Ellicott City, Fullerton parish schools earn national Blue Ribbon award

St. Joseph School in Fullerton and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Ellicott City received the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award Sept. 28 from the U.S. Department of Education.

According to a news release from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the designation is the highest academic honor bestowed upon a school by the U.S. government. The two schools will be honored during ceremonies in Washington, D.C., Nov. 7-8.

(Courtesy Our Lady of Perpetual Help School)

St. Joseph School, which enrolls 461 students, is under the direction of a first-year principal, Ken Pipkin. Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, which has 210 students, is led by principal Victor Pellechia. Both schools offer instruction from pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds to eighth grade.

“We welcome the announcement of this year’s Blue Ribbon of Excellence schools and are so proud of this year’s recipients from the archdiocese,” said Dr. Barbara McGraw Edmondson, Superintendent of Schools. 

The Blue Ribbon program was established in 1982 by then-Secretary of Education Terrell H. Bell. It honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement to high levels. 

Of 23 Catholic schools in the archdiocese honored with the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence designation, 16 have received it since 2008. The complete list of Blue Ribbon schools, in alphabetical order, follows:

• Archbishop Keough High School, 1987-88

• Archbishop Spalding High School, Severn, 1992-93

• Calvert Hall College High School, Towson, 1984-85 and 1988-89

• School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland, 2014-15
• Immaculate Conception, Towson, 2014-15
• Loyola Blakefield, Towson, 1986-87

• Mount St. Joseph High School, Baltimore, 1988-89

• Mercy High School, Baltimore, 1984-85

• Notre Dame Preparatory School, Towson, 1984-85 and 2012-13

• Our Lady of Grace, Parkton, 2014-15
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Ellicott City, 2016-17

• Resurrection-St. Paul School, Ellicott City, 2009-10

• St. Augustine School, Elkridge, 2012-13

• St. John Regional School, Frederick, 2009-10

• St. John the Evangelist, Severna Park, 2008-09

• St. Joseph School, Cockeysville, 2013-14

• St. Joseph School, Fullerton, 2016-17

• St. Louis Catholic School, 2010-11

• St. Margaret School, Bel Air, 2013-14

• St. Mary’s, Annapolis, 2013-14

• St. Rita Catholic School, Dundalk, 1986-87

• The John Carroll School, Bel Air, 1995-96

• Trinity School, Ellicott City, 1989-90 and 1998-99

More than 25,000 students are enrolled this year in 69 Catholic schools in the archdiocese.

Its elementary school students score in the top fourth nationally on standardized tests; middle school students score in the top third on standardized tests in reading and math; high school students average 100 points higher on the SAT than the national average; and 98 percent go on to attend college.