(Photo by Shopify Partners from Burst)

Burke and Springfield are known for their excellent schools, so it comes as no surprise that a Springfield School — Sangster — was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School for its high-performance metrics.

Springfield School, Sangster is a Blue Ribbon School

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program from the U.S. Department of Education recognizes schools for overall academic excellence or closing achievement gaps. For almost 40 years, this program has given the designation 10,000 times to over 9,000 high-performing schools. (Some schools have received honors more than once.) 

The award is open to public and private elementary, middle, and high schools.

“The National Blue Ribbon Schools award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content,” the U.S. Department of Education’s website states. “The National Blue Ribbon Schools flag gracing a school’s building is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.”

Sangster, in Springfield, is one of seven Blue Ribbon Schools in Virginia in 2021, and was categorized as an exemplary high performing school” based on high reading and mathematics achievement in the 2018-2019 school year. The school closed the achievement gap in math by 15 percent for special education students.

“At Sangster, we focus on the whole child and are equally dedicated to seeing students grow academically, emotionally, and socially to become productive and contributing citizens in our ever-changing global community,” the school offers in a release. “We believe that students learn best in a safe, caring, and positive learning environment that stimulates intellectual curiosity, fosters a commitment to lifelong learning, and promotes strong character development. We are a proud Positivity Project school that embeds the learning of character strengths in our daily morning meetings and encourages students to have an ‘other people matter mindset.’”

Sangster benefits from an active Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and is also recognized as a Model Professional Learning Community school where teams are committed to providing students with high-quality tier one instruction. Furthermore, the school is a Virginia Distinguished Purple Star School for supporting students from around 150 military families.

Sangster and the Department of Educations 324 other Ribbon Schools for 2021 will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, DC on Nov. 4 and 5. These include 302 public schools and 23 private schools — 45 U.S. states and the District of Colombia, as well as Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, West Point, New York, and Belgium.

While the Council for American Private Education nominated private schools public schools were suggested via nomination of chief school officers of states, territories, the Bureau of Indian Education, and the Department of Defense Education Activity. 

At least a third of the nominees had to be schools with a high percentage of disadvantaged students.

Other 2021 Blue Ribbon Schools in Virginia include Elydale Middle School in Ewing, Greendale Elementary School in Abingdon, Mary G. Porter Traditional School in Woodbridge, Meadows Of Dan Elementary School in Meadows of Dan, Northern Shores Elementary School in Suffolk, and Windsor Oaks Elementary School in Virginia Beach.

LIST WITH ELIZABETH® congratulates Sangster! When looking for excellent schools, Springfield’s consistently receive top honors, but we know that finding a good school is an important part of your Springfield, VA home search. 

We know that the majority of buyers with children in the home under 18 years of age said the quality of the school districts in an area is a deciding factor when purchasing a home. So with honors like these and our personal experience and knowledge of Springfield, doesn’t this area sound like an excellent place to live?!