Three schools in Delaware are named National Blue Ribbon Schools.
The three schools honored are Olive B. Loss Elementary School in the Appoquinimink School District, Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in the Christina School District, and Lord Baltimore Elementary School in the Indian River School District.
Those schools were among 353 schools recognized nationally for either their overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups on assessments.
Jen Thomas is the principal at Loss Elementary School in Bear.
"It's such a source of pride for the hard work that our teachers put in each and every day. OBL kind of prides itself on our kindness, and this year our focus is all on courage. I feel like it's such beautiful timing to get the recognition because our teachers show courage every day and trying new things in their classroom, and our kids show that fearlessness as learners too, right, taking safe risks and giving it their best," said Thomas.
Thomas adds that it feels really good to have all of that effort recognized.
Thomas is the principal at Loss Elementary School in Bear, a second time honoree. She explains why they were recognized.
"There are two different ways schools can get recognized as blue ribbon honorees. One is for overall academic excellence and then another category is for making significant growth in different subgroups or different pockets of the student population,” said Thomas. “This time around and the previous time OBL was recognized for its overall academic excellence."
Thomas gives all of the credit to the staff, teachers and students. She says excellence isn’t achieved, it's something you continue to work on and everyone associated with the school, including families, have done just that.
