More News

First Lady Laura Bush visited Little Flower School Tuesday to honor the Bethesda school for its U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon.

It was the last school visit Bush would make as first lady.

"I've had the chance to visit schools all over the United States and world, and I wanted to end with a terrific school like Little Flower," Bush said during a school assembly.

Little Flower received the award in September, and was one of only 50 private schools nationwide to be awarded the honor this year. To be named a Blue Ribbon school, Little Flower had to demonstrate that it had either exceptional academic results or that the school had dramatic gains in student achievement in the past year, according to Kathy Dempsey, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Little Flower is an archdiocesan Catholic school, located on Massachusetts Avenue. More than 250 students in grades pre-kindergarten through eight attend the school.

Students had reading and math scores that ranked in the top 10 percent of the country, Dempsey said.

During the brief assembly, Bush was introduced by Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl. Bush addressed the crowd and received a bouquet of roses from three Little Flower students. She then made her way to the other side of the school, where she was serenaded by a choir of the school's kindergarteners, first-graders and second-graders.

After the song, Bush presented Little Flower with a rack of gifts apropos of her previous position as librarian: books.

"I was cleaning out my office, so now they're going to be in your library," Bush said of the two dozen or so books, including "Read All About It," a book she wrote with her daughter Jenna.

For students at the school the event was once-in-a-lifetime.

"I thought it was really cool, because she is only going to be in office for a few more days," said eighth-grader Forrest Conley, of Bethesda. "We just found out yesterday during lunch and we were really excited."

For staff, the work—and Secret Service, White House handlers, and Archdiocese security—was all worth it in the end.

"It was very exciting. When you look forward to something, sometimes you prepare for the problems, but this was just great," said Principal Sister Rosemaron Rynn. "It was a good event for the youngsters."

Rynn said the school received notice about Bush's visit 10 days ago, but a final time wasn't determined until Friday.

According to Dempsey, schools in the Washington Archdiocese have won the Blue Ribbon award 21 times since it was established in 1982.

Other recent county Catholic school winners include St. Andrew the Apostle School (2007 and 1989) and St. Bernadette School (2003 and 2000), both in Silver Spring.