Catholic schools in Buffalo Grove, Deerfield with repeat National Blue Ribbon awards

Catholic schools in Deerfield and Buffalo Grove were among the repeat winners of a prestigious U.S. Department of Education award.

Lake County's St. Mary School in Buffalo Grove and Holy Cross School in Deerfield were recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools. Holy Cross and St. Mary were among 50 private schools of the 337 recipients.

Holy Cross received Blue Ribbon status when the program was in its infancy in 1986. Principal Janice DiVincenzo said differentiation of instruction for the school's 191 pupils, a no-cut policy for athletics and other extracurricular programs, and dedication by teachers, parents and other parishioners are some of the reasons Holy Cross has performed at a high level.

"It's not just about the academics," DiVincenzo said Friday. "It's a community feel here."

For St. Mary, it's the school's second Blue Ribbon award since 2008. Principal Nikki Raftery summarized the school's academic efforts in an application to the federal education department.

"In the past five years, faculty and staff have worked closely with school parents and our parish community to expound upon the excellence that was recognized in 2008," Raftery said. "We have continued to move forward in the field of education, meet the ever-changing needs of children and equip our students with the 21st century skills necessary for success in a global economy and a collaborative world. We are proud to say that in this time we have implemented universal benchmarks, incorporated research-based progress monitoring tools and devoted targeted professional development for our faculty to best meet the needs of our learners. As a result we have seen steady growth in our student achievement scores."

National Blue Ribbon Schools recognizes elementary, middle and high schools where students perform at high levels on state or national tests or those that have made significant progress closing achievement gaps between subgroups of students during the past five years. Schools began the process early this year and completed a lengthy application comprised of several components, including professional development and community engagement.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the winners this week. He said the champions are models of consistent excellence should be a resource for other schools and districts.

Other winners from Lake County were Rockland Elementary School in Libertyville and Prince of Peace Catholic School in Lake Villa.