Bethel Park High School named National Blue Ribbon School

The U.S. Department of Education has selected Bethel Park High School as a 2022 National Blue Ribbon School, one of 296 throughout the nation.

The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

“As our country continues to recover from the pandemic, we know that our future will only be as strong as the education we provide to all of our children,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said. “Blue Ribbon Schools have gone above and beyond to keep students healthy and safe while meeting their academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. These schools show what is possible to make an enduring, positive difference in students’ lives.”

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools in two categories, Exemplary High Performing Schools, those schools that are among a state’s highest-performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests, and Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools, which have made significant progress in closing achievement gaps between subgroups and all students over the past five years.

Bethel Park High School is being recognized as an Exemplary High Performing School.

“This recognition is a testament to the hard work and commitment to success from all members of our school community, including our dedicated teachers and staff members, our determined administrators, and our outstanding students,” Bethel Park High School Principal Joseph Villani said. “This national recognition affirms our work and the course we are on and further aligns with the Bethel Park High School motto, ‘Built on Tradition, Focused on the Future.’”

In 2021-22, the high school had a 99% graduation rate, with 91% of graduates enrolled in post-secondary institutions or apprenticeships, and approximately 9% enlisting in the military or entering Pennsylvania’s workforce.

“This is indeed a tremendous honor for the entire Bethel Park community,” school district Superintendent James Walsh said. “To have our flagship school honored nationally speaks to the great commitment of this community to a ‘Best in Class’ education. I am extremely proud of the administration and faculty, and most of all our students, for earning this incredible distinction for all of Bethel Park.”

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed awards to approximately 9,000 schools nationally since 1982. In 2022, Bethel Park High School joins Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia to become just the 36th and 37th Pennsylvania high schools to receive this distinction.

The U.S. Department of Education will honor all 2022 recipients at an awards ceremony to be held Nov. 3-4 in Washington, D.C. Prior to that event, Bethel Park High School plans to host a school-wide celebration, with the date and time to be determined.

For more information on Bethel Park High School’s National Blue Ribbon School qualifications, visit nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/awardwinners/winning/22pa111pu_bethel_park_high_school.html.