Illinois' suburban and Christian schools win 'Blue Ribbon' honors

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded nearly 20 Illinois schools blue ribbons for academic achievement.

The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon School Program honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior in their states or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.

Nearly all of Illinois' Blue Ribbon Schools are located in suburban Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties. More than one-third of them are private, Christian schools.

The winning schools are:

-- Adolph Link Elementary School in Elk Grove

-- Ascension School in Oak Park

-- Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein

-- Central School in Glencoe

-- Fieldcrest Elementary South School in Minonk

-- Fox Creek Elementary School in Bloomington

-- Grove Avenue Elementary School in Barrington

-- Horace Greeley Elementary School in Chicago

-- Immaculate Conception School in Chicago

-- Longfellow Elementary School in Wheaton

-- Pierce Downer Elementary School in Downers Grove

-- River Trails Middle School in Mount Prospect

-- Saint Colette School in Rolling Meadows

-- Saint Germain School in Oak Lawn

-- Saint Mary of the Annunciation School in Mundelein

-- Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst

-- St. Francis de Sales School in Lake Zurich

-- Twin Groves Middle School in Buffalo Grove

-- Willow Bend Elementary School in Rolling Meadows