State Representative Todd Huston (R-Fishers) congratulates Saint Louis de Montfort Catholic School which was a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School. U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, announced 286 schools as the 2013 cohort of National Blue Ribbon Schools, based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in improving student academic achievement.
“I am excited that Saint Louis de Montfort Catholic School has been recognized on a National level,” said Rep. Huston. “This school was one of 13 schools in Indiana to be recognized, so they should feel very proud of their accomplishments.”
The National Blue Ribbon awards honors to public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students perform at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in students’ levels of achievement. This program has bestowed this coveted award on nearly 7,500 schools in 31 years.
Schools are recognized in one of two performance categories. The first category is Exemplary High Performing. This reflects a school that is among their state’s highest performing institutions and is measured by state assessments or national-normed tests. The second category is Exemplary Improving, in which schools that have up to 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds demonstrate the most progress in improving student achievement levels as measured by state assessments or nationally-normed tests.
The Department of Education requests nominations from the top education officials in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. A total of 420 schools nationwide may be nominated, with allocations determined by the numbers of K-12 students and schools in each jurisdiction. The U.S. Secretary of Education invites nominated schools to submit an application for possible recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School.
“Saint Louis de Montfort Catholic School, which is part of the Diocese of Lafayette school district, will be honored by the Department at a ceremony on November 18-19 in Washington, D.C. I want to congratulate Annette Marie Jones, the principal at Saint Louis de Montfort Catholic School, and all of the teachers, staff and students on this outstanding achievement,” said Rep. Huston.
