01/18/2026
What is a Blue Ribbon school?
This is a federal education award in which schools are nominated through the Kansas State Department of Education using state assessment and accountability data. Schools must fall into one of two categories: exemplary high performing school or exemplary achievement gap-closing school. They have to show strong, consistent student achievement data on state assessments, high performance across all students, not just select groups, or demonstrate significant progress in closing achievement gaps for groups such as low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, or students from different racial/ethnic backgrounds. This progress must be sustained over a period of several years.
Only THREE Kansas elementary schools received this honor in 2025, with our very own Jefferson West Elementary being one of them!
This is such a bright spot for our community and I'm honored I've been able to have a front row seat to the excitement this year!