Our Lady of the Lake School Principal Benjamin Ronquillo led a blue ribbon celebration highlighting the school’s second consecutive Blue Ribbon of Excellence Award win. Mayor Kevin Ryan of Verona issued a Certificate of Achievement to Our Lady of the Lake and West Orange Mayor Robert Parisi acknowledged the school with a Mayoral Proclamation. Also present were Dr. Margaret Dames, Superintendent for Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Newark and OLL alumni Jack McEvoy, a Verona Town Council member.
“The Department of Education presented Our Lady of the Lake School with its second consecutive National Blue Ribbon Award in a special ceremony in Washington D.C,” said Principal Ronquillo. “We are grateful to be one of only 50 private schools in the country to receive this award and now we not only celebrate, but also we begin thinking about our vision for the next five years,” Ronquillo concluded.
In their remarks, Mayor Ryan of Verona noted that Our Lady of the Lake School is an integral part of the Verona community. Mayor Parisi applauded OLL for its hard work and acknowledged that many West Orange residents send their children to the school.
“The faculty, students and staff of Our Lady of the Lake School have set a strong example for other schools, through their combination of rigorous academics and compassionate teaching,” stated Dr. Dames.
Our Lady of the Lake School won its first National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award in 2011. This award marks the second consecutive award for the school. National Blue Ribbon Schools are on education’s cutting edge, pioneering innovative educational practices from professional learning communities and project-based learning to social and emotional learning and positive behavior systems. Schools are nominated by the state department of education and then complete a comprehensive application about school practices. Schools may be nominated as Exemplary High Performing—among the top schools in a state—or Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing—schools making the fastest progress in the their state in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.
For more information about Our Lady of the Lake School, please contact the school office at 973-239-1160 or visit www.myollorg. For more information about the National Blue Ribbon Schools program, please visit http://nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/