St. Joseph School earns recognition

CUYAHOGA FALLS: St. Joseph School in Cuyahoga Falls is one of only 314 in the country to earn the title of Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education for high student achievement.

The program honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are ''either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement to high levels.'' St. Joseph's  at 1909 Third St. accepts students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

''One way to be recognized is to score in the top 10 percent on the Iowa Basics [standardized tests],'' Deacon Rolbert Kochanski said. ''Most of our students score in the 96-to-100-percentile by sixth grade. We see this more as raising the bar for something we need to keep working towards.''

Nineteen Ohio schools received the 2009 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Award.Seton Catholic School in Hudson is the only other Summit County school to make the list.