MOHALL – The Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood Public School in Mohall has earned the U.S. Department of Education’s “Blue Ribbon School” award for exemplary academic performance, North Dakota School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced on Monday.

Red Trail Elementary in Mandan and Lincoln Elementary in Beach also earned the award.

Keith Campbell, superintendent of the Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood district, praised the Blue Ribbon application work of principals Janet Asheim and Heidi Newgard and the school’s teachers and leadership teams in a news release about the award.

To be eligible for Blue Ribbon consideration, each school must complete a comprehensive application that includes information about its student test results, curriculum, instruction, professional development, leadership, and family and community engagement. Applications require a significant amount of time and research.

“We’re proud of what we’re doing. We’re proud of the work our students and our teachers have been doing,” Campbell said. “This is the crown on the top of your cap. We’re making progress and we are proud of it.”

Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood operates a single school building in Mohall, with about 320 students in grades kindergarten through 12.

“We’ve done a lot of work since (the COVID-19 pandemic) especially to put our students in the best position to move forward at a pretty rapid rate,” Campbell said. “The journey we were on, we’ve done much, but we still have a lot of room to grow.”

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, congratulated the 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools. Since 1982, the Blue Ribbon School award has honored public and private schools across the country that display overall academic excellence or progress in closing achievement gaps.

“This Blue Ribbon designation recognizes the hard work of students, teachers and faculty, and the entire school community as examples of academic success,” said Hoeven. “We congratulate these schools on this honor and are grateful for their investment in the success and well-being of their students.”

“This honorable award highlights the hard work, enthusiasm and dedication that the students, teachers and administrators at these exceptional schools bring to the classroom every day,” Gov. Doug Burgum said. “We are grateful to Lincoln Elementary School, Red Trail Elementary School and the Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood Public School for their commitment to excellence that earned them this well-deserved honor, as well as the schools throughout our state that are adopting and applying innovative approaches to teaching and learning.”

It is the second Blue Ribbon honor for Beach’s Lincoln Elementary, which last won the award in 2008. It is the seventh North Dakota school to be honored twice.

Nationally, the Education Department recognized 356 Blue Ribbon schools on Monday. There are more than 98,000 K-12 public schools in the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.