St. John the Apostle Catholic School

Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 11:51 AM Subject: Congratulations 2008 Blue Ribbon Schools Dear Principals, Congratulations! This afternoon, Secretary Margaret Spellings designated your school as a 2008 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon School. I wish you all the best and look forward to meeting you at the awards ceremony October 20-21. Best, Aba Aba S. Kumi Director, NCLB--Blue Ribbon Schools Program Office of Communications and Outreach U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Room 5E103 Washington, DC 20202-8173 http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today named 320 schools as 2008 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools. The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools award distinguishes and honors schools for helping students achieve at very high levels and for making significant progress in closing the achievement gap.

For the past 26 years, this prestigious program has honored more than 5, 800 of America's most successful schools.

"These Blue Ribbon Schools are an example of what teachers and students can achieve," Spellings said. "Now our challenge is to help other schools follow their lead by continuing to measure progress through No Child Left Behind, and by using the knowledge we've gained to replicate effective strategies and help every student improve."

The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement to high levels. The schools are selected based on one of two criteria:

schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests; and
schools whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on state tests or in the case of private schools in the top 10 percent of the nation on nationally-normed tests.

From the National Department of Education