Eisenhower Elementary is a two time Blue Ribbon Award winning school (2010 and 2017). The award is based on the school’s overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.
The Blue Ribbon program recognizes public and private elementary, middle and high schools in one of two performance categories: Exemplary High Performing and Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing.
In the high-performing category, schools are recognized for being among the state’s highest-performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s subgroups and all students during the past five years.
All five Kansas schools to be awarded in 2017, to include Eisenhower Elementary and Sheridan Elementary, were in the Exemplary High Performing category.
The U.S. Department of Education invites National Blue Ribbon School nominations from the top education official in all 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. A total of 420 schools nationwide may be nominated each year.
The program is in its 35th year and has bestowed the award on more than 8,500 schools. The Department will formally recognize the schools at an awards ceremony Nov. 6-7, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
For more information about the National Blue Ribbon Schools program, visit https://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html.
For more information about the Kansas State Department of Education and its vision, visit www.ksde.org.
Information taken from the Press Release issued by the Kansas State Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education for the Five Kansas schools recognized as 2017 National Blue Ribbon Schools.