Lakeside Elementary School Named 2023 National Blue Ribbon School

Lakeside Elementary School in Waconda USD 272 has been designated as a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School.

The recognition is based on the school's overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.  The National Blue Ribbon School award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families and communities in striving for – and attaining – exemplary achievement, according to the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.

There were 353 schools across the country designated as 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools, including four in Kansas.

This is the second time Lakeside Elementary has been designated a National Blue Ribbon School.  Lakeside Elementary received the designation in 2010 as Lakeside Intermediate School.

The Blue Ribbon program recognizes public and private elementary, middle and high schools in one of two performance categories: Exemplary High Performing and Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing.  Schools are recognized on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates.

Lakeside Elementary was recognized in the Exemplary High-Performing Category, where schools are recognized for being among the state's highest-performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.

Now in its 40th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has presented about 10,000 awards to more than 9,700 schools, with some schools winning multiple awards.

In Kansas, 145 have been designated as National Blue Ribbon Schools since the program’s inception in 1983.

The U.S. Department of Education invites National Blue Ribbon School nominations from the top education officials in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity and the Bureau of Indian Education.  The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates private schools.  Up to 420 public and private schools may be nominated each year.