Two West Virginia Schools Earn Blue Ribbon Title
Posted: September 17, 2003
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Do you remember running home with a straight “A” report card and you couldn’t wait to tell your parents? Two West Virginia elementary schools have earned bragging rights. The West Virginia Board of Education and the Department of Education today announced the winners of the first-ever No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program.
West Virginia’s Blue Ribbon winners are Steenrod Elementary in Ohio County and Kenova Elementary in Wayne County. The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors those elementary and secondary schools in the United States that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap or whose students achieve at very high levels. It recognizes schools that have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance to a high level on state assessments or assessments referenced against the national norms at a particular grade. It also recognizes schools whose students achieve in the top 10 percent on state tests or the top 10 percent in the state on assessments referenced against national norms at a particular grade.
“On behalf of the State Board of Education and the Department of Education, I applaud these No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools,” said State Schools Superintendent David Stewart. “As part of West Virginia Achieves, the state’s No Child Left Behind implementation plan, we will begin recognizing all of our schools that are closing the achievement gap. However, to receive a national honor such as this one is quite a morale boost.”
The winners will be honored at a Washington, DC ceremony at a later date and invited to present at U.S. Department of Education conferences.