Fayetteville’s Vandergriff Elementary School was named a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education.
The annual awards are given to the nation’s most successful schools and are based on overall academic excellence or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.
Vandergriff is one of only four Arkansas schools to make the list in 2015.
“I am so proud of our students, staff, and parents at Vandergriff,” said principal Andrea Sego in a news release. “The standards for this award are very high, and it took dedicated work by everyone involved to reach those standards. For decades our community has strongly valued and supported public education, and their commitment made this possible.”
It’s the second Blue Ribbon Award for Vandergriff. The school was also recognized by the program in 2009.
The department named a total of 335 awards to 285 public schools and 50 private schools this year. A recognition ceremony is planned for Nov. 9-10 in Washington D.C.
More than 8,000 schools have been designated as National Blue Ribbon Schools in the program’s 33-year history.
2015 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Schools
- Mount Pleasant Elementary School – Mount Pleasant
- Park Magnet School – Hot Springs
- St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School – Rogers
- Valley View Junior High School – Jonesboro
- Vandergriff Elementary School – Fayetteville
