SACRAMENTO - Thirty-nine California schools received national recognition Friday when State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced their achievement as winners of the 2004 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – Blue Ribbon Schools award.

Selected by U.S. Secretary of Education Ron Paige, the 33 public and six private institutions underwent a rigorous application process that evaluated the state- and Council on American Private Education-nominated schools based on test scores, growth and achievement in reading and math over a three-year span. Nominees come from a pool of those schools with a student body comprised of a least 40 percent disadvantaged students who have shown dramatic improvement with students performing at the 55th percentile in reading and math as well as from those institutions with student achievement in the top 10 percent.

Based on current figures, 206 public and private elementary schools in 43 states were chosen as Blue Ribbon Schools. An awards ceremony honoring these winners will be held on Nov. 4-5 in Washington D.C.

Local Honorees Include:
Beverly Hills High
Brookhaven Elementary
California Academy of Math & Science
Canyon View School
Dixie Elementary
Eagle Rock Elementary
Gates (Ralph A.) Elementary
La Canada High
Laurel Hall School
La Paz Intermediate
Los Cerritos Middle
Monterey Vista Elementary
Mountain View Elementary
Our Savior’s Lutheran School
Parks Junior High
Richfield Elementary
Spril Hill – The Advanced Elementary School of Santa Cruz
Stanley (Agnes Ware) Elementary
St. Anne School
Valencia Elementary
Weaver (Jack L.) Elementary
Westlake High
Yorba (Bernardo) Middle

For more information on the program, please visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/awards.html