The color of the day at St. Norbert School in Northbrook on Friday, Jan. 30 was blue, as the school celebrated its Governor’s Blue Ribbon School award with an assembly in the church’s gym.
Bright blue ribbons adorned trees outside of the school on Walters Avenue and stood out against the snow.
The U.S. Department of Education started the Blue Ribbon School awards in the 1980s as a way to give national recognition to high-achieving schools.
Students cheer at the Blue Ribbon Award Celebration in the gym serving St. Norbert School on Jan. 30, 2026 in Northbrook. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press)
Last August, however, the department quietly discontinued the program, according to previous reporting. Illinois took up the mantle, and is honoring 28 schools, 15 public and 13 private, with the Governor’s Blue Ribbon School Award program. According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the awards honor public and private K-12 schools with exemplary academic performance.
Scott McDonald, director of communications and marketing for the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Catholic Schools, said that a St. Norbert’s official told him, “We received an email in June 2025 and August 2025 letting us know that we would be a 2025 National Blue Ribbon School. Then, in very late August we learned that the national program was terminated. The State of Illinois then created its own Blue Ribbon School program, and we were recognized on Oct. 10 by the state.”
In the north suburbs, the Blue Ribbon Award winners include, according to the Illinois State Board of Education, St. Norbert’s, The Academy at St. Joan of Arc in Evanston, Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest and Sunset Ridge Elementary School in Northfield.
A bulletin board exudes good news for the school as parents walk the hallways to the gym for the Blue Ribbon Award Celebration at St. Norbert School on Jan. 30, 2026 in Northbrook. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press)
St. Norbert School has 218 students from pre-K (age 3) to eighth grade.
There is a religious education program at the church for students attending other schools, but that did not factor into a Blue Ribbon status evaluation, said Jack Shepherd, St. Norbert School principal since last July 1, who called the Blue Ribbon achievement “a big deal.”
The banner on stage at the Blue Ribbon Award Celebration at St. Norbert School on Jan. 30, 2026 in Northbrook. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press)
Shepherd credited Margaret Hoody, former principal and currently director of curriculum and student services, for providing a pivotal role in the school’s quality.
“I’m just stepping into it. I did not do the work behind it, that would be all Dr. Hoody,” Shepherd said.
“It’s a great honor for the school, great way to showcase our school to students, the curriculum that we use, the dedication of the staff.
“But we take pride in our religious education,” Shepherd said.
What makes St. Norbert School different?
“It is a really close community,” Shepherd added. “I felt that since the day I stepped in. People support each other, the parents and community support the school tremendously and we just have a really great community of kids that get along and work together to make sure things go in the right direction.”
Blue ribbons are on trees outside of St. Norbert School on Jan. 30, 2026 in Northbrook. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press)
For Friday’s award festivities, children were brought into the gym, where silver and blue balloons adorned the stage.
A banner and check presentation were revealed. Students wore special blue t-shirts and celebrated with dancing and glittery pompoms, plus popsicle treats at the end.
Rev. Christopher Gustafson, pastor of St. Norbert and Our Lady of The Brook Parish, offered words of prayer from the stage podium.
Earlier, he acknowledged the fact the Archdiocese of Chicago has recently closed some Catholic schools in Chicagoland.
He was asked whether earning Blue Ribbon School status, which Gustafson said St. Norbert School has enjoyed before, would reinforce the likelihood of the archdiocese keeping the school open.
“I think they recognize, the archdiocese does, that we’re a great school, we have great leadership and we fortunately have the resources that not every other parish has,” Gustafson said.
“And that makes a difference because the scholarship money from the government has been withdrawn, so we have some great donors and others that help us in an endowment.
“So our hearts go out to all those children and their families but we want to celebrate that we are blessed and do our best to welcome whoever we can into the fold,” Gustafson said.
