Horry County Schools sets record with three nominees

It is an honor for a school district to have one school among the list of nominees for the prestigious National Blue Ribbon Schools award. To have three out of only five nominees, in a state with more than 1,200 schools, sets a new record for Horry County Schools.

Forestbrook Middle School, Lakewood Elementary School and Myrtle Beach Intermediate School were each notified by the South Carolina Department of Education of their nomination to join the esteemed community of National Blue Ribbon Schools. All three are being nominated as Exemplary High Performing Schools.

By definition, an Exemplary High Performing School must be in the top 15 percent of all schools in the state for both reading (English language arts) and mathematics based on its progress in closing achievement gaps between the school’s subgroups and the state’s all-students group over the past five years.

For each of the school’s subgroups, the performance of all tested students in the subgroup in the most recent year tested in both reading (English language arts) and mathematics must be in the top 40 percent of all schools in the state.

The United States Secretary of Education will announce the 2015 National Blue Ribbon Schools in September.

The principal and a teacher of winning schools are invited to attend a recognition ceremony in November in Washington, D.C.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools recognition program is part of a larger United States Department of Education effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about effective school leadership and promising instructional practices.

Since its inception in 1982, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has recognized more than 7,000 Great American Schools.

Other Horry County schools previously named National Blue Ribbon Schools are: Socastee Elementary School, 2014; Forestbrook Elementary School, 2012 and 2001; Midland Elementary School, 2009; Carolina Forest Elementary School, 2004; the Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology, 2002; St. James Middle School, 1996; Conway Middle School, 1993; Socastee High School, 1991; and Conway High School, 1985.

Learn more at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html