On Tuesday, September 19th, Oakdale High School (OHS) was named a National Blue Ribbon school by the U.S Department of Education (DOE), among the six public schools awarded from Maryland and 350 nationwide for 2023.

The National Blue Ribbon award is granted to public and private schools around the country that show their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. 

In this case, the award was granted to Oakdale because it is recognized as an exemplary school in terms of academics. A lot can fall under an academic achievement, from graduation rate to performances on standardized assessments. Oakdale has been recognized as a school that has had a consistently high performance in those metrics.

OHS was contacted by the organization because they met the “Whole School Performance ” category of eligibility. To meet this, Oakdale had a great performance on a state assessment in reading and math. To go along with this, the state also added the students’ performances on graduation rates, and performances on state assessments in other subjects. 

After this, the school had to complete a lengthy application process, which had finally paid off this September when OHS was deemed a National Blue Ribbon School.

Oakdale High School is led by second year Principal William Caulfield. Before becoming a principal he was assistant principal here at Oakdale from 2013 to 2016. This is Caulfield’s nineteenth year in Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) and tenth year as an administrator.

Caulfield shared that school has always been a big part of his life. He said that the main reason he went into education was to make a difference in the lives of the students and make sure they have a safe space when they walk through the school doors. 

Caulfield expressed, “I wanted to make a bigger impact on a school and build a place where every student could fill their potential and every student have someone to talk to, work with, feel comfortable with and work through whatever life’s challenges are and make the best of whatever situation they are in.”

When asked about the goals he had for the school when he became principal last year, Caulfield said, “My goal was to establish what Oakdale was all about and what our why was and so I did a lot of work with the staff about what our school looks like when it’s working at its best.” 

Kelly Kirby, an assistant principal at OHS, who played a key role when undergoing the lengthy application process expressed, “I worked with a team of staff members to write the application.  Each person brought expertise in a different area and worked together to showcase the strengths of our school and community. ” 

  “We are thrilled for the Oakdale High community to earn this prestigious designation,” FCPS Superintendent Cheryl Dyson voiced in a news release Tuesday. 

The students and staff that continue to show up everyday at OHS should be proud of Oakdale High School’s accomplishment.