Published: September 18, 2009 02:39 pm      

Blue Ribbon school — 09/19/09

Hager named one of the top elementaries in the country

Thumbs up to Ashland’s Hager Elementary School for being named a 2009 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, one of only six Blue Ribbon school in Kentucky and 314 nationwide.

This is an award based on performance. To be eligible, Hager students had to be in the top 10 percent in Kentucky on state achievement tests, the school had to have at least 40 percent of its students from disadvantaged backgrounds and it must have demonstrated a dramatic improvement on state test scores. Blue Ribbon schools also must show adequate yearly progress on federal accountability tests mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.

In short, being designated a Blue Ribbon School is a sure sign that Hager is doing something right when it comes to educating children.

“It’s a big deal,” said Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman of the Kentucky Department of Education, of the award. “Only a few schools in each state receive it. There are stringent criteria..

The state education department nominates the schools, which then submit detailed applications that paint and in-depth portrait of their staff, students, curriculum, test scores and instructional methods, said Gross. “The award is designed to hold schools up as models for other schools.”

Hager is not the first area school to win the award. Hatcher Elementary, another Ashland elementary, was a Blue Ribbon School a few years back, and before that, Catlettsburg Elementary won the award. There may have been others, but those are the Blue Ribbon schools that come immediately to mind.

Hager Elementary has long had a reputation for excellence. It’s students always do well in academic competition, regularly winning district and regional awards. The school also has amazingly little turnover in personnel. Many outstanding teachers spend their entire careers at Hager.

We congratulate the students, teachers and parents of Hager. It takes all three to make an excellent school.