The National Blue Ribbon school certification has been a national recognition of high performance and excellence since 1982. The program, jointly administered by the
U.S. Department of Education (USED) and state Departments of Education, recognized hundreds of public and private schools each year for academic excellence or narrowing gaps in student performance. It served an essential role in allowing communities and parents to immediately recognize trustworthy schools across the nation.
Each National Blue Ribbon public school is nominated by state chief school officers as fulfilling a federal rubric for recognition.
The Trump Department of Education unexpectedly shut down the National Blue Ribbon schools program in August 2025. In the announcement letter, the administration noted that
The important work of identifying blue ribbon schools is done at the state level.
In the spirit of Returning Education to the States, USED is ending its role in the program.
Recognition is an important part of creating a culture that values academic excellence. The administration argued that it believes that recognition should be fostered at the local level, saying
States and associations are encouraged to recognize their nominees for 2025 and creatively fashion new recognition programs to celebrate excellence in their communities.
While Minnesota has not yet announced the creation of an alternative recognition award, Commissioner Willie Jett recognized the eight schools nominated for the 2025 award this week at the Minnesota Elementary School Principals Association (MESPA) Institute.
Each school has qualified for the Blue Ribbon Award under a specific category. Two were considered Exemplary High Performing, (which must rank in the top 15 percent of schools in the state for academic performance) and two were considered Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing (which must rank one or more historically underserved student groups in the top 15 percent of schools in the state for academic performance). Four qualified under both categories.
Awards help parents make an informed decision, but they also inform observers about the condition of the state’s education system and the metrics that administrators use to recognize quality schools. While Minnesota has not released a comprehensive analysis of why these schools were chosen, federal Blue Ribbon Award guidelines provide a framework. For the purposes of nomination, state administrators are allowed to define a “historically underserved student group” for their state and can choose to calculate academic proficiency by using state test reading and math scores separately, combined, or combined with other indicators like graduation rates.
Below are Minnesota’s 2025 Blue Ribbon Award School Nominees. (All assessment results listed include the MCA, the ALTMCA, and the MTAS. The ALTMCA and the MTAS are calibrated to be grade level appropriate assessments for children with learning differences.)
Category: Exemplary High Performing
A school in this category must be in the top 15 percent of schools regarding academic achievement, top 40 percent of schools regarding the academic performance of historically underserved student groups, and, if applicable, the top 15 percent of schools regarding high school graduation rates.
In Minnesota, according to 2025 state testing scores, 49.6 percent of students are proficient in reading, and 45.2 percent are proficient in mathematics.
Dakota Hills Middle School, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District
Dakota Hills Middle had 58.7 percent of students test as proficient in mathematics and 62.9 percent test as proficient in reading in 2025.
Demographically, 64.9 percent of Dakota Hills Middle students are White, 12.5 percent Asian, and 7 percent Hispanic or Latino, with the remaining percentages representing Black and American Indian students. Mathematics proficiency for Asian students in 2025 was 71.6 percent and reading proficiency was 69.6 percent, both scores down at least eight percentage points from 2021. Mathematics proficiency for Hispanic or Latino students in 2025 was 28.2 percent and reading proficiency was 35.9 percent, both scores up at least four points from 2021.
Pike Lake Elementary, Proctor Public Schools
Pike Lake Elementary had 79.7 percent of students test as proficient in mathematics and 63.2 percent test as proficient in reading in 2025.
Demographically, 94.5 percent of Pike Lake Elementary students are White, 1.7 percent Hispanic or Latino, and 1 percent Black, with the remaining percentages representing students of two or more races. The low number of minority students mean that the number of tests and test scores are too small to report for privacy reasons.
Category: Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools
A school in this category must be in the top 15 percent of schools in the state regarding the academic achievement of one or more historically underserved student groups, top 40 percent in the state regarding the academic achievement of each historically underserved student group, and, if applicable, the top 40 percent of schools regarding high school graduation rates of historically underserved student groups. Whole school improvement must equal or exceed state improvement.
In Minnesota, according to 2025 state testing scores, 49.6 percent of all students are proficient in reading, and 45.2 percent are proficient in mathematics. Minnesota consistently struggles to serve some student groups. In 2025, 22.5 percent of all Black students were proficient in mathematics, and 31 percent were proficient in reading. In 2025, 22.4 percent of all Hispanic students were proficient in mathematics, and 28.7 percent were proficient in reading. In 2025, 24.9 percent of American Indian students were proficient in mathematics and 33.1 percent in reading.
Browns Valley Elementary School, Browns Valley School District
Browns Valley Elementary School had 50 percent of their students test as proficient in mathematics and 35 percent as proficient in reading in 2025.
Demographically, 60.9 percent of Browns Valley Elementary School students are American Indian and 39.5 percent are White, with the remaining percentages representing students that are Asian or Pacific Islander. Mathematics proficiency for American Indian students in 2025 was 41.7 percent and reading proficiency was 29.2 percent. Mathematics scores rose about 20 points for American Indian students since 2021 and reading scores declined about a percentage point.
Kennedy Elementary School, Mankato Public School District
Kennedy Elementary School had 77.7 percent of their students test as proficient in mathematics and 61.5 percent as proficient in reading in 2025.
Demographically, 53.6 percent of Kennedy Elementary School students are White, 22.5 percent Black, and 12.4 percent Hispanic, with the remaining percentages representing students of many different demographic types. Mathematics proficiency for Black students in 2025 was 58.7 percent (rising 13 percentage points since 2021) and reading was 45.7 percent (rising about 6 percentage points since 2021). Mathematics proficiency for Hispanic students in 2025 was 66.7 percent (rising a dramatic 40 plus percentage points since 2021) and reading was 54.2 percent (rising about six percentage points since 2021).
Category: Exemplary High Performing and Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools
A school in this category must qualify for the Blue Ribbon Award under both the Exemplary High Performing category and the Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing category.
In Minnesota, according to 2025 state testing scores, 49.6 percent of all students are proficient in reading, and 45.2 percent are proficient in mathematics. Minnesota consistently struggles to serve some student groups. In 2025, 22.5 percent of all Black students were proficient in mathematics, and 31 percent were proficient in reading. In 2025, 22.4 percent of all Hispanic students were proficient in mathematics, and 28.7 percent were proficient in reading. In 2025, 24.9 percent of American Indian students were proficient in mathematics and 33.1 percent in reading.
Forest Hills Elementary School, Eden Prairie Public Schools
Forest Hills Elementary School had 82.8 percent of their students test as proficient in mathematics and 68.2 percent test as proficient in reading in 2025.
Demographically, 43.6 percent of Forest Hills Elementary students are White, 21.6 percent Black, and 13.9 percent Asian, with the remaining percentages representing Hispanic, American Indian, or Pacific Islander students. Mathematics proficiency for Black students in 2025 is 74.5 percent (risen, impressively, from 2021’s 23.8 percent proficiency rate) and reading proficiency is 50.9 percent (risen 9 percentage points since 2021). 2025 mathematics proficiency for Asian students is 85.7 percent (risen 25 percentage points since 2021) and reading proficiency is 59.5 percent (dropped 13 percentage points since 2021).
Clearly, Forest Hills has an excellent math teacher on the premises!
Hassan Elementary, Elk River Public School District
Hassan Elementary had 78.4 percent of their students test as proficient in mathematics and 64.6 percent in reading in 2025.
Demographically, 72.6 percent of Hassan Elementary students are White, and 10.6 percent are Black, with the remaining percentages representing students of many different demographic types. Mathematics proficiency for Black students in 2025 is 60.7 percent (up from 2021’s 26.7 percent) and reading proficiency is 35.7 percent (up two percentage points since 2021).
Northfield Middle School, Northfield Public School District
Northfield Middle had 58.2 percent of their students test as proficient in mathematics and 61.9 percent test as proficient in reading in 2025.
Demographically, 76.4 percent of Northfield Middle students are White, and 13.8 percent are Hispanic, with the remaining percentages representing students of many different demographic types. Mathematics proficiency for Hispanic students in 2025 is 28.4 percent, up about ten percentage points since 2021, and reading proficiency is 38.5 percent, up about seven percentage points since 2021).
Valley Crossing Elementary School, South Washington County Schools
Valley Crossing Elementary School had 79.9 percent of students test as proficient in mathematics and 74.5 percent test as proficient in reading in 2025.
Demographically, 54.4 percent of Valley Crossing Elementary School students are White, 20.4 percent are Asian, and 8.7 percent are Black, with the remaining percentages representing students who are Hispanic, American Indian, or of two or more races. Mathematics proficiency for Asian students in 2025 was 85.2 percent (down about five percentage points since 2021) and reading proficiency was 76.1 percent (down fourteen percentage points since 2021). Mathematics proficiency for Black students in 2025 was 61.4 percent (down seven percentage points since 2021) and reading proficiency for Black students was also 61.4 percent, (down fourteen percentage points since 2021).
Conclusions
Earning the title of a Blue Ribbon school is a great accomplishment, and all eight schools listed here should be congratulated.
However, from a policy perspective, some of the scores seen here are worth a lengthy pause.
In a better world, any school that has two out of five students score below grade level proficiency in mathematics would not qualify for an exemplary award: yet three schools listed here fall into that category. When only one in five Black or Hispanic students in the state at grade level for mathematics, perhaps the fact that, in a few of these Blue Ribbon nominees, the number rises to two or three out of five is impressive enough to qualify for the top award. Yet these designations seem to highlight Minnesota’s low state averages and consistent difficulties educating minority students.
Several schools listed have seen impressive score increases, and several more have commendable across-the-board performances. However, a school is eligible to win Blue Ribbon recognition every five years, meaning that almost every Minnesota school was in the running for this year. Is one of our eight most impressive schools truly a school where only three out of five students can read and write at grade level?
As my colleague Catrin Wigfall has pointed out, Minnesota’s past Blue Ribbon School nominees have also raised eyebrows for poor academic performances.
However, it’s true that some of these schools were chosen in order to highlight the progress that historically underserved groups have made under the academic program. Serving these at-need students is a worthy goal, and those schools are worth commending. As the Minnesota Department of Education considers creating a state-based equivalent to the Blue Ribbon school designation, perhaps a two-award system would be helpful: one award for schools that close achievement gaps, and another award for across-the-board academic performance.
As we celebrate these schools, let us also plan for even stronger academic foundations in the future.