Prairie Hill Elementary is 1 of 4 Iowa Blue Ribbon Schools

DES MOINES — Praised by the state’s education director for its students’ reading and math proficiency and the school’s program to reduce chronic absences, Prairie Hill Elementary School in the College Community School District has been honored as one of four Blue Ribbon Schools in the state.

The honor was announced Wednesday during a press conference at the Iowa Capitol, which included remarks from Gov. Kim Reynolds and state Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow.

The Blue Ribbon Schools program honors “exemplary schools that are achieving their unique educational goals,” according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Prairie Hill Principal Scott Schipper accepted the honor and spoke during the press conference. Speaking on behalf of the school, Schipper said the Prairie Hill community is “profoundly honored” by the recognition.

“We live by our school model every day: work hard, be nice and have fun,” Schipper said. “This honor validates the notion that when we work hard together, when we are nice and supportive of every student and family, that when we create a fun and engaging learning environment, we can achieve transformational results.”

This was the first year in which the state solely conducted the Blue Ribbon Schools program. Previously, the program was jointly administered by the federal and state departments of education. In August, President Donald Trump’s administration announced it was discontinuing the program. Iowa later announced it would continue the program as the Iowa Blue Ribbon Schools program.

Even under the nationally operated program, states did the work of identifying schools for recognition, the state education department said. Since the program’s inception in 1982, the state has identified, nominated and celebrated more than 200 Iowa schools for the program, the department said.

For the inaugural Iowa Blue Ribbon Schools program, the state used the same requirements as the previous, national program. The honorees were designated as high-performing schools by using state assessments and national tests, and each was among the top 15 percent of all Iowa public schools in overall performance on school accountability indicators such as student proficiency and growth, according to the state education department.

“(Wednesday’s) gathering is a testament to how these schools are leading the nation by preparing the next generation to thrive,” Reynolds said during the press event.

“Congratulations on this incredible recognition, and to each of their leaders, teachers and staff members: thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Reynolds said. “It’s because of effective educators and bold administrators like you that our policies have been successful. But your greatest impact isn’t measured by statistics or rankings; it’s the difference that you make every day in the lives of the students who you’ve been entrusted to, the obstacles you empower them to overcome, the opportunities you encourage them to seize, and the milestones that you celebrate when they are reached.”

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Schipper said Prairie Hill several years ago outlined two major goals: to improve student attendance and close achievement gaps. He said chronic absenteeism at the school has dropped from 17 percent to 5 percent.

“This improvement didn’t happen by accident,” Schipper said. “Ultimately, this recognition belongs to our entire school community, from our teachers and our peer professionals to our nutritional service staff, our office staff and our leadership team — every single person bought into this vision.”

The other honorees Wednesday were Albia Middle School, Albia Community School District; Bryant Elementary School, Dubuque Community School District; and George-Little Rock Elementary School, George-Little Rock Community School District.

Previous Blue Ribbon School honorees can be found at the Iowa Department of Education’s website, educate.iowa.gov.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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