4 Long Island High Schools Receive National Blue Ribbon Honors

Four Long Island high schools were among the 349 nationwide to be named National Blue Ribbon Schools on Monday.

The local schools to receive the honor are:

• Sayville High School
• South Side High School
• Elwood High School
• W. Tresper Clarke High School.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

Now in its 36th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed recognition on more than 8,800 schools. The U.S. Department of Education will celebrate with 300 public and 49 private school honorees at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. in November.

All schools are honored in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates:

• Exemplary High Performing Schools are among their state's highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
• Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools are among their state's highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school's student groups and all students over the past five years.

Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year. The Department invites National Blue Ribbon School nominations from the top education official in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity and the Bureau of Indian Education. Private schools are nominated by The Council for American Private Education (CAPE).

Last year, five Long Island schools were named Blue Ribbon Schools.

Shutterstock photo