28 California Schools Selected As U.S. Blue Ribbon Schools

CALIFORNIA — Several California schools were honored as Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday. The award recognizes a school’s overall academic performance as well the commitment by staff to help students succeed.

In all, 325 schools were named to the 2021 list. Now in its 39th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has given approximately 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools.

Included on this year’s list are 28 schools located in California.

Here’s a look at this year’s winners:

• Anaheim Hills Elementary School
  6450 East Serrano Avenue, Anaheim
• Aurelia Pennekamp Elementary School
  110 South Rowell Avenue, Manhattan Beach
• Balboa Gifted/High Ability Magnet Elementary
  School 17020 Labrador Street, Los Angeles
• Burton Valley Elementary School
  561 Merriewood Drive, Lafayette
• Carmel Del Mar Elementary School
  12345 Carmel Park Drive, San Diego
• Cerritos Elementary School
  13600 East 183rd Street, Cerritos
• Challenger School - Berryessa (Non-Public)
  711 East Gish Road, San Jose
• Chinese Immersion School at DeAvila
  1250 Waller Street, San Francisco
• De Portola Elementary School
  27031 Preciados Drive, Mission Viejo
• Dr. T. J. Owens Gilroy Early College Academy
  5055 Santa Teresa Boulevard, Gilroy
• Elevate School
  2285 Murray Ridge Road, San Diego
• Henry E. Huntington Middle School
  1700 Huntington Drive, San Marino
• Hidden Trails Elementary School
  2250 Ridgeview Drive, Chino Hills
• Los Alamitos Elementary School
  10862 Bloomfield Street, Los Alamitos
• Los Coyotes Elementary School
  8122 Moody Street, La Palma
• Maude B. Davis Elementary School
  1050 Arlington Drive, Costa Mesa
• Mountain View Elementary School
  5465 Queen Anne Lane, Santa Barbara
• Oak Park High School
  899 Kanan Road, Oak Park
• Oka (Isojiro) Elementary School
  9800 Yorktown Avenue, Huntington Beach
• Palm Crest Elementary School
  5025 Palm Drive, La Cañada
• Paradise Canyon Elementary School
  471 Knight Way, La Cañada
• Red Hawk Elementary School
  32045 Cam San Jose, Temecula
• Richard Henry Lee Elementary School
  11481 Foster Road, Los Alamitos
• Ross Elementary School
  9 Lagunitas Road, Ross
• Saint Simon Parish School (Non-Public)
  1840 Grant Road, Los Altos
• Technology High School
  550 Bonnie Avenue, Rohnert Park
• University High School
  2611 East Matoian Way, Fresno
• Valencia Elementary School
  541 West 22nd Street, Upland

Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year, according to the Department of Education. Nominees are selected by top education officials in states and territories, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Blue Ribbon Schools are then selected based on their performance in one of two categories:

• Exemplary High-Performing Schools: These are among a state's highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
• Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools: These are among a state's highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between all other students and according to a school’s student groups.

Schools are also selected based on student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates.

This year’s nominees “illustrate what is possible” during tough times, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a news release.

"I commend this school and all our Blue Ribbon honorees for working to keep students healthy and safe while meeting their academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs,” Cardona said in the release. “In the face of unprecedented circumstances, you found creative ways to engage, care for, protect, and teach our children.”