Blue Ribbon Schools for 2014 - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

Blue Ribbon Schools for 2014 - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Congratulates California Winners of the 2014 National Blue Ribbon Schools Award

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today congratulated 24 California public schools that are being recognized as 2014 National Blue Ribbon Schools.

The California schools, which are either high achieving or made significant academic improvement, are among 337 schools in 47 states—287 public (traditional, charter, choice, and magnet) schools and 50 private schools—announced this morning by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

"I commend these amazing schools and their commitment to providing the kind of learning environment in which teachers can excel and students can achieve," Torlakson said. "They have brought out the very best in their students and themselves. I am proud of their success and hope they relish this moment to shine in the national spotlight."

The federal Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private schools from elementary through high school. (There were no private schools from California selected this year.)

Public schools are nominated by each Chief State School Officer (CSSO), including the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. The Council for American Private Education nominates private schools. Based on state data the nominated schools must be certified as meeting one of two eligibility criteria:

• Exemplary High-Performing, defined as the achievement of the school’s students in the most recent year tested placing the school among the highest-performing in the state on assessments of reading (or English-language arts) and mathematics. Disaggregated results for student subgroups, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, must be similar to the results for all students tested.
• Exemplary-Improving, defined as schools that have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds and have improved student performance to high levels in English-language arts and mathematics on state assessments or assessments referenced against national norms. "Disadvantaged" means students eligible for free or reduced-priced meals, who receive Title I services, are limited English proficient, migrant, or in need of special services.

National Blue Ribbon Schools will be honored at a national awards ceremony on November 10-11, 2014 in Washington, D.C., where each winner will receive a plaque and flag. Blue Ribbon winners may fly this flag at their schools as a mark of excellence. In its 32-year history, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has presented this award to 7,900 of America's schools.

Details of the achievements of the 2014 National Blue Ribbon Schools can be found on the U.S. Department of Education's Web site.

California’s National Blue Ribbon Public Schools for 2014

County	School District	School
Alameda	Fremont Unified	Mission San Jose Elementary
Alameda	San Lorenzo Unified	KIPP Summit Academy
Contra Costa	San Ramon Valley Unified	Windemere Ranch Middle
Fresno	Clovis Unified	Pinedale Elementary
Los Angeles	ABC Unified	Gretchen Whitney High
Los Angeles	Compton Unified	Tibby Elementary
Los Angeles	Compton Unified	Thomas Jefferson Elementary
Los Angeles	El Rancho Unified	Rio Vista Elementary
Los Angeles	Hacienda La Puente Unified	Los Molinos Elementary
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	Lanai Road Elementary
Los Angeles	Whittier City Elementary	Wallen L. Andrews Elementary
Merced	Winton	Frank Sparkes Elementary
Napa	Calistoga Joint Unified	Calistoga Elementary
Orange	Fountain Valley Elementary	Newland (William T.) Elementary
Orange	Huntington Beach City Elementary	Huntington Seacliff Elementary
Orange	Los Alamitos Unified	Rossmoor Elementary
San Bernardino	San Bernardino City Unified	Hillside Elementary
San Diego	Poway Unified	Del Sur Elementary
San Francisco	San Francisco Unified	Clarendon Alternative Elementary
San Mateo	Las Lomitas Elementary	La Entrada Middle
Santa Clara	Cupertino Union	Nelson S. Dilworth Elementary
Santa Clara	Los Altos	Ardis G. Egan Junior High
Santa Clara	Los Altos	Georgina P. Blach Junior High
Santa Clara	Santa Clara County Office of Education	Bullis Purissima Charter

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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100