Blue Ribbon Day for a Blue Ribbon School

That wasn’t a Smurfs convention at Kelly Lane Intermediate School on Monday.

No, the big Blue Out - students, faculty and town officials all adorned in various shades of the color - was part of the school’s celebration of being named a national .

“You guys look really good in blue,” Kelly Lane Principal Bob Gilbert told the assembly. “This is your award. This is your day.”

Various town, state and national dignitaries attended the ceremony - a day long affair that included breakfast and an assembly in the school’s auditorium.

Superintendent of Schools Alan Addley kicked off the assembly by telling the students that he completed his wardrobe selection of a blue shirt, blue suit and blue tie by accessorizing by borrowing his wife’s blue car to drive to the school.

“What a beautiful blue morning it is,” Addley said before turning serious. “Last week was National Education Week, and at a time when public education is under scrutiny, we’re recognizing all that is good in American public education. … You’ve not only raised the bar, you’ve blown off the ceiling and walls through the spirit of learning.”

Addley said that the achievement, which is based in large part on the school’s high scores on the Connecticut Mastery Test, would not have been possible without strong leadership, most notably Gilbert’s.

“It’s not a coincidence that Mr. Gilbert is the longest tenured administrator in Granby public schools,” Addley said.

Addley concluded with a rousing cheer of spelling out Granby with the students.

“We do a lot of cheering for athletics,” he said. “Let’s do some cheering for academic performance.”

Brief comments and congratulations were subsequently offered by Board of Education Chairman Cal Heminway, state Sen. John Kissel (R - 7th Dist.), U.S. Rep. John Larson’s aide Lisa Perrone and representatives from the Boston office of the U.S. Department of Education.

The chorus sang the new school song, the lyrics of which were written by Kelly Lane student Kate Hosack, and students read winning essays from a competition held in September.

Several banners made by students in unified arts symbolizing the six traits of the program - teamwork, creativity, perseverance, helpfulness, compassion and friendship - were unveiled.

The audience was treated to several videos, including one of Gilbert and reading specialist JoAnne McLeod in Washington, D.C., receiving the award and another that featured a stuffed Granby bear taking in the sites of our nation’s capital.

The final video was a humorous look at what “transpired” at the school when Gilbert was gone, including teachers running wild down the hallways and on the playground, students napping in class and being rewarded for their efforts with candy and a big dance in the gymnasium.

The celebration was well earned, as Kelly Lane was just one of five in the state and 315 in the whole country to receive the award, generally considered to be the most prestigious that a school is eligible to receive.

“Picture what your best day ever was like,” McLeod told the students. “That was what it was exactly like for Mr. Gilbert and I to [accept the award].”

The ceremony concluded with the sixth-grade jazz band playing “We Will Rock You” as the students filed out of the auditorium.