Riverhead High School Receives Blue Star School Status

Photos courtesy of Riverhead Central School District

After implementing the W!SE Financial Literacy curriculum into Economics 12 courses in 2008, Riverhead High School has once again received the program’s Blue Star School Award.

In order to be chosen as a Blue Star School, a school must achieve a 75% passing rate on the financial literacy test and have either a majority of students on a given grade level take the test or have the students who took it achieve an average score of 80% or higher.

“The majority of the seniors graduating from Riverhead High School have proven themselves to be financially literate,” states Assistant Principal and social studies director Patrick Burke, “thanks to the Economics teachers who work diligently to insure graduating seniors are wise about how to handle their funds and educated about their financial future.”

Riverhead High School has achieved Blue Star School status and teachers Scott McKillop and Edward Grassman have achieved recognition as “Gold Star Teachers” (Personal finance educators who have a class with 90 percent or more students passing the w!se Financial Literacy Certification Test earn the distinction of being named a Gold Star Teacher), several times since the inception of the program at RHS.

Established in 2003, the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification Program is a nationwide program created to support the instruction of personal finance in high schools.

The program was established at Riverhead High School in the 2008-09 school year.

Each year Riverhead Hight School educators have successfully infused the financial literacy program into the Economics curriculum to further promote student competency in personal finance or financial planning.

This instruction culminates in the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification Test administered in both the fall and spring semesters.

The test evaluates students’ knowledge of budgeting, money, interest, credit, banking, insurance, investing, regulatory agencies, housing, financial and retirement planning, and certifies their ability to manage their own finances.

“It’s knowledge that I know for sure I’ll continue to use after I graduate,” stated one senior.

According to the W!se website, “Most students drop out of college not because of academic failure but because of personal debt and the fastest growing group filing personal bankruptcy is young people ages 18 to 25. W!se’s Financial Literacy Certification Program (FLCP) seeks to address the urgent need for financial literacy and education.”