Above / May Watts Elementary School is located at 800 S. Whispering Hills Drive in the West Wind Subdivision. Brian LeCrone is the present principal of May Watts Elementary School.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today recognized May Watts Elementary School as one of 335 National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2015 based on academic excellence. These schools demonstrate that all students can achieve to high levels.
“This honor recognizes your students’ accomplishments and the hard work and dedication that went into their success,” Duncan said. “Your journey has taught you collaboration, intentional instruction, and strong relationships in school and with your community. You represent excellence—in vision, in implementation, and in results—and we want to learn as much as we can from you.”
The Department will honor 285 public and 50 private schools at a recognition ceremony on Nov. 9-10 in Washington, D.C. In its 33-year history, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed this coveted award on more than 8,000 of America’s schools.
Above / After May Watts Elementary (K-5), students in School District 204 attend Hill Middle School (6-8), then Metea Valley High School.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students either achieve very high learning standards or are making notable improvements in closing the achievement gap. The award plaque affirms the hard work of students, educators, families and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content. The award flag gracing a school’s building is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.
May Watts Elementary is being recognized in the category of Exemplary High Performing Schools. This category includes schools that are among their state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. Student subgroup performance is also at the highest levels.
May Watts is the fifth school in Indian Prairie School District 204 to achieve this national honor. Previous schools to earn this distinction are White Eagle and Fry Elementary Schools and Crone and Gregory Middle Schools.
Superintendent Karen Sullivan said the recognition speaks to the hard work of students, staff, and parents.
“This award represents the efforts of many in our school community. It is an honor to have a school receive such a prestigious national award, but to now have five National Blue Ribbon Schools in our district is amazing.”
News release from Janet Buglio for School District 204
Did you know?
The Department invites National Blue Ribbon School nominations from the top education official in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity and the Bureau of Indian Education. The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates private schools. A total of 420 schools nationwide may be nominated, with allocations determined by the numbers of K-12 students and schools in each jurisdiction. The U.S. Secretary of Education invites nominated schools to submit an application for possible recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School.
Editor’s Note: Congratulations to all students, teachers, administrators and parents for their achievements!
As many PN readers know, May Watts Elementary and the park adjacent to it were named in honor of May Theilgaard Watts, a naturalist that this publication remembers often! For a long list of stories featuring photos with connections to May Watts, click here.
Plus, as a former May Watts parent, I’ve known the school to be a blue ribbon school since Fred Lacher was principal!
Note also a report in other media that Meadow Glens School in Naperville School District 203 also is listed as a Blue Ribbon School among the 335 National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2015 based on academic excellence.
—Stephanie Penick
Post Script : Today, Congressman Bill Foster joined the community in congratulating May Watts Elementary School and Meadow Glens Elementary School for being distinguished as 2015 National Blue Ribbon Schools in the Exemplary High Performing Schools category.
“I am pleased that May Watts Elementary School and Meadow Glens Elementary School have made the Department of Education’s National Blue Ribbon Schools of 2015 list,” said Foster in a news release. “As a country, we must commit ourselves to the highest educational standards for our students, while making sure that resources are available to schools to meet those goals.”
