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Two local schools were named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the Indiana Department of Education.
Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi Catholic School and Roncalli High School were two of 16 Indiana schools that were honored as 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
IDOE and the Council for American Private Education nominate public and private schools for the honor. Fifteen of 16 schools were recognized in the “exemplary High-Performing Schools category,” which honors schools with the highest graduation rates and the highest achieving students in English language arts and mathematics measured by state assessments, according to a press release.
After being nominated, the schools then completed an application detailing their curriculum, culture, leadership and engagement.
Roncalli has been awarded the National Blue Ribbon distinction four times, making it one of 40 high schools in the country to do so. Roncalli earned the distinction in 1993, 1998, 2003 and again this year. Roncalli combines faith with a values-based curriculum and instruction from “accomplished and respected” teachers, the school said in a press release. Winning the National Blue Ribbon four times over two decades shows the excellence of Roncalli, said Kevin Banich, principal.
Banich is “extremely proud” of students, faculty, staff and parents for the accomplishment.
Roncalli hopes to be a college-prep and life-prep school where students are prepared for life after high school as much as they can be, Banich said. Banich credits the strong foundation of elementary and secondary schools that helped establish strong early education for students. Roncalli has remained focused on being mission-driven and student-centered and everything else takes care of itself, Banich said.
“The fact that so many things have changed about the school, what it looks like, the number of students that we’ve served, who the faculty and staff are with the southside of Indianapolis looks like,” Banich said. “All of those things have changed, even our nicknames change, but yet our core mission and values has remained unchanged, and I think that academic excellence is a cornerstone of who we are to school.”
Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi School Catholic School prepares children to be leaders in faith, academics and character, said Rebecca Stone, principal. The school credits its Catholic identity, academic excellence and nurturing environment for empowering students to be successful in and out of the classroom, she said.
Students receive individual instruction tailored to their unique academic needs, Stone said. In the spring, 100% of students in third grade passed the statewide I-READ Exam.
Third through eighth-grade students at SSFC have ranked in the top 25 ILEARN Scores for the state in math and English combined for three years.
