‘Blue Ribbon’ Awards Given to Southland Schools

The Long Beach, Arcadia and Irvine public school systems scored big, with two winners each, in the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools program announced Wednesday.

One of education’s most competitive awards, the Blue Ribbon recognizes schools that foster high academic achievement, involve parents, promote technology and the arts and help struggling students. The awards alternate each year between elementary and secondary schools; this was the year for elementaries. To win, schools first must be honored by their state Education Departments and then complete a 30- to 40-page application and undergo a site visit by evaluators.

The Blue Ribbon winners in Los Angeles County included: Mark Twain Elementary School and William F. Prisk Elementary School in Long Beach; Highland Oaks School and Holly Avenue Elementary School in Arcadia; the Community Magnet School, Los Angeles; and Esther Lindstrom Elementary School, Lakewood.

Orange County’s winning schools this year included: Concordia Elementary School in San Clemente; Heritage Oak Private Elementary School in Yorba Linda, Laguna Road School in Fullerton, Lincoln Elementary in Corona del Mar and Moulton Elementary in Laguna Niguel. Two public schools in Irvine were honored as well, Meadow Park Elementary and Westwood Basics Plus School, as was Tarbut V’Torah, a Jewish private school in Irvine.

In Ventura County, Hollow Hills Fundamental School in Simi Valley and Westlake Hills Elementary School in Thousand Oaks were honored.

In all, 266 schools were honored nationwide, 41 of them in California.