Dick-Durbin_11152010_001.txt

 U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Principal Jim Pluskota of Edison Elementary School in Elmhurst which was recently recognized as a Blue Ribbon School by the Department of Education. Lynn Krizic, Superintendent of Elmhurst School District 205 and Nancy Galas, a fifth-grade teacher at Edison, also attended today’s meeting.

On September 9, Secretary Duncan announced 304 schools from across the country had been awarded Blue Ribbon status. Of the Blue Ribbon Schools, 19 are located in Illinois. Those schools are being honored at an awards ceremony this week at the Department of Education in Washington, DC.

The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools that are either high performing or have improved student achievement to high levels, especially among disadvantaged students. Public schools are nominated by the Chief State School Officers. All nominees must qualify as either “high performing,” based on state test scores, or “improvement to high levels,” based on test score improvement for schools with a high proportion of disadvantaged students. Edison qualified as a high performing school, with 95 percent of students scoring proficient or higher on state tests.