Half Of Georgia's Blue-Ribbon Public Schools Are In Forsyth County

CUMMING, GA — Six Georgia public schools have received the coveted designation of National Blue Ribbon School — and three of them are in Forsyth County.

Big Creek Elementary, Brookwood Elementary and Riverwatch Middle School were named to a list of 342 exceptional schools nationwide by the U.S. Department of Education, the school system announced on Thursday.

The 2017 designation marks the third time Big Creek Elementary has been declared a Blue Ribbon School.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the National Blue Ribbon Schools program honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools where students achieve very high learning standards or are making notable improvements in closing the achievement gap.

"This coveted award affirms the hard work of educators, families and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content," Forsyth County Schools said in a news release.

Other Georgia public schools named to the list were Dickerson Middle School and Dodgen Middle School in Marietta and Kedron Elementary School in Peachtree City. Georgia private schools receiving the honor were Atlanta Academy in Roswell, St. John the Evangelist Catholic School in Hapeville and Savannah Christian Preparatory School (lower school) in Savannah.

Read the full list of 2017 National Blue Ribbon Schools here.

All schools are honored in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates.

Exemplary High Performing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s subgroups and all students over the past five years.

On Nov. 6-7, the Department of Education will celebrate with these honorees at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Like the Cumming Patch on Facebook to get more stories like this in your News Feed.

Image courtesy Forsyth County Schools