HANCOCK — Barkell Elementary School ranked in the top 5% of elementary schools, or143rd in the start of Michigan, according to U.S. News and World Reports, said Superintendent Steve Patchin in a Friday email.

The U.S. News released its rankings of schools across the nation for the past year, said Patchin. The rankings look at several factors, most notably student performance in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). Of the 3,181 Elementary Schools (2,637 being public schools and 544 private schools), Barkell Elementary was ranked #143 in the start of Michigan, the top 5% of elementary schools in Michigan.

“I would like to thank all the members of our education team that fostered the recognized growth in our students,” Patchin said, “which includes:”

— Teachers, parapro’s, secretaries, and Principal Vaara.

— Custodians, our food service team, and professional support from the Copper Country ISD.

— Substitute teachers, bus drivers, CTE teachers, and other support staff.

“I would also like to thank all of you (parents, grandparents, foster parents, aunts, uncles, siblings and more) for your extended role of teacher, mentor, role model, coach, cheerleader, and counselor for your student,” the obviously proud Patchin said. “There is a proverb that has been passed down through generations that states ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ Our Hancock community does a fantastic job of supporting and fostering the growth of our students, and with all the disruptions caused by the pandemic it has been of increased value to our students. This ranking is a recognition of how well you are all doing in your extended roles. Congratulations, you are excelling in your roles!”

Patchin said that while the recognition is welcome, there are still improvements to be made in how the school serves its students.

“One such improvement is adding STEM specials for elementary schools classes from kindergarten to fifth grade,” he said. “They are learning to program robots, build robots, designing objects electronically and printing them on 3D printers, and much more. Students are beginning to learn skills involving working as a team, computational thinking, problem solving, coding, and building robots and other creations starting in Kindergarten, using hands-on activities. This is just one initiative we are adding, there are more coming. So while this is a welcome recognition of the success of current efforts, the best is yet to come.”