This is the second year in a row no public school has won this award
3 private schools get Blue Ribbons
Web Posted: 09/23/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Three private, religion-based schools in San Antonio have been named Blue Ribbon schools, a national award that recognizes academically superior schools based on standardized test scores.
The local honorees are the Atonement Academy and St. Peter Prince of the Apostles School — both Catholic schools — and St. Luke's Episcopal School. Statewide, 25 public schools and three other private schools won.
"It's a lot of hard work on the part of the teachers and the students, and of course the blessing of God," said Richard Ardnt, headmaster of the Atonement Academy, which celebrated Thursday with a pep rally.
It's the second year in a row no public school in San Antonio has received the honor, now officially called the No Child Left Behind — Blue Ribbon Schools Award. The award is named for President Bush's public school overhaul legislation.
Public and private schools compete based on scores from different tests. Because private school students are not required to take the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, their performance is evaluated based on other standardized tests. Students at the three winning local schools took the Stanford Achievement Test.
The criteria for choosing winners also differ.
Winners from private schools and public schools with fewer than 40 percent of students classified economically disadvantaged must score in the top 10 percent on their standardized tests in the state.
Public schools with at least 40 percent low-income students are judged by a different standard. They must show dramatic improvement on the TAKS reading and math tests over the past three years. By the third year, the school must be in at least the 60th percentile in the state.
Several schools in San Antonio posted extremely high test scores but didn't make the cut, said Marilyn Kuehlem, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.
Based on population, the state can nominate only 26 public schools for the Blue Ribbon, she said.
"This doesn't imply the schools in San Antonio are not any good," she said. "It's a ranking of schools and there are other schools whose students have ranked higher than the ones in Central Texas."
Texas is divided into 20 education service centers; eight of them, including San Antonio's Region 20, are not represented by a Blue Ribbon school.
"It causes us to ask questions about our programs," said Ed Vara with the Region 20 Education Service Center.
Over the past 10 years, St. Luke's has made major changes to its curriculum and focused on professional development, said Shirley Berdecio, head of school. On Wednesday, staff members handed out blue carnations and decorated the school with blue ribbons.
"We were so excited," Berdecio said. "We've been holding our breath."
At St. Peter Prince of the Apostles on Thursday afternoon, students gathered in front of the school to release red, white and blue balloons to commemorate its second Blue Ribbon award in 20 years.
"We have awesome teachers and they make it fun for us," said Savannah Longoria, 13. "And we have hardworking students."