New York's Robert Louis Stevenson School Honors NBC News' Education Nation and Viacom's Get Schooled Foundation for Education Initiatives

School's 50th Anniversary Celebration Underway

NEW YORK, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Manhattan's Robert Louis Stevenson School kicked off its 50th Anniversary celebration by honoring NBC News' Education Nation and Viacom's Get Schooled Foundation at their annual Gala Spring Benefit.  The event was held May 16th at NYU's Rosenthal Pavilion.  

Named in honor of the school founder, the Lucille Rhodes Vision in Education Award was created to recognize individuals and organizations displaying visionary leadership and outstanding efforts to support education in the U.S.  Cal Donly, President of  Stevenson's Board of Trustees, and Stevenson's founder, Lucille Rhodes presented the awards.

"It is heartening to honor two organizations that have launched recent initiatives so closely aligned with Stevenson's mission," said Rhodes.

"By placing a spotlight on the national challenges we face in education, NBC News is performing an invaluable public service," Donly said. "Viacom, through Get Schooled, is performing a similar service.   "Get Schooled's programs focus at a national level on the problem of high school dropouts, while Stevenson focuses at a local level on very much the same issue -- getting at-risk students to graduate and go on to college."

Accepting the awards were Gary Freilich, Senior Vice President of the Strategic Initiatives Group and Education Nation at NBC News and Jonathan Haseltine, Director of Insight and Analytics, at Viacom's Get Schooled Foundation.

The gala evening was attended by members of the Stevenson school community and featured new classroom technology with demonstrations from Apple Education and Polyvision. Funds raised have been earmarked to support a comprehensive overhaul of Stevenson's educational technology system.

Robert Louis Stevenson School will mark its 50th anniversary at an official ceremony in September.  Stevenson is an independent, progressive, coeducational and college preparatory day school incorporating a variety of supports to address student needs. The student-to-staff ratio is 4:1 and more than 90% of graduates go on to higher education. Stevenson is not-for-profit, equal opportunity, and the student body fully represents the area's rich ethnic and social diversity. Stevenson is registered and chartered by the New York State Association of Independent Schools.

CONTACTS:  Cynthia Toth, +1-212-787-6400, [email protected], or Rosemary O'Brien, +1-917-816-7585, [email protected]

SOURCE Robert Louis Stevenson School