Judge Memorial CHS earns national recognition

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SALT LAKE CITY – Judge Memorial Catholic High School can now add one more accomplishment to celebrate during its 100th year: it was recently named a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School.

“To have this award come during our centennial year I think is really special,” Principal Patrick Lambert said. “Over the years we’ve focused on becoming builders of a more just society. These accolades validate a lot of the hard work that goes into the school and a lot of the hard work that our students are doing each day and the support from our parent community and our dedicated faculty and staff.”

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, a U.S. Department of Education program, recognizes public and private elementary, middle and high schools “based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups,” according to the program website. Judge was previously recognized as a Blue Ribbon School in 1984, 1989 and 1998; the program began in 1982.

“I think our academics are superb,” Lambert said. “We’ve always had great faculty and staff, but I think they were highlighted even more so during this time.”

“I believe we’ve been doing a great job since our last award,” he added, “but we’ve taken the time to really go through and reflect on what we’ve been doing well and took the time to be able to highlight that, and the U.S. Department of Education felt like we were a good fit for the award.”

JMCHS is Utah’s only four-time Blue Ribbon winner and the only high school in the state to earn the honor more than once. (Juan Diego Catholic High School was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School in 2019).

“I’m really proud of our admin team, our faculty, staff and our students,” Lambert said. “I’m really proud of what we were able to accomplish last year. In the middle of a pandemic, we were able to highlight our student achievements. We were able to close the gap when it comes to academic achievements for families from a full socioeconomic spectrum. It was a big year and I think we should be really proud of it.”

In addition to its academic achievements, JMCHS recently inaugurated the Our Lady of Lourdes Middle School Academy and is engaged in a feasibility study for long-term facility improvements.

As part of the Blue Ribbon School program, Lambert and a team of staff members will travel to Washington D.C. Nov. 4-5 to receive the award. Lambert said he is looking forward to meeting the other award winners and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

“I think it’s important we’re not only celebrating 100 years but we’re doing it with excellence,” he said. “I think it’s something the whole Salt Lake diocese, our whole Utah community, should be proud of.”

The Department of Education recognized 325 schools,  of which 23 were non-public, in 45 states for the Blue Ribbon Award this year.