Our web site has been acknowledged by many other web sites and magazines. Here are some:

Brixton Connections London, England

Consumer Reports The May 1997 issue opened its five page article "Is Your Kid Caught Up In The Web?" by describing the impact made by our AIDS Handbook:

To 14-year-old Tracy Weinberg, the most exciting thing about being published on the World Wide Web wasn't seeing her name in lights. What impressed her instead was the response from people everywhere. She and three classmates in Eastchester, N.Y., researched, wrote, and illustrated an AIDS handbook for middle-school children. Friends form other schools were impressed. E-mail form South Carolina to Wyoming praised the work, asking permission to quote form it. The handbook, located on the school's home page (at www.westnet.com/~rickd), even caught the attention of a major publisher, who photographed the four young authors for a community health textbook.

"It's exciting that it really doesn't matter what age you are," Weinberg says. "If something's good enough, it can be put up there for everyone to see. It's not just your parents, it's not just your teachers, it's the World Wide Web, so it's open to anyone."

CyberMinds! "Take a Virtual Tour through Eastchester Middle School and meet the students, the band, softball players. Visit the library, see the computer room and the place they do art. This site links to other schools for you to visit."

"Discovery Channel" Our site was featured as the "School Spotlight" by the Discovery Channel on May 22, 1997. The citation read:

Eastchester Middle School provides a flexible environment that responds to the unique social, emotional, physical, and intellectual patterns of development in early adolescence. The role of the Eastchester Middle School community is to offer a nurturing, forgiving, and understanding climate in which students are encouraged to take risks within a consistent and supportive structure.

Eastchester Middle School has been named the The Cool School of the Week for October 2, 2000, by Education World, the world’s best educational resource and search engine on the Internet (named by FamilyPC), with the goal of making it easy for educators to integrate the Internet into the classroom.

The students and teachers of Eastchester Middle School (EMS) have a strong commitment to technology, and their outstanding Web site is proof.  As they ride down the information superhighway, this talented group is turning heads and gaining national recognition. 

Education World®, the world’s best educational resource and search engine on the Internet (named by FamilyPC), is recognizing Eastchester Middle School as the “Cool School of the Week” during the week of October 2, 2000.  The award-winning school can be viewed at http://www.westnet.com/~rickd/index.html

Every week Education World  reviews hundreds of school Internet Web sites from across the country and picks the best site for the new Cool School of the Week.  This coveted award is given to school Web sites that best illustrate several qualities: visual appeal, creativity, originality, community involvement and connection, use of technology, value to the students and school, use of curriculum on-line and practical applications in the educational setting.

Webmaster and technology teacher Rick Donahue boasts that more than 100 students have contributed to the EMS site in the last five years.  They do everything from writing stories and reports to creating paintings and computer animations.  They also research and recommend Web sites for the on-line library of educational and entertaining links.

“One of the most significant contributions made by the students is their submitting concepts for the new and exciting projects to be published on the school’s Web site,” Donahue said.

Visitors to the site can catch a glimpse of the many exciting happenings at EMS.  Not only can visitors stay updated with school news and events, but also view a variety of student work and classroom projects.  These include book reviews, writings, science projects, artwork and wealth of photographs to complement them.

“The EMS site is uniquely Eastchester.  It reflects the academic studies, hobbies, concerns and interests of our students, and in doing so, expresses who we are,” Donahue said.

EMS feels that school is an ideal environment in which to teach students about the advantages of Internet use, safeguarding their identities, determining the trustworthiness of on-line resources and conducting responsible on-line behavior.

Donahue added, “In school students can be taught how to create a meaningful and self-expressive presence on the Internet by working collaboratively on a project of mutual interest, the school’s Web site.”

Donahue believes the most deeply felt benefit of having Internet access has been the opportunity to interact with people whom the students would never otherwise meet.  “My class was able to chat on-line with Civil Rights Leader Rosa Parks.  This 30-minute session was memorable for all, especially for this teacher, as this historic figure responded forthrightly to the students’ questions.”

EMS strives to prepare its students for an ever-evolving technological world.  “Our vision for technology needs to be grounded in the extent to which it can supplement, broaden and expand student learning.  Beyond the school years, technology ought to be a natural component of life-long learning and, perhaps someday, a civic responsibility,” Principal Walter Moran said.

Cool School award winners at EMS will receive exclusive Cool School T-shirts and mouse pads, two commemorative plaques, Cool School award certificates, plus a Cool School award winner button for their Web site.   All Cool School award winners are also eligible to win the title of  “Cool School of the Year.”

“The students work together as a team to create a great on-line resource that brings together both the school and the community,” said Brian Mauck, President of Education World.  “They put a lot of time and work into creating these sites.  We are honored to be able to recognize them for their hard work and achievements.”

"Ten Great Sites Every Middle School Educator Should Know!", a curriculum article published on October 25, 1999, by Education World, recognized Terrific Web Sites.... Just for Middle School Kids!!! as "an easy-to-browse list of links that related to the school curriculum and other topics of interest." The article stated, in part:

Terrific Web Sites offers hundreds of age-appropriate Web sites. Grouped by subject area, then by topic, the list is clean, well organized, and easy to use. In addition to the major curriculum areas, Terrific Web Sites also offers the Fun Sites For Kids section, which includes links to games, on-line magazines, magic tricks, sports information, and more.

A later passage made this recommendation:

For those schools that might want to create their own subject-by-subject resource, Terrific Web Sites would be a terrific example to follow! 

The article concluded by acknowledging the accompanying resource for teachers, Web Resources.... Helpful To Middle School Teachers.

Education Virtual Library

Eduhound selected the Eastchester Middle School Web Site as an "EduHound Spotlight School of the Week" and will be featured in the Thursday, April 27, 2006 edition of EduHound Weekly and permanently on the school spotlight page.

The "EduHound Spotlight School of the Week" recognizes outstanding individual school web sites. To commemorate this achievement, the "EduHound Spotlight Award Winner" logo is displayed on this page, to the right.

EduHound is a highly specialized educational directory with built-in resource links offered free to educators, students and parents. EduHound harnesses the vast information resources of the Web, enabling educators to use the Internet as a classroom tool. With a weekly newsletter, a list of A+ sites, and a tool for creating hotlists, EduHound proclaims to be "Everything for Education K-12."

Excite wrote: "This school, located in the heart of Westchester County, New York, has a neat little site which offers a virtual tour of the campus. You can also sample fiction written by the young'uns, or visit home pages of both teachers & students."

Great Education Links Selected by Albert F. Ford Middle School

The third edition of The Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages, a directory to over 3,500 of the best children's resources the Internet has to offer, has listed The Smoking Handbook in the Health references.

The author Jean Armour Polly is an internationally recognized expert on the Internet and, according to Lexis-Nexis, coined the phrase "surfing the Internet." Using the name Net-mom, Ms. Polly is a consultant and speaker with a web site of approved links for families on the internet.

The Smoking Handbook listing in the The Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages states:

Written by eighth graders for other middle schoolers, this site examines the allure of smoking as well as the addictive qualities of nicotine. Even if you don't smoke you should be aware of the dangers of secondhand or sidestream smoke. Want to help someone quit smoking? Various methods are outlined on this well-researched page, which also offers a useful set of links.

KidsNook, a search engine for kids-safe sites, gave the Eastchester Middle School web site an award in March 2000 for being a well designed, easily navigated and educational online resource. KidsNook provides links which are child-friendly with relevant information, eliminating the duplications common to some other search engines. The philosophy here is quality, not quantity. 

Launch Point, the recommended educational web sites of the Los Angeles Times, has named Terrific Web Sites.... Just for Middle School Kids!!. Launch Point provides interent links to assist students with homework and school projects.

In addition to Eastchester Middle School, the nine best online libraries for kids listed on Launch Point's Learning And Education page include the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. Each named site has received the Launch Point Award.

Of "Terrific Web Sites...." the Los Angeles Times said:

This well-organized set of resources lets you learn about artificial intelligence, try some mathematical puzzles or read special kid editions of magazines like Time and Sports Illustrated.

Lessons 4 You, which provides a variety of educational information, interactive lessons, and academic experiences to the educational community, presented the Horizons Above Award on May 10, 2000. This award is given to school sites that have an outstanding presence on the Internet. Announcement of the award stated:

Each site is evaluated according to its overall image, ease of  navigation, and most importantly... what it offers to the online community. Your site has excelled in every respect, and you are to be commended for a job well done. This special award is offered to a very small number of online school sites. We hope that you are as pleased to receive it, as  we were to present it.

Magellan rates us Three Stars in the EMS Review proclaiming:

The Eastchester Middle School site is a window into this school, located in Eastchester, New York. Visitors to this site can take a virtual tour of the school, look at student art work and essays about space travel, and read the current academic calendar. Visitors also can link to WWW pages of Eastchester Middle School alumni, and check out the hot sheet of sites just for kids, including Kids Web - A World Wide Web Digital Library for School Kids, Ask Dr. Math, The White House, and more.

We're not the first to be impressed by this compilation of middle grades resources developed by the kids and adults at Eastchester Middle School in Eastchester, NY. Consumer Reports, the Los Angeles Times, NetGuide, and the Discovery Channel are among those who have visited and liked what they saw. The well-organized and attractive site is monitored by teachers and is "student-safe," with an ample collection of subject-area links. Eastchester has earned deserved recognition for a student-written handbook about AIDS, one of many student-developed pieces promo'ed on the school's homepage. See also, this sixth-grader's photo journal of a trip to India. Or this poem about prejudice, "A Brown Rose."

Teachers will enjoy the page developed just for them: "Web Resources Helpful To Middle School Teachers," which includes a nice assortment of useful links. There's even a virtual-reality tour of EMS. This is one of the best middle school sites we've seen -- and we've seen quite a few!

The student web weavers of the Eastchester Middle School of Eastchester, New York dedicated their web site to the memory of Michael R. Frey, a slain Eastchester Police Office. They have done an exceptional job to honor him, themselves, their school, and the entire community. This site is absolutely outstanding in all areas of consideration including vision, originality, integrity, community, empowerment, and structure. The mission of the Eastchester Middle School "to provide a flexible environment that responds to the unique social, emotional, physical, and intellectual patterns of development in early adolescence"---resonates in the Eastchester Middle School Web Site. This web showcases exceptional original student artwork, stories, and opinion pieces. For example, it includes a student photo essay on India, a history of Eastchester researched, written and illustrated by seventh and eighth graders, and tribute to the Challenger Crew, written by eighth grade students. It also contains a virtual reality tour of the school, links to the home pages of current and former EMS students, and links to Web resources of interest to middle schoolers. This web site is an excellent learning environment for middle school teachers/media specialists and administrators interested in effective uses of the World Wide Web. Students actively worked with Rick Donahue, the computer technology teacher, to assembly content and convert it into effective and very functional hypertext documents. The design is very clean. Scripts are well-written. Navigation between pages and sections is exceptionally facile.

National Public Radio's Science Friday: May 10, 1996 Named our "Terrific Web Sites.... Just For Middle School Kids" on their broadcast and in their listing of references.

NetGuide: Eastchester Middle School Of our "Terrific Web Sites... Just For Middle School Kids" Page announces, "...this is one of the better directories on the Net for middle-school-aged children. Parents can take comfort in the fact that each site listed here is carefully selected by the school for appropriateness of content." Our work is then rated a Gold Site!!

Netscape's "What's New?" Their recommendation of January 30, 1996, said: "Tip your hat to the students at the Eastchester Middle School."

NewScientist.com This science publication reviewed The AIDS Handbook on February 1, 2001 by stating:

AIDS Handbook is written by students from Eastchester Middle School and covers the important points that everyone should know about AIDS in a succinct and intelligent way. It talks about the prevention and transmission of the disease without being patronising or cliched, and proceeds to discuss the symptoms and treatment of AIDS, with a brief explanation of how the immune system fights disease. This is a well-written web-site giving a clear account of the topic with links to sites of further interest. The current complacency concerning HIV and AIDS amongst the teenage population points to the importance of sites of this kind.

NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages - Hot Sites In September, 1995, the review stated: "Read science fiction and opinions on NASA or check out some planetary paintings - all courtesy of some very industrious students." And of our Terrific Web Sites...Just For Middle School Kids, NYNEX stated "From the Eastchester Middle School, a fantastic assortment of links for middle school students and teachers."

The PEZ Page PEZ is the Official Candy of the EMS Computer Club

Schoolzone, a United Kingdom based web site that reviews Internet resources for children, has awarded Terrific Web Sites... Just For Middle School Kids!!! its Highly Recommended rating for educational usefulness and special educational merit.

SciLINKS, a partnership between U.S. textbook publishers and the the National Association of Science Teachers (NSTA), has included The AIDS Handbook for inclusion in their online database of beneficial educational web sites. A team of teachers reviews educational websites using a stringent set of criteria that ensure selected materials have accurate content and effective pedagogy.

Site du Jour of the Day, a web site and listserv of recommended Internet resources, profiled Eastchester Middle School's web site for August 25, 2000, stating:

Used and recommended by most of the 550 or so students at Eastchester Middle School, this categorized collection of pointers should hold the interest of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Started in May 1995, Eastchester Middle School's Home Page has been added to every school year by students and faculty and in addition to Just For Middle School Kids, there is another set of pointers called Helpful To Middle School Teachers. If you have children going back to school soon and even if not, Just For Middle School Kids and related sections of this site could make for an interesting starting point — especially if you are not quite sure what it is you are looking for.

Skokie, Illinois School District 68 named our web site the Outstanding Teen Resource Site of the Week for February 20-26, 2000. This award is given to sites that contain information that is appropriate and valuable for junior high school students, with a focus on health related sites. The recognition said:

This school is celebrating five years on the web! In web years that is a really long time. The students in this school have created web based projects that can be models for other middle schools. The "web sites just for middle school kids" that they have compiled is a great resource. I love the "Kaleidoscope" section that has clear images of students involved in projects at school. The layout and design of that page is really nice. Congratulations to all the students and teachers who have made this site what it is today, one of the best school sites in America!

StudyWeb selected as featured sites three sections of the Eastchester Middle School Web Site as among the best educational resources on the Web in March 2001. Our recognized projects are Terrific Web Sites.... Just For Middle School Kids!!!, Web Resources.... Helpful To Middle School Teachers, and The AIDS Handbook. StudyWeb is one of the Internet's premier sites for educational resources for students and teachers.

Each week USA TODAY Education online selects three "Best Bet" sites that would be of educational value to its audience of subscribers and guests. These sites are listed on the USA TODAY Education home page with a brief description and a link to the site. Fewer than 150 sites are selected each year as USA TODAY Education "Best Bet" Web sites. For the week of December 3-8, 2001, the Web Site of Eastchester Middle School  was chosen for this distinction.

The Washington Post An article entitled "The New World of AIDS" cited The AIDS Handbook as a resource on September 2, 1997.

Westchester Homepage The August 17, 1997, review entitled "The Eastchester Middle School Website RULES!!!" stated, in part:

I just spent the past two hours surfing one of the coolest school sites I've ever been to, and I've been to quite a few. I can't remember one as interesting and original as the site created by the students and faculty of the Eastchester Middle School. These guys have done it right. The site is educational, well-designed and user-friendly, with everything from original student artwork to an AIDS awareness handbook written by the children themselves. It's easy to see why the site has been acknowledged by everyone from the Discovery Channel to Wired Magazine. And Westchester Homepage wants to join the list.

ZIA, The Family Site We are proud to be included in this impressive directory for schools and families.

4Kids The April 13, 1997 column reproduced one of our original Egyptian graphics and named us a "Cool School," saying:

It's always cool to see what's going on at other schools around the globe, and the World Wide Web makes it easy to become a 'virtual' exchange student without ever packing a suitcase. One school that's definitely worth checking out is the Eastchester Middle School. At http://www.westnet.com/~rickd/ you can tour the school or take a historic look at the town of Eastchester, N.Y. Then you can check out "My Greatest Adventure," where kids describe some of the places that they have visited and post some photos they took. You'll also want to check out "Sun Flowers," an animated art gallery where students have combined their talents in art and computer animation. If you like mummies, then you have to check out the 6th grade social studies class project: a reenactment of an Egyptian mummification. Don't skip this site because there are lots of neat things to see and do at this Cool School.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey Salutes The EMS Home Page

To announce the publication of her home page on the world wide web, Congresswoman Nita Lowey visited the students of Eastchester Middle School on Monday, May 13, 1996, acknowledging their continuing work on this home page.

News coverage of the announcement was broadcast that evening by both TCI Cable of Westchester and Cablevision.

The EMS students and their Computer Technology teacher, Mr. Rick Donahue, welcome Congresswoman Lowey to the web, and appreciate her ongoing support of our school.