Calabasas High School receives nomination for Blue Ribbon

Three local public schools are among 35 statewide that have been nominated for the 2006 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Blue Ribbon Schools Program offered through the U.S. Department of Education.

In the Las Virgenes Unified School District, Calabasas High School was nominated. In the Conejo Valley Unified School District, Redwood Middle School in Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park High School received nominations.

Calabasas High previously was named a California Distinguished School.

Schools nominated by states for the NCLB Blue Ribbon Schools Program show dramatic growth and achievement. Nominated schools have shown increases in student proficiency in certain grades tested in the years 2003 through 2005 in both English/language arts and mathematics. The only exceptions were schools already displaying high levels of achievement.

All schools met the NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress criteria and the 2004 and 2005 schoolwide and subgroup Academic Performance Index growth targets. When a school is nominated, it receives an invitation from the U.S. Department of Education to apply for the NCLB Blue Ribbon Program. The application consists largely of achievement data and is due at the U.S. Department of Education in February.

Schools that meet the criteria and the 2005 Adequate Yearly Progress and schoolwide Academic Performance Index targets will be named Blue Ribbon Schools next September by the U.S. Secretary of Education. The schools will then be honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

California, with more than six million students and more than 10,000 public schools, is entitled to nominate 35 schools. The nominations were made by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell.

“I am continually impressed by the hard work of the students, their parents, teachers and schools to help these kids succeed,” said O’Connell. “This just shows that our push toward high standards is working and that we need to stay vigilant in order for all students to succeed in life and in their future careers.”

The winning schools are considered to be national models of excellence.