National Blue Ribbon Program Awards Ten Louisiana Schools

This fall, the United States Department of Education recognized ten Louisiana schools as winners of the 2020 National Blue Ribbon School awards, as reported by a Louisiana Department of Education press release. The Louisiana schools receiving this monumental honor are located in East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Natchitoches, St. Martin, St. Tammany, and Vermillion parishes.

Since 1982 the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes both private and public elementary, middle, and high schools across the United States for their overall academic excellence or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. This program is a part of the U.S. Department of Education, and as this is their 38th year recognizing schools, the organization has bestowed nearly 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools. Schools become eligible for awards after operating for five years, and to earn an award is an industry standard of greatness in that it signals that school for displaying evidence of exemplary teaching and collaboration among students, educators, families, and entire communities.

In 2020, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos recognized 367 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools. While presenting the nominated schools with this honor, Secretary Devos remarked on the prestige of the award by saying, “It’s a privilege to recognize the extraordinary work you do to meet students’ needs and prepare them for successful careers and meaningful lives.”

The two performance categories in which the schools are recognized are:

Additionally, four nonpublic Louisiana schools receiving the program’s national honor are:

Each year up to 420 schools may be nominated with the U.S. The Education Department inviting National Blue Ribbon School nominations from top school officials in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education; the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates private schools.

With Louisiana receiving so many honors for its schools across the state, the Louisiana Superintendent of Education,Dr. Cade Brumley remarked, “This national honor speaks to the high expectations and student-first cultures you will find at all of these schools. I’m proud to have them represent Louisiana and congratulate them on this remarkable accomplishment.”

The 2020 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony will be held virtually on November 12th and 13th with the United States Department of Education celebrating the total 317 public and 50 nonpublic school honorees via the virtual awards and by mailing out the traditional plaques and flags to recipient schools via mail.

Profiles on all of the 2020 award recipients can be accessed on the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program site as well as a historic database of all National Blue Ribbon Schools from present day to the program’s first year, 1982.

For more education related information, click here.

Louisiana National Blue Ribbon Schools

According to Louisiana Believes, on September 26, 2019, the U.S Department of Education announced seven Louisiana schools that won National Blue Ribbon Schools awards.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program was established in 1982 and seeks to acknowledge and reward public and nonpublic schools nationally that work hard to close achievement gaps or are high-performing. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has a mission to “promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access” as stated on their website. Over 9,000 schools have been presented with this sought after award, gracing the schools with a symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.

State Superintendent, John White, expresses his pride over his school system: “We applaud these schools for their ability to either steadily improve student achievement over subsequent years or consistently remain one of the top-performing schools in the state. What an honor it is to have them represent Louisiana.”

The following two schools were recognized as “Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools ”, which means they are among the state’s highest-performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s subgroups and all students over a five-year span:

Bayou Black Elementary School, Terrebonne Parish

St. Charles Elementary School,Lafourche Parish

The following four schools were recognized as “Exemplary High Performing Schools”, which means they are among the state’s highest-performing schools overall. Student subgroup performance and high school graduation rates are at their highest points as well:

Haynes Academy School for Advanced Studies, Jefferson Parish

Early College Academy, Lafayette Parish

Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy, Jefferson Parish

Thomas Jefferson High School for Advanced Studies, Jefferson Parish

One nonpublic school, Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, received the national honor.

An awards ceremony for the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program will be held in Washington, D.C., on November 14 & 15 to honor the winning schools.

Schools can only be nominated once in a five year-span and are nominated by their Chief State School Officer. The U.S. Department of Education determines the number of nominations per state based on the number of students and schools in each state.  One-third of the public schools nominated by each state must include student populations with at least 40% of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The school’s nominations occurred back in January of 2019, leaving school administrators honored and over the moon.

Karla H. Russo, Principal of Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies in Jefferson Parish: “We are honored to be nominated as a potential National Blue Ribbon School. Our faculty, staff, students, parents, and community work together to create an environment that fosters student achievement and success, and I am proud to see their dedication and commitment to learning recognized.”

Andrew Vincent, Principal of Thomas Jefferson High School for Advanced Studies in Jefferson Parish stated “The Thomas Jefferson High School community is thrilled to be nominated for this prestigious distinction. We are proud of our students, staff, teachers, families, and community members that have continually ensured our success as a school. Thomas Jefferson High School would be honored to be recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School.”

To read more about the nominations, click here.

For more education related information, click here.