Hilltop Elementary Selected As U.S. Blue Ribbon School

BEACHWOOD, OH — Beachwood Schools' Hilltop Elementary is a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School, a prestigious honor awarded to only 325 schools this year.

"Congratulations to our Hilltop students, their families and our Hilltop staff for this recognition of their skills, talents, hard work and determined effort. The entire Beachwood community can be very proud of this accomplishment!" said Superintendent Robert Hardis in an email to Patch.

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.

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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.

Here's the list of Ohio's 2021 Blue Ribbon winners:

• Bay Village – Westerly Elementary School, Bay Village City School District.
• Beachwood – Hilltop Elementary School, Beachwood City School District.
• Canton – Whipple Heights Elementary School, Perry Local School District.
• Cincinnati – Mariemont Junior High School, Mariemont City School District.
• Cincinnati – Montgomery Elementary School, Sycamore Community City School District.
• Dublin – Dublin Jerome High School, Dublin City School District.
• Dublin – Saint Brigid Of Kildare Elementary School, Diocese of Columbus.
• Girard – Girard Intermediate Middle School, Girard City School District.
• Granville – Granville High School, Granville Exempted Village School District.
• Hudson – Seton Catholic School, Diocese of Cleveland.
• Kettering – Orchard Park Elementary School, Kettering City School District.
• Logan – Hocking Hills Elementary School, Logan-Hocking Local School District.
• Maria Stein – Marion Local Elementary School, Marion Local School District.
• Minster – Minster Elementary School, Minster Local School District.
• Steubenville – Pugliese Elementary School West, Steubenville City School District.
• Whitehouse – Fallen Timbers Middle School, Anthony Wayne Local School District.

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.”