St. Ambrose School Receives Blue Ribbon Award

St. Ambrose Catholic School in Annandale was selected as one of eight area schools in the Washington, D.C. area to receive a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award from the U.S. Department of Education. The winners of the award were announced on Thursday, Sept. 9 and all 304 schools to receive the academic distinction were notified via e-mail.

"We're thrilled," said principal Barbara Dalmut of the achievement. "The whole Parish celebrated at church on Sunday and everyone was so thrilled. It's a great community effort."

Students and parents at St. Ambrose were told about the award during an assembly held shortly after the school received the news. "I explained to [the students] it was like us getting a report card on how we were doing and getting an A+ on it," said Dalmut. "They all cheered and were very excited. They're very proud of their school. We tell them they're great all the time, but it was nice to hear it from someone else."

The Blue Ribbon award is given out as part of the U.S Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools whose academic performance is in the top 10 percent of schools in their state. Schools that have show high levels of improvement during the school year or serve at least 40 percent of students from disadvantaged backgrounds are also eligible for the awards.

Each school chosen for the award has to meet a certain criteria in order to be eligible for the award, which is one of the highest distinctions in U.S. education. Dalmut says a few of the requirements schools must have to be nominated include teaching foreign language, meeting a certain class size, and submitting all test scores from the previous year for review.

St. Ambrose is a private school that teaches grades kindergarten through eighth grade and operates on a faith-based education systen. The largest class is 31 students with the smallest class having 14 students. Each class per grade has one teacher with both part-time and full-time teaching assistants helping out in grades kindergarten through fourth. Grades six through eight also have additional staff members that vary in their area of expertise.

There are currently 189 students enrolled at St. Ambrose, an increase from last year's enrollment. Dalmut says the school still has openings available and welcomes all new students.

"St. Ambrose is a very welcoming school. A lot of the students who join us have a pretty easy time adjusting. It's a very neighborly atmosphere here," Dalmut said.

There are over 132,000 public and private schools in the nation. For the complete list of all Blue Ribbon award winners, visit the U.S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Schools Program website.