BUXTON, N.D. -- When it comes to public education, Central Valley School has won the Super Bowl, North Dakota Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said Wednesday.
The head of the state’s Public Instruction Department was on hand with U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, school administration, students and community members to help the K-12 school celebrate being named a National Blue Ribbon School, an honor that only 349 of roughly 98,000 public elementary and secondary schools across the U.S. received this year.
“It really is a tremendous honor, and it takes an entire community to get here,” Baesler said.
Central Valley was one of three schools in North Dakota to be chosen by the U.S. Department of Education to receive the accolade this year -- the other two were Richland Elementary in Abercrombie and Freedom Elementary in West Fargo. Schools are given the title of Blue Ribbon if they show evidence of students achieving high learning standards or making substantial improvements in learning.
Since its induction in 1982, the U.S. Education Department has recognized 56 North Dakota schools with the honor. Central Valley is the first school in Traill County to receive the accolade, Baesler said.
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The school that is about 4 miles northeast of Buxton, or roughly 20 miles south of Grand Forks, has a student body of about 190 children, School Superintendent Jeremy Brandt said. He attributed the award to hardworking students, teachers and staff.
“We leave no stone unturned,” he said. “I’m very proud of the staff. It is a well-deserved award.”
Hoeven, a Republican from North Dakota, said the award is “a testament to the dedication of school staff, the hard work of the students and the support of the parents and surrounding community,” calling educators an “essential part of shaping our state and nation’s future.” He presented the school with an American flag that once flew over the U.S. Capitol.
Great teachers, students, administration, board members and parents should not be taken for granted when it comes to education, Hoeven said, adding everyone must continue to work hard to better themselves.
“Whatever you want to be, whatever you want to do, you can do it,” Hoeven told the gym full of students, teachers, administration and community members. “But you have to … be willing to work for it.”
