Awards & Recognition
Ninety years of Dominican education, a national Blue Ribbon, and a city that keeps voting Overbrook its best. Every honor below is real and traceable to the source behind it.
In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education named Overbrook a National Blue Ribbon School — one of only 304 in the country that year, and the first Catholic elementary school in Nashville ever to receive the honor. It is the nation’s highest recognition of a school’s overall excellence.
Every honor below links to the source behind it — a federal designation, a city readers’ poll, an accrediting body or Overbrook’s own documented record. Nothing is inflated to fill space.
In the 2023 Nashville Scene readers’ poll, Overbrook took the top prize in three categories at once: Best Elementary School, Best Private School, and Best Pre-school.
Overbrook holds Lumen accreditation, a distinctly Catholic review built on the U.S. bishops’ standards — scoring 94% on Catholic School Discernment and 86% on the national effectiveness benchmarks.
A recognized member school of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education — part of a national movement renewing the classical, faith-formed tradition of learning.
Overbrook is run by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, whose charism of truth, joy and wonder has shaped the school since it became a Catholic school in 1936.
The Overbrook estate — the 1913 mansion at the heart of campus — was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Overbrook shares a historic 83-acre Nashville campus with St. Cecilia Academy and Aquinas College — a rare continuum of Catholic education from preschool onward.
Overbrook’s SOAR program offers dedicated math and reading enrichment for gifted learners — challenge and depth built into the school day.
From a 1936 parish school to a Blue Ribbon campus, Overbrook marks 90 years of forming virtuous leaders in the Dominican tradition.
A featured affiliate partner of K12 Academics, the education-resource network online since 2004 and reaching families in 185 countries every month.
The recognition follows the mission: a joyful, faith-formed education in the Dominican tradition, lived out on a historic Nashville campus.
From a national Blue Ribbon to a clean sweep of the city’s readers’ poll, Overbrook pairs its three guiding pillars with recognition earned across nine decades.
1 of only 304 that year.
Top prize in three categories.
On an 83-acre campus.
Overbrook was named a 2010 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, as entered into the Congressional Record. Its 2023 Nashville Scene readers’-poll wins and Lumen accreditation results are as published by the Tennessee Register and Overbrook. The National Register listing refers to the historic Overbrook estate on campus. Overbrook Catholic School educates children from preschool-3 through Grade 6.