Robert Bruce could have achieved a rare Blue Ribbon three-peat.

Bruce is on his third year as principal of Worthington Elementary School in Ellicott City. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education recognized Worthington with a Blue Ribbon, marking it as one of the best schools in the nation.

About 20 years prior, Bruce was principal at Centennial Lane Elementary School, also in Ellicott City, when it received the same honor.

“Blue Ribbons seem to follow me about every 20 years,” Bruce joked. “So if I last another 20, I think there may be another Blue Ribbon there.”

But not if President Donald Trump’s education department has anything to say about it.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications Strategy Madi Biedermann sent a letter to state and private school officials last month announcing the end of the National Blue Ribbon Schools program, which is beloved by the Maryland educators who led schools that joined its ranks. Pages dedicated to the program on the department’s website have been archived.

Last year, 356 schools received the honor, doled out to both high-achieving institutions and those closing achievement gaps. Ten Maryland schools made the list: four public and six private. Five of those schools are within the Archdiocese of Baltimore, representing 12% of the just 40 nonpublic schools the federal government recognized nationwide.

“The Blue Ribbon, which has been in existence for decades, is to me and to most educators the gold standard,” Archdiocese Chancellor of Education Greg Farno said. “Every school in the U.S., I think, aspires to be a Blue Ribbon school.”

Earning a Blue Ribbon can boost schools’ reputations. Recognized schools often add the honor to spots parents can’t miss at the top of websites and hang banners featuring the award on their walls.

In her letter, Biedermann said the feds are moving away from a “one-size-fits-all standard” so state leaders can honor schools making strides in the areas their communities care most about.

Previously, each state’s chief school officer would nominate public schools for Blue Ribbons based on federally set criteria and state testing data. Nonpublic schools were nominated by the Council for American Private Education, which did not respond to a request for comment.

“The important work of identifying blue ribbon schools is done at the state level,” Biedermann wrote. “In the spirit of Returning Education to the States, USED is ending its role in the program.”

In a phone interview, Biedermann said the Blue Ribbon program was not statutorily required, but was an “unfunded mandate,” costing $2 million a year. The department also ended the Green Ribbon program, which recognized schools for environmental sustainability initiatives. Two Maryland schools achieved that honor last year, both in the Baltimore area.

States learned they wouldn’t be getting Blue Ribbons after they’d already submitted their picks for this year’s awards. Maryland Department of Education spokesperson Raven Hill said the decision was a “tremendous disappointment.”

“We believe very strongly that exemplary schools should be recognized,” Hill said.

It’s a recognition that endures. Even though Worthington celebrated its win for a year, Bruce said, parents are still talking about it.

The program also helped educators figure out what works. Last year, Bruce attended the National Blue Ribbon award ceremony in D.C, where school leaders swapped stories about what was going well at their schools and how they were getting kids to learn.

“That was inspiring to me,” Bruce said. “And I could take that inspiration back to our community.”

Bruce said he hopes the federal government reconsiders the Blue Ribbon program at some point; in the meantime, the state should pick up the tradition. While he doesn’t think that would have the same impact, “it certainly could help toward making up for the lack of federal recognition,” he said.

When asked if she thinks schools can replace national prestige with state-level programs, Biedermann said she’s “really excited to see what states come up with to celebrate excellence,” adding that a national program doesn’t have to be run by the U.S. education department.

Maryland used to have its own Blue Ribbon program, which it ended in 2019, Hill said. Schools that earned the state honor were then nominated for the national award. The state recognition came with goodies like a Mrs. Fields cookie party, a flag, new technology and even cash.

Now, the state is “exploring next steps,” Hill said. Farno said the archdiocese has reached out to the state and some national organizations to figure out what can be done to keep recognizing excellent Maryland schools.

Since the Blue Ribbon program was founded in 1982, about 180 Maryland public schools have secured the honor. Twenty-four archdiocesan schools have received Blue Ribbons since 2009, Farno said.

The archdiocese had one school Farno was “pretty confident” would sail to this year’s finish line, as well as some schools already selected for 2026. This year’s decision doesn’t erase the pride for last year’s recipients or the 2025 would-be honorees, he said.

“Nothing tarnishes that whatsoever. We will have that forever,” Farno said. “Obviously, there’s gotta be disappointment. But again, they know what they did. They know how far they got. And nobody can take away from them.”

Heather Cucuzzella, principal of Immaculate Conception School in Towson, agrees. She still remembers the commotion that tore across the auditorium last year when the school earned a Blue Ribbon for the second time. In all her years as an educator, “I never had any experience quite like that one,” she said.

She knows there’s something unique about a national recognition that’s hard to replicate. But because “nobody knows Maryland better than Marylanders,” she’s holding out hope for something new to come along.

Besides, she said, while awards are out of her control, she can just keep doing what’s “bearing fruit.”

“We remain mission-driven all the time. And regardless of that acknowledgement or the accolades that come from that work, we’re still continuing to do that work,” Cucuzzella said. “I know every other educator out there feels the same.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.