Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools announced that Edgar Allan Poe Classical School and Hannah G. Solomon Elementary School have been named 2017 National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education – a prestigious honor reserved for the best schools in the nation. Poe, located on the South Side of Chicago, and Solomon, located on the City’s North Side, are two of only 16 schools in Illinois and 342 schools nationwide to be honored with this distinction in 2017. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools where students perform at very high levels, or where significant progress has been made in raising student achievement. Both Poe and Solomon have received the honor in the Exemplary High Performing Schools category for testing in the top 15 percent of all schools in Illinois, achieving high performance among key subgroups and completing a rigorous application process that evaluated everything from social and emotional learning supports to professional development to quality classroom instruction. Now in its 35th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed recognition on more than 8,500 schools. In November, Poe and Solomon will be formally recognized at an award ceremony in Washington, D.C., where they will hear from other esteemed educators, share best practices, and celebrate their hard-earned achievements.

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Students of Edgar Allan Poe Classical School celebrate being named the 2017 National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.