28 Illinois schools receive state Blue Ribbon Schools award
Illinois honored 28 schools — including 11 suburban public and private schools — for academic performance during an event Wednesday evening at the governor’s mansion in Springfield.
The schools, a mix of K-12 public and private institutions, were the first to be awarded in the Illinois Governor’s Blue Ribbon School Award program. The program was established in October 2025, soon after the national equivalent was abolished by the Trump administration.
Fifteen public and 13 private schools were awarded at the ceremony.
Among the public school awardees are:
• William Fremd High School, Palatine, Palatine-Schaumburg Township High School District 211
• Kennedy Junior High School, Lisle, Naperville Unit District 203
• Liberty Intermediate School, Libertyville, Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128
• Sarah Adams Elementary School, Lake Zurich, Lake Zurich Unit District 95
Among the private school awardees are:
• Ascension Catholic School, Oak Park
• St. Giles School, Oak Park
• St. Norbert School, Northbrook
• St. Anne Catholic School, Barrington
• Timothy Christian (PreK-8), Elmhurst
• Wheaton Academy, West Chicago
• Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart, Lake Forest
The recipients from Illinois already had been selected by the U.S. Department of Education before the program was closed in August 2025.
“Twenty-eight outstanding schools are represented here tonight, recognized for the prestigious distinction that’s based upon the rigorous criteria, the same ones that were used by the Department of Education, so you have met and exceeded those really high standards,” Gov. JB Pritzker said at the ceremony.
The Trump administration said the closure was part of a series of downsizing initiatives in the Department of Education in an effort to return education to the states.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools program honored thousands of public and private schools for academic achievement since 1982. In 2024, 18 Illinois schools received the prestigious award.
“I believe that this level of educational excellence really should be celebrated at every opportunity,” Pritzker said. “We should be constantly uplifting our students and our teachers, our administrators and the school’s achievements and successes. Each and every day, you come to school eager to support your students, their safety, their growth, their well-being. You put forward your best efforts, and you commit yourselves to, well, making their lives better.”
The Illinois State Board of Elections will manage the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Schools application and awards process in the coming years.