Westlake Christian School Gets National Honors, Ice Cream Party

Palm Harbor's was one of two private schools in the state of Florida to be named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School. To celebrate, Blue Bell Ice Cream is treating them to a school-wide ice cream party today, Sept. 13.

A Blue Bell truck filled with ice cream will arrive at Westlake Christian at 2 p.m. to treat all the students, teachers, staff members and parents. Florida State Rep. Peter Nehr will also be at the gathering to congratulate the school.

For the past 30 years, the U.S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Schools program has honored more than 7,000 of America's most successful schools, naming 269 public and private schools nationwide to receive the award this year.  

“Westlake was recognized for this prestigious award because we proved that high academic achievement and spiritual development go hand-in-hand,” said Principal, Rick Pucci.

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Blue Ribbon Schools are selected on the basis of two primary criteria:

1. They are among the highest-performing schools in their state.
2. They are schools with at least 40 percent of students from disadvantaged backgrounds that have improved student performance to high levels.

"At Blue Bell, we recognize the importance of encouraging and honoring schools that have achieved educational excellence," says Paul Kruse, CEO and president of Blue Bell Creameries.  

"We are well aware that such high levels of achievement require tremendous effort from students, teachers, administrators and parents. This is Blue Bell's way of showing how proud we are!"

This year's winning schools will also be honored at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 12-13.