Awards

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. Every year the U. S. Department of Education seeks out and celebrates great American schools, schools demonstrating that all students can achieve to high levels. Now in its 38th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed almost 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools, with some schools winning multiple awards. Schools are eligible for nomination after five years. The coveted National Blue Ribbon School award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content.

Saint Philip Neri School has earned Middle States Association Accreditation that both confirms and validates the quality of education offered to our students. St. Philip Neri School continues “to be among the schools throughout the world that meet the internationally recognized standards of quality of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools,” according to Henry G. Cram, President of Middle States Association.

Accreditation is a self-evaluation process that schools voluntarily undergo to demonstrate they are meeting a defined set of performance standards. The accreditation process helps schools – and ultimately students – to continually grow and improve. It is an effective and efficient approach to helping schools plan for the future, promote staff development, and advance student achievement.

In 2019 Auxiliary Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, who oversees Catholic education throughout the five-county Archdiocese of Philadelphia, joined senior administrators from the Office of Catholic Education to honor 43 parish and regional elementary schools named 2019 Archdiocesan Schools of Distinction. 

 Saint Philip Neri has been recognized for exceeding growth expectations or benchmarks in academic achievement via standardized testing.  

In 2022 thirty schools were highlighted for their growth and for exceeding their potential, based on standardized testing results. Saint Philip Neri was one of those schools.  

Growth schools were found to have exceeded 90% or more in all content areas, with a rate of potential between 76% and 90%, based on Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) standardized testing scores.

Honors for exceeding potential were determined by analyzing results from two standardized tests administered by Minnesota-based Data Recognition Corporation: the TerraNova and InView diagnostics, which respectively measure actual and anticipated academic performance in reading, language skills, mathematics, science, and social studies. The OCE schools were found to have 90% of the classes meeting or exceeding their potential in all content areas at every level tested, with a 76% to 90% growth rate in all content areas at all grade levels.