Visitation Achieves U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon

Sep 9th, 2010

Visitation School, a Catholic elementary school in the Diocese of Kansas City ~ St. Joseph, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a 2010 Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

On Thursday, September 9, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that Visitation was among the 304 schools nationwide – 254 public and 50 private, or less than three out of one thousand schools -- that met standards for the national achievement program. Mid-November, Principal Vincent Cascone will join other honorees at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

“This recognition confirms the long-standing dedication to academic excellence at Visitation School,” said Cascone. “On a daily basis, our teachers and staff leave no stone unturned to meet the individual needs of each of our students.”

The program singles out public, private and parochial elementary and secondary schools whose students are achieving at very high levels or are making significant progress to close gaps in performance on national achievement tests. Visitation achieved the Blue Ribbon distinction as a “high performing school,” reserved for schools that score at the highest achievement level on nationally-standardized tests.

“Visitation’s Blue Ribbon gives testimony that our Catholic schools are among the top-performing schools in the nation,” said Diocesan Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel W. Peters. “As a career educator, I am convinced that schools succeed when every member of the school community lives out his or her vocational promise to ensure that students learn and succeed.”

“I am honored that one of our Catholic schools will receive the Blue Ribbon School distinction,” said the Most Reverend Robert W. Finn, Bishop of Kansas City ~ St. Joseph. “A Catholic school education is a life-enriching experience that not only provides exemplary academic preparation for life, it completes the whole formation of the child. We salute Visitation for living out our community commitment to provide strong academics and a firm foundation in the faith.”

“For Visitation, achieving the Blue Ribbon School designation is the product of strong collaboration by leadership, faculty and dedicated volunteers,” said Father Patrick Rush, pastor of Visitation Parish. “Vince Cascone and our entire school community have gained this recognition through a determination that, at Visitation, every child has promise and deserves a quality education.”

Established in 1921, Visitation School currently serves 546 students from Kindergarten through 8th grade. St. Elizabeth School, also in the Diocese of Kansas City ~ St. Joseph, earned the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 1998.

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For background on the program, the school or the diocese, please visit:
National Blue Ribbon Award, Visitation School, or Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Kansas City ~ St. Joseph