Elkhorn,
Nebraska, September 7, 2012 - Mount Michael Benedictine High School has
been selected as one of 269 recipients of the 2012 National Blue Ribbon
School award. The U.S. Department of Education will honor approximately
219 public and 50 private schools at a recognition ceremony on November
12-13, 2012 in Washington, D.C. The award highlights outstanding
models of American schools and school leadership. Since the inception of
the program less than 4% of the eligible schools in the United States
have been selected for this honor. Mount Michael Benedictine proudly
marks this as the first time applying for as well as receiving this
exemplary award.The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and non-public elementary, middle, and high schools where students achieve at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in students’ levels of achievement. The Program sets a standard of excellence for all schools striving for the highest level of achievement. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is part of a larger U.S. Department of Education effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about best school leadership and teaching practices.
The
program recognizes schools in one of two performance categories:
“Exemplary High Performing” and “Exemplary Improving.” The “Exemplary
High Performing” category recognizes schools that are among their
state’s highest performing schools, as measured by state assessments or
nationally-normed tests. Mount Michael Benedictine had to submit
standardized testing data that went back five years. Since over 90% of
our students take the ACT exam, these scores were used. In Reading the
ACT cut score for the Blue Ribbon recognition was 24.3 (denoting a
school to be in the top 15% of the nation); Mount Michael’s score was
27.1. In Mathematics the cut score was 24.3 (also denoting a school to
be in the top 15% of the nation): Mount Michael’s score was 27.9. More Photos