Union Valley, a Buhler USD 313 elementary school, has been named one of only five Kansas schools to receive the prestigious Blue Ribbon Schools Award.
The award is the result of a 2010 nomination to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for the 2011 National Blue Ribbon Schools Award Program.
“We were notified from Topeka (in 2010) that due to our high performance, we were nominated by the State of Kansas and the Kansas State Department of Education for this award,” said Union Valley Principal Randy Roberts. “We had the opportunity to pursue this award and we decided as a team, that this was an honor.”
The National Blue Ribbon program honors public and private elementary and secondary schools whose students achieve at very high levels or have made significant progress and helped close gaps in achievement, especially among disadvantaged and minority students. The program also recognizes schools in which students achieve in the top 15 percent in the state on reading and mathematics assessments regardless of demographics.
Schools are eligible for Blue Ribbon recognition if they meet one of two criteria. Union Valley qualified as a high performing school, which means it is ranked among the state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments in both reading and mathematics.
A Blue Ribbon Team of Union Valley regular education and special education staff and Buhler USD 313 district staff completed the 17-page application but then had to wait on one final piece of the puzzle.
“The final step was that we had to make AYP last spring and those results were just recently made public,” Roberts said.
Only five schools in Kansas attained the 2011 Blue Ribbon Award distinction – two high schools and three elementary – including Buhler’s Union Valley.
Of the 413 schools nationwide that were nominated, 304 went on to receive this prestigious designation. Of those 304, 255 were public schools and 49 were private schools.
Union Valley is a pre-kindergarten through third grade elementary in Buhler USD 313. The school has about 450 students of five sections of each grade and also hosts some of Reno County Education Cooperative’s special education classes.
Roberts said the road to receiving the Blue Ribbon Award had been a long one, but well worth it, for everyone involved, especially the students.
“Through collaboration of teachers and outside resources, we want to give each of our students to opportunity to learn and we want to meet the needs of all children, whatever it takes,” he said.
The other four Kansas schools that received the Blue Ribbon Schools Award were MacArthur Elementary School in Liberal, Oswego High School, Louisburg High School of Renwick USD 416 and Gardner-Edgerton’s Sunflower Elementary School. It is possible for all five schools to win the Blue Ribbon Award.
Roberts, along with Buhler USD 313 teachers Stephanie Voth and Julie Gary will travel to Washington, D.C. Nov. 14 and 15 to officially receive the award.