COLUMBIA, S.C. — The U.S. Department of Education has named the private Christian school a National Blue Ribbon School. It's one of 535 schools recognized nationally.
"I was very excited because- I've been here- this is my seventh year here and I've been here for a while and I'm very excited to see this school get a great award," said John Marlin Dombroski, a fourth-grade student at Ben Lippen school.
Students and staff at Ben Lippen are celebrating.
"We had like… a blue cupcake, a blue drink, a blue napkin and a blue award," Dombroski said.
"We are so excited for our families, for our students, for our faculty and staff, just for the community at large to receive this academic recognition," said Kelli Larson, the lower school principal.
"For us, it's about helping the whole child: spiritually, academically, socially and physically," said Ben Porter, the assistant head of school over operations. "So we do that through the combined efforts of all the different areas and just recognizing that God is the author of this whole thing."
Schools qualify for the award by scoring in the top 15% of the nation's English and math test scores.
"I always tell my students in my classroom, I love the way you walk into my classroom wherever you are," said Ashley Zander, a teacher at the school. "And my goal for you this year is just to see you grow to be who God made you to be. So we take that mindset, that growth mindset, with our standardized testing."
The Council nominates Private schools for American Private Education. The State Department of Education identifies public schools that may qualify.
"They factor in the top 15% of ELA and math scores in the state. And then next, they look at high disadvantaged schools. So your schools that have over 40% of poverty rate, and so this year, we just did not have any Midlands schools, and this is based off of the 21-22 test results," said Derek Phillips, a spokesperson for the S.C. Department of Education.
For public high schools, they also factor in the graduation rate. Looking at 2021 and 2022 test results, schools in the Midlands did see improvements in math and English, but none met all of the qualifications to be nominated.
"If a school has been a recipient, they can be a recipient again of Blue Ribbon. They just have to wait five years until they can be recognized again," Phillips said.
The Department of Education said it will analyze data for next year's National Blue Ribbon nominations in October, using test scores from the 2022 to 2023 school year.