3 Houston Area Schools Selected As U.S. Blue Ribbon Schools

HOUSTON, TX — Several Texas schools were honored as Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday, including a few in the Houston area. The award recognizes a school’s overall academic performance as well the commitment by staff to help students succeed.

In all, 325 schools were named to the 2021 list, including 26 in Texas. Now in its 39th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has given approximately 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools.

Included on this year’s list are three schools located in the Houston area.

Here’s a look at this year’s winners:

Calder Road Elementary School, Dickinson

• School Type: Public Elementary
• District: Dickinson ISD

North Houston Early College High School, Houston

• School Type: Public High School
• District: Houston ISD

Logos Preparatory Academy, Sugar Land

• School Type: Private High School
• District: Logos Preparatory Academy

Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year, according to the Department of Education. Nominees are selected by top education officials in states and territories, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Blue Ribbon Schools are then selected based on their performance in one of two categories:

• Exemplary High-Performing Schools: These are among a state's highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
• Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools: These are among a state's highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between all other students and according to a school’s student groups.

Schools are also selected based on student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates.

This year’s nominees “illustrate what is possible” during tough times, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a news release.

"I commend this school and all our Blue Ribbon honorees for working to keep students healthy and safe while meeting their academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs,” Cardona said in the release. “In the face of unprecedented circumstances, you found creative ways to engage, care for, protect, and teach our children.”