Washington, D.C. Fifteen public charter schools received the National Blue Ribbon Schools award by the U.S. Department of Education last week. The recognition is given to public and private elementary, middle and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among students.
“We congratulate the 15 public charter schools that received the Blue Ribbon School award this year,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “This award is a great reminder of the work that these public charter schools are doing to raise the overall quality of public education and close achievement gaps. The National Alliance applauds all the schools for their hard work and commitment to excellence.”
Public schools, including public charter schools, are nominated by a states Chief State School Officer. This year, a total of 335 schools were selected for the award. The 15 charter schools that received the recognition are:
Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Sciences, Alaska
KIPP Races Academy, California
Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School, Florida
Doral Academy Charter Middle School, Florida
International Studies Charter High School, Florida
Legacy Charter High School, Florida
Mater Performing Arts & Entertainment Academy, Florida
Pembroke Pines-Florida State University Charter Elementary School, Florida
KIPP STRIVE Academy, Georgia
Benjamin Franklin High School, Louisiana
Yinghua Academy, Minnesota
Harlem Success Academy Charter School 3, New York
Icahn Charter School 2, New York
Harding Fine Arts Academy, Oklahoma
Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences, Oklahoma
About Public Charter SchoolsPublic charter schools are independent, public, and tuition-free schools that are given the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. Since 2010, manyresearch studieshavefound that students in charter schools do better in school than their traditional school peers. For example, one study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that charter schools do a better job teaching low income students, minority students, and students who are still learning English than traditional schools. Separate studies by the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Mathematica Policy Research have found that charter school students are more likely to graduate from high school, go on to college, stay in college and have higher earnings in early adulthood.
About the National Alliance
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the public charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter sector. For more information, please visitwww.publiccharters.org