Flowertown Elementary Nominated as 2013 Blue Ribbon School

The U.S. Department of Education has selected Flowertown Elementary as one of five S.C. schools nominated for the 2013 National Blue Ribbon Awards. 

The program honors public and private K-12 schools that are academically either superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.

The other nominees are:

• Okatie Elementary, Beaufort County School District
• Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology, Darlington County School District
• Flowertown Elementary, Dorchester School District 2
• Ware Shoals Elementary, Greenwood School District 51
• New Prospect Elementary, Spartanburg School District 1

“The South Carolina Department of Education commends New Prospect Elementary, Ware Shoals Elementary, Flowertown Elementary, Okatie Elementary, and Mayo High School for their achievements,” state superintendent Mick Zais said. “The students, parents, teachers, and administrators at these schools deserve all the credit for their success.”

Each of the nominated schools has more than 50 percent of students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds and has made significant gains in student performance during recent years. In addition, all five schools received "A" ratings under South
Carolina’s ESEA Waiver metrics and have not been recognized by the National Blue Ribbon Schools program in the past five years.

Consistent with the selection criteria set when No Child Left Behind was re-authorized in 2001, all five of South Carolina’s nominees fall into the Exemplary High Performing Schools category, meaning that their students scored within the top 15 percent of schools on the PASS or HSAP tests in both English Language Arts and mathematics.

States can also choose to nominate schools in the Exemplary Improving Schools category, which honors schools in the top 10percent of the state that have shown great improvement in student achievement. South Carolina is allowed to nominate five schools per federal guidelines.