The U. S. Department of Education (USED) has named four Kentucky public schools as 2014 National Blue Ribbon Schools, based on their overall academic excellence.

They are:

  • Central Elementary, Marshall County
  • Johnson Elementary, Fort Thomas Independent
  • Tompkinsville Elementary, Monroe County
  • Stopher Elementary, Jefferson County

The Kentucky schools are among the 337 public and private, elementary, middle and high schools across the country recognized this year. There are also five private schools in Kentucky named as part of the 2014 cohort of Blue Ribbon Schools.

In its 32-year history, the national Blue Ribbon Schools program has become a trademark of excellence and a symbol of exemplary teaching and learning recognized by everyone from parents to policymakers.

The program recognizes schools in one of two performance categories:

  • Exemplary High Performing Schools are among the state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. Various student group performance and high school graduation rates are also at the highest levels.
  • Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools are among the state’s highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s student groups and all students over the past five years. Student group performance and high school graduation rates for each group are at high levels.

All of the 2014 Kentucky winners qualified as Exemplary High-Performing Schools. Specifically, for the 2013-14 award year, USED strengthened the focus of both categories’ performance criteria around student groups within a school and improving graduation rates for all students.

“Kentucky’s Blue Ribbon Schools are great examples of what happens when the various elements of Unbridled Learning – effective teaching, engaged student learning, exemplary programs and strong leadership – work together for the benefit of all children,” said Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. “Every child deserves a world class education, and these schools are models for those in the rest of the state where students are not yet performing at such high levels.”

Representatives from each of Kentucky’s Blue Ribbon Schools will join those from other states at a recognition ceremony in Washington, D.C on Nov. 10-11. In addition, Commissioner Holliday will visit each school over the next several months to offer his congratulations.

Since USED revamped the Blue Ribbon program in 2003, 49 Kentucky public schools have been designated Blue Ribbon Schools. More information on the program is available at: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html.