Blessed Sacrament School has been named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School by
the Department of Education for the second time, the department and the school announced on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos recognized 349 institutions as Blue Ribbon schools this year, a measure that’s based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps in student subgroups.

This year, there were 300 public schools and 49 private schools recognized. Blessed Sacrament is one of eight Blue Ribbon schools in Virginia.

The Blue Ribbon program has been in existence for 36 years. As part of the program, up to 420 schools can be nominated each year. Each school falls into one of two subgroups: exemplary high performing schools and exemplary achievement gap closing schools. Blessed Sacrament was an exemplary high performing school.

Each honoree will be celebrated at an awards ceremony in the District on Nov. 7 and 8.