The US Department of Education announced Tuesday eighteen Illinois schools were named “Blue Ribbon Schools” and three are in Southern Illinois.
Eldorado Middle School recently was named a Blue Ribbon School for their success in closing the achievement gap for students.
Principal Billy Tippett says they're honored to be designated as a Blue Ribbon School and it took a lot of work to perform at this level.
“Six years ago, we developed a team in our school district of teachers and administration, and we had some some really tough conversation about, you know, curriculums and some other things and, you know, this process started then, so we weren't trying to win an award then this is kind of just the fruits of the labor of the hard work from our from our teachers and in our students.”
Tippett says the school set goals to improve on academics, truancy and getting to know their students and build relationships with them.
