RICHMOND, Va. – Seven schools in Virginia earned National Blue Ribbon honors.
Six public schools and one private were among the schools named by U.S Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos as 2017 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
Emerick Elementary, Hickory High, Midway Elementary, Mountain View Elementary, Stonehouse Elementary, and Union Hall Elementary were the public schools that recivied the distinction.
Trinity School at Meadow View, was the lone Virginia private school to be awarded. The Council for American Private Education nominates private schools for Blue Ribbon awards each year.
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private K-12 schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.
“These schools show that excellence is possible regardless of the type of communities they serve,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Steven R. Staples said. “The teachers, principals, support staff and students at each school are to be congratulated for their hard work and success.”
The National Blue Ribbon Schools are selected based on one of two criteria: performance on state assessments, or in the case of private schools, performance on national standardized tests and high school graduation rates; or performance in closing achievement gaps between a school’s subgroups and all students over the past five years while increasing graduation rates for each subgroup.
The U.S. Department of Education will honor all of the nation’s 2017 National Blue Ribbon Schools during a conference and awards ceremony Nov. 6 and 7 in Washington, D.C.
