Pulaski County school among 2024 National Blue Ribbon winners in Kentucky

SOMERSET, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — This year the U.S. Department of Education recognized 356 schools as National blue-ribbon schools.

National education leaders said National Blue Ribbon Schools symbolize a trademark of excellence and a symbol of exemplary teaching and learning. Seven schools were awarded the blue ribbon throughout the Commonwealth on Monday.

Northern Elementary School in Pulaski County, was one school given this honor on Monday.

Northern Elementary Principal Daniel Hill said, “It is very significant for us. We know we have a great school and our county knows that we have a great school. But now the state and even the nation know that. And I’m so proud of our students and our staff. They have been the difference maker. We focus on their growth and we just want to be better than we were yesterday.”

Schools are recognized in one of two categories: exemplary high performance, which is measured by state assessments, or achievement gap-closing performances.

“Our teachers want to improve their practices every day, and we want our students to grow. So what we have done and what we have implemented, we’re now seeing that it’s working,” said Hill.

Daniel Hill told FOX 56 that this recognition was exciting for the school– and the district as a whole.

Hill, along with the staff at Northern Elementary are already working on keeping this honorary status, as they continue striving for success.

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“We have a mind of continuous improvement in education, so we know we’ve achieved this goal, but we want to move to the next step. And really for us, that is about looking at each individual student. We have to look at the needs of every student and then meet each individual need. And that can be tough, but we are made for that. I always tell our teachers were made for this moment. They’re made for this moment. Our students are made for this. So again, it’s just about continuous improvement being better than we were yesterday,” said Hill.

For more information on Northern Elementary, visit the school website. To find out more about the National Blue Ribbon program and its recipients in Kentuck and nationwide, click here .

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