VHELP named Blue Ribbon School

Now in its 35th year, National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools around the country for academic excellence and the closing of achievement gaps.

And today, Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park joined the ranks.

VHELP opened in 1999, and has an enrollment of just over 650 students K-5.

Only five schools were chosen for the Blue Ribbon award in Alabama this year, and VHELP joins the four other Vestavia schools that have achieved the title in the last three decades.

"We are thrilled to join other schools in our district and across the nation who have been recognized with this prestigious award," VHELP Principal Ty Arendall said in a press release Thursday. "It is a credit to the hard work and dedication of our school as well as the school district and the community as a whole — teachers, students, parents, and leadership."

Other Vestavia Blue Ribbon Schools include Vestavia Hills High School in 1990 and 2009, Vestavia Hills Elementary West in 1985 and 2016, Louis Pizitz Middle School in 1994 and Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights in 1985 when it was a Jefferson County school.

The 342 schools named around the country are invited to a ceremony in Washington, D.C. in November, and VHELP will be given a commemorative plaque and flag to honor its Blue Ribbon status.