By Larry Lee
Nine Wisconsin schools received recognition as one of the nation's finest. One of them is from central Wisconsin, and it's the only private school in the state to receive the honor. Saint Stanislaus (grades K-2) and Saint Stephen Elementary (grades 3-5) School in Stevens Point is one of 50 private schools nationwide receiving U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon honors.
Gregg Hansel is the Director of Education and Principal for St. Stan's and St. Steve's. He says the it's a combination of students, involved parents, and excellent teachers. "Many of our teachers have master's degrees, They're certified by the DPI (Department of Public Instruction) State of Wisconsin, and by the Diocese of La Crosse in religious education as well. I think in our two buildings, St. Stan's and St. Steve's, we have more Herb Kohl winners, which is, the Herb Kohl Foundation picks the top 100 teachers annually. We have more of those winners than probably, almost any school in the state as well, so it starts with outstanding teachers."
About 335 schools out of nearly 100,000 schools in the country are selected, so Hansel says they're pretty excited about it... especially since this is not their first award. "For us, it's especially good though, because this is the second time in seven years that we've gotten it. We received this back in 2008, and the number of schools that get it twice is really, really small, so we're really proud of what our teachers and staff do."
Hansel says the students get a lot of individual instruction thanks in part to class sizes and special programs like their Literacy Lab partnership with University of Wisconsin Stevens Point student teachers and professors.
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