Holy Spirit Catholic School Named National Blue Ribbon School for 2022

September 20, 2022 • Diocese of St. Augustine

Principal Dr. John Luciano stands with some of his students outside Holy Spirit Catholic School. The Catholic elementary school has been recognized by the United States Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School. They were the only school to receive the honor in the Diocese of St. Augustiine. Picture made September 19, 2022. Fran Ruchalski for the Diocese of St. Augustine

The U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recognized 297 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2022. Secretary Cardona made the announcement during his “Road to Success Back to School” bus tour last week.

Holy Spirit Catholic School in Jacksonville was one of only two schools in all of Florida honored as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2022. The school’s recognition was based on its exemplary high-performance.

Principal Dt. John Luciano sits in his office at Holy Spirit Catholic School. The school has been recognized by the United States Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School. They were the only school to receive the honor in the Diocese of St. Augustiine. Picture made September 19, 2022. Fran Ruchalski for the Diocese of St. Augustine

“It is an honor to be included among this group of private schools being recognized by the U.S. Department of Education,” said Dr. John Luciano, Holy Spirit’s principal. “Holy Spirit follows in a proud tradition of Catholic school excellence and is especially happy to mention that our standardized test scores, which made it possible for us to apply for this award, included every one of our special needs students. The very first sentence of our school’s mission statement addresses our desire to serve ‘each unique child of God.’ We are academically excellent and authentically Catholic,” he added.

With its 39th cohort, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed approximately 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools. The National Blue Ribbon School award affirms and validates the hard work of students, educators, families and communities in striving for – and attaining – exemplary achievement.

“We are so proud of Holy Spirit Catholic School’s achievement in receiving the 2022 National Blue Ribbon. Only two schools in Florida were recognized and they both happen to be Catholic schools,” said Deacon Scott Conway, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of St. Augustine. “The staff and students of Holy Spirit continue to excel in academic excellence while embracing the needs of every child that is admitted to the school. Dr. Luciano and his staff work together with families to meet the academic, physical, emotional and spiritual needs of their entire community.”

National Blue Ribbon Schools serve as models of effective school practices for state and district educators and other schools throughout the nation. A National Blue Ribbon School flag gracing a school’s entryway or on a flagpole is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.

The Department recognizes all schools in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates:

Exemplary High-Performing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools
as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools are among their state’s highest performing
schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s student groups and all students.

Including Holy Spirit School, seven Catholic schools in the Diocese of St. Augustine have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon schools for excellence: Cathedral Parish School-St. Augustine, Christ the King-Jacksonville, Holy Family-Jacksonville, Palmer Catholic Academy- Ponte Vedra Beach, Queen of Peace Academy-Gainesville and St. Paul- Jacksonville Beach.