U.S. Department of Education Names Three Mississippi Schools Among National Blue Ribbon Award Winners

Three Mississippi Schools were announced as National Blue Ribbon Schools Sept 19 by the U S Department of Education: Caledonia High School (CHS; Lowndes County School District), Laurel Magnet School of the Arts (LMSA; Laurel School District) and Lewisburg Elementary School (LES; Desoto County School District)

According to their website, “The

National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups ”

They also say the award “affirms the hard work of students, educators, families and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content ”

Schools honored by the program are given a Blue Ribbon School flag to grace their entry or fly in front of their school

“Our teachers understand the art of teaching and place student engagement at the forefront of their planning,” CHS’s Principal Brent Huck said at the school’s celebration CHS was awarded in the category of Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools

“This marks a history of excellence at LMSA,” former Principal Kiana Pendleton told local news outlet WHPM in September

“This is such a big deal because of the amount of work put into this It was very intentional, it was all done with integrity, it was all done with a lot of love, a lot of dedication,” Pendleton said�

In the same story, current principal Heather Jones said she is “very confident the success will continue, simply because LMSA has a lot of people who want to be here…who love Laurel and want to see Laurel succeed ”

LMSA was awarded in the category of Exemplary High Performing

Schools

Lewisburg Elementary School was also awarded in the category of Exemplary High Performing Schools

“The Mississippi Department of Education applauds these three schools for their outstanding achievements that have earned them this national recognition,” Dr� Ray Morgigno, interim state superintendent of education, stated

“We thank all educators, staff and community stakeholders whose hard work contributed to successful student outcomes,” he said

An awards ceremony for the National Blue Ribbon Schools will be held in Washington, D C , Nov 16-17

National Blue Ribbon Schools

353 schools recognized in 46 states plus DC and DoDEA

313 PUBLIC SCHOOLS

40 NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS