Four County Schools Earn National Blue Ribbon Title
Photo | Maryland Governor’s Office
Four schools in Montgomery County can proudly wave the National Blue Ribbon School flag as the newly-named 2020 winners of the award.
The schools are Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School in Rockville, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Our Lady of Mercy School in Potomac and Saint Peter’s School in Olney.
The U.S. Department of Education’s National Blue Ribbon Schools program is awarded annually to schools based on overall academic excellence or progress in closing achievement gaps among student groups. Schools are eligible every five years. Winners will be honored during a virtual recognition ceremony on November 12–13.
Barnsley is the 42nd Montgomery County Public School to receive this honor.
“This is a great example of how highly engaged staff can partner with parents and community members and get amazing results for our students,” said MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith after hearing about Barnsley.
More than 40 percent of the students at the kindergarten through fifth grade school represents socioeconomically disadvantaged families, special needs students or English language learners. The school offers a deaf and hard of hearing sign language program and is the only elementary school in Montgomery County with a Gifted and Talented Learning Disabled program. It also serves as a Center for Enriched Studies, bringing together students from several clusters for high-level, fast-paced instruction. Barnsley has an award-winning Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program.
“This honor was achieved through the hard work and dedication of our staff, students and parents,” said Principal Christine Troffkin.
Rabbi Mitchel Malkus, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School’s head of school, said that being named a Blue Ribbon School is “a true testament to the hard work, achievement and perseverance of our students. Our talented faculty guide each and every student to reach their maximum potential, which yields high academic outcomes and enabled CESJDS to receive recognition like a Blue Ribbon for being an exemplary high performing school.”
This was not the first time for Our Lady of Mercy, which tweeted, “Congratulations @MercyPride for being named a 2020 @NatlBlueRibbon School! Mercy is the ONLY elementary school in Maryland to be a 3x award recipient!”
St. Peter’s School happily announced it received the award for the second time. Principal Kristen Cocozzella tweeted, “Proud principal of a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School! So grateful to everyone in our Saint Peter’s community that made this possible!”
CESJDS has been named a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School! Check out @mitchmalkus's announcement here: https://t.co/zVUH847qG4 https://t.co/TToEuymMrN
— CESJDS (@CESJDSCONNECT) September 24, 2020
Congratulations @MercyPride for being named a 2020 @NatlBlueRibbon School! Mercy is the ONLY elementary school in Maryland to be a 3x award recipient! #MercyWe thank our amazing community of teachers, parents, and students for making this possible. pic.twitter.com/x3tyCjX1ye
— OLOM School (@SchoolOLOM) September 24, 2020
@StPetersOlney Proud to receive this award for the 2nd time! @ADWCathSchools @ABC7News @nbcwashington @OlneyMDNews @CBSWashDC pic.twitter.com/RLfMoRgJAq
— Saint Peter's School (@StPetersOlney) September 24, 2020
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