​Palos 118’s West Elementary Named National Blue Ribbon School

Palos West Elementary School in Palos Consolidated School District 118 has been named a National Blue Ribbon School award winner by the U.S. Department of Education.

U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, made the announcement on September 16 that Palos West Elementary has been named a 2022 National Blue Ribbon School.

Schools are nominated by their state’s department of education and then complete a comprehensive application about their school’s practices to apply for the honor.

National Blue Ribbon Schools are on education’s cutting edge, pioneering innovative educational practices from professional learning communities and project-based learning to social and emotional learning and positive behavior systems. In identifying several hundred outstanding schools annually, the program celebrates school excellence, turnaround stories, and closing subgroup achievement gaps.

Palos West Elementary is among an exclusive group of just 297 public schools in the U.S. receiving the honor in 2022.

“This is a moment of extreme pride for us here in District 118,” said Dr. Anthony Scarsella, Superintendent of Schools.

“For the first time in our over 160-year history, one of our schools has received national recognition for academic excellence, which, along with Palos East Elementary, and Palos South Middle School, continues our District’s legacy of maintaining high performing schools and providing a high quality education for our students,” he said.

“It is an honor to continue to lead Palos West Elementary,” said Principal Jennifer Peloquin.

“This recognition is a testament to the hard work of all the students, staff, and families. Our staff is diligent in ensuring that students have what they need to be successful both academically and emotionally. Palos West has a positive culture built on high expectations, and we are so proud of our school community,” she said.

District 118 School officials will represent Palos West at a two-day awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. this fall with Secretary Cardona and other officials to celebrate the school’s achievement.

About National Blue Ribbon Schools Program

Since 1982, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed almost 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools, with some schools winning multiple awards. National Blue Ribbon Schools represent the full diversity of American schools: public schools including charter schools, magnet/choice schools, Title I schools, and non-public schools including parochial and independent schools. They are urban, suburban, and rural, large, and small, traditional, and innovative, and serve students of every social, economic, and ethnic background. For more information about the National Blue Ribbon Schools program, please visit https://nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/

About Palos School District 118

With a mission focused on providing the best education possible for children, Palos School District 118 seeks to create a safe, orderly, and caring learning environment in order to maximize the educational potential of every student, creating confident, adaptive, and successful life-long learners capable of reaching their full potential.

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