning the prestigious Blue Ribbon recognition. I look forward to greeting two representatives from the school at the Recognition Ceremony in Washington in November.”
286 public and private schools were recognized for 2013. Four are located in Arkansas.
Founded in 1982, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students perform at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in students’ academic achievement. A National Blue Ribbon Schools flag overhead has become a mark of excellence in education recognized by everyone from parents to policy-makers in thousands of communities. Since the program’s founding, the U. S. Department of Education has bestowed this coveted award on more than 7,000 of America’s schools.
About Congressman Tim Griffin:
Congressman Tim Griffin was re-elected as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District on November 6, 2012. For the 113th Congress, he is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means while also serving as an Assistant Whip for the majority. In the 112th Congress, he served as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Griffin is a graduate of Hendrix College in Conway and Tulane Law School in New Orleans, and attended graduate school at Oxford University. He has served in the U.S. Army Reserve for 17 years, was deployed to Iraq and holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush. Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife Elizabeth and their two children.
Griffin’s congressional offices are located in Little Rock, Conway and Washington, and are open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT, except for federal holidays. Office locations and directions are available online at www.Griffin.house.gov, by phone (501) 324-5941 or by writing the Office of Congressman Tim Griffin, 1232 Longworth House Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20515.
