Six of the eight Minnesota schools that received the national Blue Ribbon designation for their overall academic excellence or progress in closing achievement gaps among student groups serve Greater Minnesota and are MREA members.
The U.S. Department of Education announced the honors this week and recognize schools in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, student group scores and graduation rates:
- Exemplary High Performing Schools are among the state’s highest-performing schools as measured by state assessments.
- Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools are among the state’s highest-performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s student groups and all students over the past five years.
The recognized schools from Minnesota are:
- Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Elementary School, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Schools
- Canby Elementary School, Canby Public Schools
- Fertile-Beltrami Elementary School, Fertile-Beltrami School District
- Maple River East Elementary School, Maple River Schools
- Red Rock Central Secondary School, Red Rock Central Public School District
- School of Engineering and Arts, Robbinsdale Area Schools
- Vandyke Elementary School, Greenway Public Schools
- Wayzata Central Middle School, Wayzata Public Schools
The U.S. Department of Education will celebrate with all honorees at an awards ceremony Nov. 7-8 in Washington, D.C.
