Blue Ribbon day: Department of Education official honors schools for excellence

Betty Popp, principal at St. Lawrence School in Indianapolis, congratulates students for doing their part to help the school be recognized as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. (Photo by Cindy Clark)

By John Shaughnessy

COLUMBUS—In 15 minutes, the band would play and the St. Bartholomew School gymnasium would be packed with hundreds of people clapping and cheering—for academic excellence.

Yet before that celebration began on Jan. 31, a senior official from the U.S. Department of Education walked into the school’s

fifth-grade classroom and talked to teacher Missy Foist’s students about how special this day was for their school.

“There are only 14 Blue Ribbon schools in the entire state of Indiana,” said Kristine Cohn, the U.S. Department of Education’s top official for Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. “Of those 14 schools, seven of them are private schools [including six from the archdiocese].

“There are only 50 private schools in the United States that are Blue Ribbon schools, and you’re one of them. We are going to celebrate all the hard work [that] St. Bartholomew has done.”

During the celebration in the gymnasium filled with students, teachers, parents and staff, St. Bartholomew Principal Kathy Schubel shared a quote from John Ruskin, a 19th-century writer, “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”

Then she added her own words as she addressed the school children. “Each and every one of you students is a masterpiece.”

Similar celebrations and sentiments were shared on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 as Cohn visited the four other elementary schools in the archdiocese that earned Blue Ribbon recognition in 2006: Christ the King School in Indianapolis, St. Lawrence School in Indianapolis, St. Lawrence School in Lawrenceburg and St. Monica School in Indianapolis.

The other 2006 Blue Ribbon school from the archdiocese—Father Michael Shawe Memorial Jr. /Sr. High School in Madison—had its celebration and a U.S. Department of Education visit earlier.

The six schools are among the 292 schools honored nationally by the No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools program of the U.S. Department of Education.

The Blue Ribbon Schools program honors elementary and secondary schools that have placed in the top 10 percent of state or national tests.

The program also honors schools, with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds, that dramatically improve student performances on state or national tests over a three-year period.

In the past four years, 21 different schools in the archdiocese have earned the Blue Ribbon distinction. No other diocese in the United States has matched that level of excellence.

“In the 3½ years I’ve been doing Blue Ribbon schools, Indiana has always had more schools from the Indianapolis archdiocese,” Cohn said after the celebration at St. Bartholomew School. “When a school system sets goals on achievement and accountability and then communicates that, the success is very evident. The Indianapolis archdiocese has very clear goals for achievement and accountability.”

Cohn also stressed another point: “We are very proud to give these awards, but the true reward is the wonderful education these boys and girls are receiving.”

During her visit to St. Bartholomew, Cohn also spent time in the third-grade classroom, which was decorated with signs that encouraged the students, including “Smile, God loves you!’ and “Have the courage to do your best!”

In the sixth-grade classroom, she noticed the signs that read, “Never settle for less than your best” and “To know God is to love many things.”

Cohn said all Blue Ribbon schools have four common elements: parents who are committed to making sure their children get a quality education, a strong administrative staff, students who realize they need to learn as much as they can, and teachers who commit their lives to sharing their knowledge and their love for learning.

The Blue Ribbon celebration at St. Bartholomew was a reaffirmation of those commitments by students, parents and teachers, said the school’s principal.

“This is an exciting event because it recognizes what we’ve known for a long time,” Schubel said. “Our parents and students are committed to academic excellence, our teachers have worked hard to put in place programs and academics that look at individual student needs and, when you put it all together, it means success for everyone.” †