Blue Ribbon Award - Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic School

US Department of Education Recognizes STA for Academic Excellence

On Friday, September 22, 2006 St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School was notified that the US Department of Education had included it as one of 250 schools nationwide to receive the 2006 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon School Program award. The award is given to schools (both public and private) that have made significant improvements in scholastic performance or whose students are achieving at very high levels. STA was recognized for the later and is the only school in Arizona to receive Blue Ribbon School status. Specifically, the award recognizes STA’s academic excellence as measured by test scores that places its students in the top 10 percent of national rankings.

As US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings noted, “These schools show what wonderful accomplishments can be made when we focus on the bottom line in education – student achievement.” The entire application, nomination and selection process was started in September 2005. Mrs. Marion Patzem, STA teacher and reading specialist, was responsible for orchestrating the complex requirements of the award.

Submitting the application through CAPE, the Council for American Private Education, Mrs. Patzem assembled historical and current test scores for grades one through eight, wrote extensive reports and provided detailed documentation as was required to move the application forward for nomination. September 22, 2006 the school received word its academic excellence has been recognized.

The entire STA community celebrated the award with a series of events, the week of November 13th – 17th.