LIVINGSTON — South Live Oak Elementary (SLOE) School celebrated a big honor on Friday, after being named a Louisiana Blue Ribbon School.
“It’s a program that recognizes outstanding excellence in education, both in high tests scores and closing achievement gaps,” SLOE principal Amy Savage explained. SLOE was recognized for its success in student academic performance and growth.
“We’re very big on reviewing student data,” Savage said. “We take into account test scores, classroom performance, teacher anecdotal information on students. We look at a whole picture of a child and see where is this child lacking, or where can we improve with this child?”
When Savage found out her school won, she said she was floored, but she and the rest of the faculty at the school felt validated.
“The teachers felt like they were seen,” she said.
SLOE held a ceremony on Feb. 13 at Live Oak Middle School to celebrate the honor. Several Louisiana Department of Education officials were there, including Assistant Superintendent Trey Fosse as well as Livingston Parish School Superintendent Jody Purvis, and SLOE staff.
“We had some of our student groups perform. We had our Beta Choir perform, and we had our some of our former students, who are both students of the year at their respective schools now, do our national anthem,” she said. “It was just a celebration. We invited every child and every staff member over to the gym and just, you know, finally reveled in it and soaked in the accolades that we’ve been getting for the last year or so and just celebrated.”
“It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s based on the strength of our entire school community, our parents, our students and our staff all working together toward a shared vision,” Savage said.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is made up of the U.S. Department of Education and state departments of education. Eight Louisiana schools were recognized with a Blue Ribbon award. St. Jude School of the Baton Rouge Diocese was the only other school in the capital region to receive recognition.
Download the Unfiltered with Kiran app from the Apple App Store and Google Play to stay updated on the latest news across the Capital area.
Support UWK and its mission to deliver The News You Deserve. Unfiltered. Become a monthly patron on Patreon today!
