cheers from teachers and students throughout the building Wednesday when she announced the award over the school’s public address system.

Donna Sherwin, the office manager and marketing director for St. Anne, said the school sent out a message that it had won the award at noon, and before the end of the school day a group of parents had installed an arch of blue and white balloons in front of the building.

The celebrations are just beginning. In November, the schools will send staff representatives to Washington, D.C., to accept the awards.

This is the first Blue Ribbon Award for Countryside, the second for St. Anne and the third for Grove Avenue.

Each school serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Barrington Area Unit School District 220 spokeswoman Morgan Delack said it is the first time in the district’s history that it has had two schools win a Blue Ribbon award in the same year. The district has won 10 Blue Ribbons since 1993 and five since 2013.

The award indicates that the schools achieved in the top 15 percent of schools in the state when ranked by student performance on state assessments. Schools may be nominated for the award only once within a five-year period.