STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) — Nine Wisconsin schools received recognition as one of the nation’s finest. One of them is from central Wisconsin, and it’s the only private school in the state to receive the honor. Saint Stanislaus (grades K-2) and Saint Stephen Elementary (grades 3-5) School in Stevens Point is one of 50 private schools nationwide receiving U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon honors.
Gregg Hansel is the Director of Education and Principal for St. Stan’s and St. Steve’s. He says the it’s a combination of students, involved parents, and excellent teachers. “Many of our teachers have master’s degrees, They’re certified by the DPI (Department of Public Instruction) State of Wisconsin, and by the Diocese of La Crosse in religious education as well. I think in our two buildings, St. Stan’s and St. Steve’s, we have more Herb Kohl winners, which is, the Herb Kohl Foundation picks the top 100 teachers annually. We have more of those winners than probably, almost any school in the state as well, so it starts with outstanding teachers.”
About 335 schools out of nearly 100,000 schools in the country are selected, so Hansel says they’re pretty excited about it… especially since this is not their first award. “For us, it’s especially good though, because this is the second time in seven years that we’ve gotten it. We received this back in 2008, and the number of schools that get it twice is really, really small, so we’re really proud of what our teachers and staff do.”
Hansel says the students get a lot of individual instruction thanks in part to class sizes and special programs like their Literacy Lab partnership with University of Wisconsin Stevens Point student teachers and professors.
The Principal says great parental involvement, excellent teachers, and a lot of one-on-one instruction are a big part of their success. “Our parents are very involved. They want their children to get a good education, so that allows us to raise our standards and demand more from the students, and it pays off.”
Hansel says they have a very successful partnership program with the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. “We have what’s called a Literacy Lab in the school, where the university actually teaches their reading instruction courses, where the professor and the students come right in our building, and teach the classes. Then as part of that, those students, those university students go out and work one on one with all of the students in the school, so our students get a lot of individual attention because of programs like that.”
The students at St. Stan’s and St. Steve’s do very well, with standardized test scores in the top 8% nationally.
Eight of Wisconsin’s public schools also received the honor. Representatives from winning schools will be honored at an awards ceremony Nov. 9-10 in Washington, D.C. Each school will receive an engraved plaque and program flag with the official seal, which signifies its Blue Ribbon status and the year of its award.
(Listen to our interview with Gregg Hansel on our website, here.)
Here’s the full list of Wisconsin public school winners, joining St. Stan’s and St. Steve’s at the November ceremony:
• Endeavor Elementary School, Portage Community School District;
• Howard Elementary School, Green Bay, Howard-Suamico School District;
• Lake Shore Middle School, Mequon-Thiensville School District;
• Magee Elementary School, Two Rivers Public School District;
• Onalaska High School, Onalaska School District;
• Platteville Middle School, Platteville School District;
• Sevastopol Middle and High School, Sturgeon Bay, Sevastopol School District; and
• Washburn High School, Washburn School District.
