2025 National Blue Ribbon Schools: Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson nominated for award before program cancellation
Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson had been nominated for a 2025 Blue Ribbon award. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
A Suffolk County school was on track to receive a coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools designation before the federal government abruptly canceled the program last month, district and state officials said Wednesday.
Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson had been nominated by state Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa to be one of the 2025 Blue Ribbon award winners for its “exemplary” academic performance, the state Department of Education said.
The federal Department of Education typically announces the Blue Ribbon honorees in late September. In late August, the federal agency informed state officials it had canceled the program, according to New York education officials. The federal Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment.
The cancellation “just felt like a gut punch,” Port Jefferson schools Superintendent Jessica Schmettan said. “Our schools are the heart of the community, and to have national recognition, it's phenomenal. So it's unfortunate that that was taken away.”
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson had been nominated to be a 2025 Blue Ribbon award winner, but the federal government abruptly canceled the program last month, district and state officials said.
- The cancellation came as the federal Department of Education hands more control over education to the states.
- The Blue Ribbon program, created in 1982, recognized schools for exemplary academic performance and narrowing student achievement gaps.
The honor recognizes the achievements of educators and students, and it can also attract families to an area, education experts said.
The Blue Ribbon honor “showcases the best of the best,” said Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association. “When people are looking to buy a home or maybe relocate to a state, in addition to price and cost, the next thing they want to know about is schools and the quality of public education.”
Vecchio said he hoped the federal government would reconsider the cancellation, which came as President Donald Trump's administration hands more control over education to the states.
“Even with returning control locally to the states” and local school boards, he said, “it's still good to know how you stack up against other systems, because if your system is not as good as… another state, then you can go study what they're doing to make your system better.”
Four decades of Blue Ribbons
The national program, created in 1982 under then-President Ronald Reagan, recognized schools in two categories — exemplary academic performance and narrowing achievement gaps between groups of students. To apply, district and school officials would submit extensive data and narratives about academics, extracurriculars and athletics.
Announcements by the winners were generally celebratory events, and honorees would travel to Washington, D.C., to receive the awards and share ideas for improving school performance.
The Blue Ribbon program has faced opposition before. In late 1991, Congress cut funding for the program, but after a public backlash the funds were reinstated and the program was restored.
The state Department of Education sent a letter this month to schools nominated by the agency for Blue Ribbon awards, calling the cancellation “unfortunate” and saying the federal government did not consult with state officials about the decision. In the Sept. 3 letter, Assistant Commissioner David M. Frank urged school officials to contact the federal agency if they too were “disappointed” by the decision.
State officials are “deeply grateful” to those who applied for the awards “and continue to deliver excellent outcomes for students,” he wrote.
The state Department of Education declined to say this week whether any other Long Island schools had been nominated.
Celebrating success
Vandermeulen High School, which was named a Blue Ribbon winner in 2017, enrolled 313 students last year and had a 100% graduation rate. In 2023-24, the 25 seniors who took Advanced Placement exams in English literature and composition had a 96% pass rate, and the 11 seniors who took AP calculus BC exams had a 100% pass rate, state figures show.
Port Jefferson schools Superintendent Jessica Schmettan with the high school's 2017 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Last year, Lakeville Elementary School in Great Neck and South Grove Elementary School in Syosset were Blue Ribbon winners. They were among 21 in the state and 356 across the country to receive the 2024 honor.
In 2023, three Long Island schools were honored: the Amagansett district’s Amagansett School, the Jericho district’s George A. Jackson Elementary School and the Herricks district’s Denton Avenue Elementary School in New Hyde Park.
Robert Kravitz, the newly appointed superintendent in Jericho, said he was “shocked” to learn the program had been canceled. The Blue Ribbon program “celebrates success, and what we need in education right now is to celebrate the good,” said Kravitz, who wrote a book called “Blue Ribbon Story: An Entrepreneur’s Success in Education,” based on his experience as principal of Fort Lee School No. 3, an elementary school in New Jersey that was named a Blue Ribbon winner in 2010 during his tenure.
Kravitz said he and other educators who met in Washington traded ideas about how to inspire staff and motivate students to achieve greater success.
“Being recognized nationally is a very important thing,” he said. “When you have that opportunity, it makes your whole culture change.”
Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.
