State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Celebrates California’s 29 Blue Ribbon Schools Honored This Week in Washington, D.C.

Thurmond met with the school leaders to learn how they are closing the opportunity gap and to discuss strategies to improve student achievement across the state. California has the largest number of public school Blue Ribbon winners in the nation.

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond celebrated the 29 California Blue Ribbon schools being honored this week in Washington, D.C., at the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program awards ceremony. California has the largest number of public school Blue Ribbon winners in the nation. Thurmond met with school leaders on Monday to learn how they are closing opportunity gaps and providing environments where students can achieve high learning standards. He also appointed them to help co-design strategies for learning acceleration and to improve student achievement all across the state.

“Our state sent 29 schools this year to our nation’s capital to receive this prestigious honor—a testament to the students, teachers, staff members, administrators and their families,” said Thurmond. “While we continue to bounce back from the harms of the COVID-19 pandemic, this award illustrates the important work we are doing to go above and beyond in our mission to close the opportunity gap. It’s impressive that 29 schools received this honor, a reaffirmation of the persistence and resilience our educators displayed on behalf of our students.”

Additionally, as part of National Blue Ribbon Schools Program this week in Washington, D.C., California Principal Miguel Marco of Wittmann (Helen) Elementary School in Cerritos will be honored as one of the nine recipients of the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership for 2022 . Principals chosen as recipients of this award have transformed their schools, guiding their students and schools to excellence, frequently under challenging circumstances. These select few are nominated by their school communities during the final stage of the National Blue Ribbon Schools application process.

The coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools award affirms the hard work of educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content. With its thirty-ninth cohort, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed approximately 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools. The National Blue Ribbon School flag gracing an entry or flying overhead is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.

Public schools are nominated by top education officials in each state, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. Private schools are nominated by the Council for American Private Education. More information about the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program can be found on the U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon Schools web page .

California’s National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2022

• Arcadia: Foothills Middle School, Arcadia Unified School District
• Belmont: Ralston Intermediate School, Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District
• Burlingame: Burlingame Intermediate School, Burlingame Elementary School District
• Cerritos: Carmenita Middle School, ABC Unified School District
• Cerritos: Wittmann (Helen) Elementary School, ABC Unified School District
• Clovis: Woods (Harold L.) Elementary School, Clovis Unified School District
• Diamond Bar: Diamond Bar High School, Walnut Valley Unified School District
• Dublin: Eleanor Murray Fallon School, Dublin Unified School District
• Dublin: Harold William Kolb School, Dublin Unified School District
• Etiwanda: Grapeland Elementary School, Etiwanda Elementary School District
• Etiwanda: John L. Golden Elementary School, Etiwanda Elementary School District
• Fresno: Granite Ridge Intermediate School, Clovis Unified School District
• Irvine: Woodbridge High School, Irvine Unified School District
• La Mesa: Helix High School, Grossmont Union High School District
• Long Beach: Newcomb Academy, Long Beach Unified School District
• Orinda: Orinda Intermediate School, Orinda Union Elementary School District
• Pleasanton: Thomas S. Hart Middle School, Pleasanton Unified School District
• Rolling Hills Estates: Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District
• San Bernardino: Richardson PREP HI Middle School, San Bernardino City Unified School District
• San Diego: Westview High School, Poway Unified School District
• San Dimas: Arma J. Shull Elementary School, Bonita Unified School District
• San Francisco: Lawton Alternative School, San Francisco Unified School District
• San Ramon: Coyote Creek Elementary School, San Ramon Valley Unified School District
• San Ramon: Gale Ranch Middle School, San Ramon Valley Unified School District
• San Ramon: Iron Horse Middle School, San Ramon Valley Unified School District
• San Ramon: Windemere Ranch Middle School, San Ramon Valley Unified School District
• South Pasadena: South Pasadena Middle School, South Pasadena Unified School District
• Valley Village: Colfax Charter Elementary School, Los Angeles Unified School District
• Van Nuys: Kester Avenue Elementary School, Los Angeles Unified School District

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100