Israel Putnam Elementary School receives a 2024 National Blue Ribbon

MERIDEN, CT (WFSB) - The U.S. Secretary of Education offered Israel Putnam Elementary School an award on Friday.

The school was awarded a 2024 National Blue Ribbon.

Cardona, the U.S. Secretary of Education, attended Meriden Public Schools and later taught at Israel Putnam Elementary.

He returned to speak with students and staff about their success.

“We could talk a lot about academic achievement... You could talk about the smarter balanced assessment, the gaps that are being closed, you could talk about that, but there’s a feeling you get when you walk into this school,” Cardona said.

Only 356 schools in the nation received a 2024 Blue Ribbon award.

Three of those schools were in Connecticut.