Two Catholic schools in the Diocese of Wilmington — St. John the Beloved School in Wilmington and Christ the Teacher Catholic School in Newark —have been honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education.
The announcement was made Sept. 28, as this issue of The Dialog went to press.
St. John the Beloved and Christ the Teacher are among 259 public and 50 private schools designated for the national Blue Ribbon award. They will be honored at a ceremony on Nov. 8 in Arlington, Va.
“Christ the Teacher Catholic and St. John the Beloved Schools embody the very best in faith-based education and the results are evident in the success of the students,” Bishop Malooly said. “Parents, teachers, staff, and students are to be commended for this outstanding accomplishment. In a time when so much public focus is on school accountability, it is exciting to receive national affirmation of excellence in Catholic schools.”
Blue Ribbon schools achieve the honor by being in the top 15 percent of all schools in the state when schools are ranked on the performance of students who participated in the most recent state assessments, according to the Education Department.
This is a second time recognition for Christ the Teacher Catholic School; it won the national honor in 2010.
Other Catholic schools in the diocese that have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools include Padua Academy in Wilmington (1996), Corpus Christi School in Elsmere (1990 and 2001), and St. Matthew School in Wilmington (1991). Mount Aviat Academy in Childs, Md., was recognized in 2014.
