MINSTER – Minster Junior/Senior High School was recently named as one of 14 top rated Ohio schools receiving a 2019 National Blue Ribbon Program award from the U.S. Department of Education. A total of 350 schools were recognized nationwide.

Minster Superintendent Brenda Boecke said she is very proud that the efforts of students and staff have been recognized.

“We have always made sure that our kids are educated properly,” she said.

Minster schools have been recognized in the past. Boecke said the high school was also named a Blue Ribbon school in 2004.

“It’s a nice award, but it doesn’t change how we do education,” she added.

Boecke said that schools need to perform at a certain level before being allowed to apply through the Ohio Department of Education.

Schools in each state are recognized in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, student subgroup scores and graduation rates.

Minster school were recognized in the category of Exemplary High Performing Schools among their state’s highest-performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.

Boecke said The Blue Ribbon award committee examines the last five years of education data in determining winners of the award.

The second category of recognition is Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools are among their state’s highest-performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s student groups and all students.

The US Department of Education website says the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program annually recognizes several hundred outstanding public and non-public schools., focusing on stories that celebrate school excellence, turn around stories, and closing subgroup achievement gaps. The Award is considered both a high aspiration and a potent resource of practitioner knowledge.

For 36 years the Department has recognized 8,800 American schools. National Blue Ribbon Schools represent the full diversity of American schools: public schools including charter schools, magnet/choice schools, Title I schools, and non-public schools including parochial and independent schools. They are urban, suburban, and rural, large and small, traditional and innovative, and serve students of every social, economic, and ethnic background.

A complete listing of all schools who were recognized can be found at https://bit.ly/2mpILxs.