Three Vermilion Parish schools earn Blue Ribbon honor

Vermilion Parish has some great schools.
Three of those schools received national recognition on Thursday. Forked Island E. Broussard Elementary, Indian Bayou Elementary and Erath High School received the honors.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today recognized 10 Louisiana schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2020. The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.
“It’s time to share some good news,” Vermilion Parish Superintendent Tommy Byler said in a post Thursday afternoon. “There were 376 schools across the nation that were recognized as Blue Ribbon Schools. Louisiana had 10.
“Three of those 10 schools are right here in Vermilion Parish.”
Byler acknowledged everyone involved with the three schools, including Erath High Principal Marc Turner, FIEB Principal Patricia Gaspard and Indian Bayou Principal Tara Frick.
“Congratulations to all stakeholders, students and parents,” Byler said. “This is a great accomplishment, not only for those teachers, students, parents and administrators, but for Vermilion Parish as a whole. It has taken a lot of effort by a lot of people in Vermilion Parish to get our schools where they are. It’s exciting to share this great news.
“We’re going to celebrate this.”
Other Blue Ribbon Schools in Louisiana are St. Thomas More in Lafayette, Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches, Metarie Academy for Advanced Studies in Metarie and Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic School in Mandeville, Saint Jude the Apostle School in Baton Rouge and Stephensville Elementary School in Morgan City.
The coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools award affirms the hard work of educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content. Now in its 38th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed almost 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools, with some schools winning multiple awards. Schools are eligible for nomination after five years.
The Department recognizes all schools in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, student subgroup scores, and graduation rates:
Exemplary High Performing Schools – These 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.
Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year. The Department invites National Blue Ribbon School nominations from the top education official in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. Private schools are nominated by The Council for American Private Education (CAPE).
The 2020 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony will be held virtually Nov. 12 and 13. While we regret not having the opportunity to celebrate in person, given the current situation regarding COVID-19, we will celebrate the 317 public and 50 non-public school honorees in the ways that we are able, and they will each receive their plaques and flags via mail.