State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell congratulated 25 California public schools that were named by the U.S. Department of Education as 2009 No Child Left Behind — Blue Ribbon Schools.
Frontier Elementary in Twin Rivers School District was the only school in Sacramento County to receive the Blue Ribbon Award for “No Child Left Behind Schools” for California.
“In spite of these extraordinarily challenging times of budget cuts, staff layoffs, and turmoil in our economy that are affecting our schools, the students at these schools show that if you keep on trying, you will succeed. Congratulations to all the schools, the students, their parents, teachers, school staff, and school boards”, said O’Connell.
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program (BRSP) recognizes elementary and secondary schools that are both academically superior and have demonstrated dramatic gains in student achievement, while serving an economically disadvantaged population of students. Schools recognized through the BRSP are national models of excellence for other schools to emulate. All of the 2009 nominees were either previous California Distinguished Schools or California Title I Academic Achieving Award schools.
Here are some of the eligibility requirements:
• The targets must be met for the school overall and for each numerically significant subgroup, such as socioeconomically disadvantaged children, English learners, and children of color.
• Demonstrated significant growth in the percent of students achieving the proficient/advanced level in English-language arts and mathematics from 2004 to 2008. This growth is based on the performance of the students in the highest grade at the school. For example, in a kindergarten to grade six elementary school, this growth would be measured by comparing the performance of sixth grade students in 2004 to sixth grade students tested in 2008.
• Because BRSP is part of the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools with a large population of disadvantaged students that have either shown dramatic improvement in student achievement from 2004 to 2008 or schools that have maintained a superior level of achievement from 2004 to 2008 are given priority for selection in this program. The U.S. Department of Education designates a public school as “disadvantaged” if 40 percent or more of the students: (a) participate in the National School Lunch Program; (b) have parents who did not earn a high school diploma; (c) receive Migrant Education services; or (d) are classified as English learners.
The nominees will be honored in Washington, D.C. on November 2-4 in a series of events hosted by the Secretary and his staff. For more information on BRSP and to review a list of 2009 winners nationwide, please visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/awards.html.