Northpoint Elementary School named 2010 National Blue Ribbon School

The U.S. Department of Education has recognized Northpoint Elementary School as a 2010 National Blue Ribbon School, one of only 304 schools nationwide. Northpoint has 526 students in kindergarten through fifth grade and Christine Stephan is the school’s principal.

The schools—254 public and 50 private—will be honored at an awards ceremony November 15-16 in Washington, D.C. In the past 28 years, more than 6,000 of America’s schools have received this coveted award.

“We are honored to have Northpoint recognized as a 2010 National Blue Ribbon School. They have great leadership in Chris Stephan and an excellent teaching staff. Northpoint parents are active in the school and work with the staff to create a great place for students to learn and grow,” said Dr. Jerry Thacker, Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent of Schools.

The Blue Ribbon award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools whose students achieve at very high levels or have made significant progress and helped close gaps in achievement especially among disadvantaged and minority students. Each year since 1982, the U.S. Department of Education has sought out schools where students attain and maintain high academic goals, including those that beat the odds.

The Blue Ribbon Schools program honors public and private schools based on one of two criteria:
1.    Schools whose students, regardless of backgrounds are high performing. These are schools ranked among the state’s highest performing schools as measured by their performance on state assessments or in the case of private schools, that score at the highest performance level on tests referenced by national norms in at least the most recent year tested; and
2.    Schools with at lest 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that improve student performance to high levels as measured by the school’s performance on state assessments or nationally-normed tests.

A total of 413 schools nationwide can be nominated, based on the number of K-12 students and the number of schools in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The chief state school officer nominates public schools and the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) submits nominations for private schools. The schools are invited by the secretary of education to submit an application for possible recognition as a Blue Ribbon School.