By Megan Erbacher
The Message editor
Despite red being St. Wendel Catholic School’s color, Principal Hallie Scheu smiled as she said, “We look really good in blue.”
St. Wendel Parish was a sea of blue t-shirts during the schoolwide Mass Sept. 26 in honor of St. Wendel being named a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. On Sept. 23, DOE officials said the prestigious recognition highlights schools that excel in academic performance or make significant strides in closing achievement gaps among different student groups.
St. Wendel has been recognized as an Exemplary High-Performing School.
During a presentation after Mass, Scheu took a moment to express her gratitude.
“To put this achievement into perspective, there are approximately 115,171 public and private schools in the U.S.,” she explained. “Out of these, only 356 schools received the National Blue Ribbon award this year. That’s an incredible 0.3 percent. Among them, 316 were public schools and 40 were private schools. We can proudly say that St. Wendel is among the top 40 non-public/private schools in the entire country.”
During his welcome at Mass on Sept. 26, Father Ed Schnur, pastor of St. Wendel Parish, said, “The goal of St. Wendel School, our mission, is to help form young people in the faith, becoming disciples of Jesus, following his footsteps. We also provide an excellent academic education but part of what we do is help you, students, to discover your gifts, talents, skills and abilities so that you might grow into those responsible Christians. We try to help you, our students here at St. Wendel, to discover and discern the gifts that God has given you and then use those to serve God and bring honor to God.”
St. Wendel is one of 16 Indiana schools earning the 2024 National Blue Ribbon title. Over the past 40 years, St. Wendel is the first non-public school and the third school (public or non-public) in Posey County to earn the award.
St. Wendel is the fourth Diocese of Evansville Catholic school named a National Blue Ribbon School in the program’s history. St. John the Baptist in Newburgh was recognized in 2023, Holy Family School in Jasper earned the honor in 2013, and the DOE recognized Evansville’s Reitz Memorial High School in 2002.
Scheu noted St. Wendel has had a long reputation for its excellence, as is evident by the school’s “impressive ILEARN and IREAD scores.” She said the most recent award reflects the school’s “outstanding achievement on a national level.”
“This achievement could not have been possible without the dedication of so many people,” Scheu said.
“First, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Father Ed Schnur,” she said. “His unwavering support for our staff, our students and our entire community has been very instrumental. Father Ed consistently encourages us to strive for excellence, ensuring our students receive the best education in the most nurturing environment. We are incredibly fortunate to have him as our No. 1 cheerleader and shepherd.”
Scheu continued her thanks by recognizing parents for their invaluable contributions, partnership and for choosing St. Wendel.
She thanked all St. Wendel students and said, “Your grit and determination sets you apart. Even on the days when the work seems challenging, you push through, you persevere. … Your achievement is what we celebrate this week.”
Choking back tears, Scheu thanked her “outstanding faculty and staff.”
“I can confidently say that we truly have the best of the best here at St. Wendel,” she said. “Their dedication to our students and our entire school community is unwavering. They create rigorous lessons and continuously seek innovative ways to engage and inspire our students.”
In November, Scheu will travel to Washington, D.C. to attend and represent St. Wendel Catholic School at the National Blue Ribbon Ceremony.
“It is always a great day to be an Eagle.”
For more information, visit https://nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/.