Bergen County Academies Named Blue Ribbon School

By DANIEL HUBBARD (Patch Staff)

Bergen County Academies has been named a national Blue Ribbon School.

The U.S. Department of Education announced the 335 schools that were named Blue Ribbon institutions Tuesday morning. The national program honors a school’s overall academic excellence or its progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

“At the Bergen County Academies, we take great pride in empowering our community,” the school’s Blue Ribbon summary page states. “The administration encourages new ideas and initiatives from students and teachers and constantly engages in outreach with academic and professional partners.”

Newsweek magazine named the school the fifth best high school in the United States in August.

The school enrolls 1,055 students. Students are placed in one of seven distinct career and technical programs: science, engineering, business, medical, computer science, hospitality, and visual and performing arts. About 1,800 students apply for one of the 270 spots in the incoming class.

Related: 500 Best Schools In America: Bergen County Academies Is 5th

“This honor recognizes your students’ accomplishments and the hard work and dedication that went into their success,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “You represent excellence — in vision, in implementation, and in results — and we want to learn as much as we can from you.”

The U.S. Department of Education will honor the 285 public and 50 private Blue Ribbon schools at a recognition ceremony on Nov. 9 and 10 in Washington, D.C. In its 33-year history, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed this coveted award on more than 8,000 of America’s schools.