MISSOULA — The U.S. Department of Education named Russell Elementary School in Missoula a National Blue Ribbon School in recognition of its academic excellence on Monday.
Principal Peter Halloran says that since the announcement just came in, most of the school community has not heard the news yet. He can't wait to celebrate the achievement with the community.
“The kids are gonna be excited Oh Yeah, the kids are gonna be excited. I look forward to sharing with them what it is and what it means. And I look forward, we, we will receive a flag that says we're a Blue Ribbon school and we'll raise that up our flag pole and I'm sure we'll have the whole school community around the flagpole. “When that happens and it's gonna be a big deal.”
Russell Elementary is one of two Montana schools to receive the honor in 2024, along with Chief Joseph Elementary School in Great Falls.
Missoula County Public Schools provided the following information in a news release:
The National Blue-Ribbon School designation is one of the highest honors bestowed by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), with only a select few Montana schools earning this recognition each year. Russell Elementary stands among 356 schools nationwide to receive this accolade in 2024.
The DOE recognizes schools in two performance categories:
- Exemplary High-Performing Schools are among their state's highest-performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
- Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools are among their state's highest-performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school's student groups and all students.
