District: Information
National NCLB Blue Ribbon School
September 30, 2005
On Friday, September 23, 2005, Baxter Springs High School (BHS) was named as a National No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Blue Ribbon School. This puts BHS in a very elite group. Only 295 schools nation-wide were named as a 2005 NCLB Blue Ribbon School.
Being one of the 295 on this years' list is very impressive, but the feat is far more impressive when you view the total picture. The Kansas Department of Education (KSDE) was allowed to nominate five schools: BHS was the only high school they nominated. Over the past four years, since the new regulations were put into place for the NCLB Blue Ribbon program, BHS has been the only Kansas high school to be named as a national Blue Ribbon school. This year alone, of the approximately 32,000 high schools in the nation, BHS was one of less than forty to be named as a Blue Ribbon school.
What was the reason for our success? Many different elements come in to play in order for something of this magnitude to come together, but the number one element is that we have an entire district of wonderful, caring, and passionate teachers: teachers who put student success at the forefront of every decision and every lesson. The educational foundation of all our students is something that everyone can be proud of and is the key to our success.
We have known for some time that we had something special here in Baxter Springs. As someone wrote in an email today, "Now our little secret is going to get out". Our students are very blessed and very fortunate to be a part of such a great district.
Congratulations to all our teachers and all our students. This is an award that has been earned and is well deserved.
Click here to view a slide show of the Blue
Ribbon School Assembly 
Blue Ribbon School
