OHIO — The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday named 16 Ohio schools as 2021 National Blue Ribbon Schools.

What You Need To Know

  • Ohio received the sixth-most Blue Ribbon honors in the nation

  • The program gives the award based on academic excellence or closing achievement gaps

  • The 16 Ohio schools are among 325 that received the honor this year

The honor is given "based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups," according to the Department of Education's website. The National Blue Ribbon Schools program is in its 39th year and has awarded more than 10,000 awards to over 9,000 schools, with some receiving multiple awards. To be nominated for the program, schools must be up and running for five years or more. 

This year, Ohio received the sixth-most awards with California getting the most Blue Ribbon honors at 28 schools. 

All schools are placed into two performance categories based on student scores and graduation rates:

  • Exemplary High-Performing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools 
  • Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s student groups and all students

Here are the 2021 Blue Ribbon schools:

  • Westerly Elementary School, Bay Village City School District in Bay Village
  • Hilltop Elementary School, Beachwood City School District in Beachwood
  • Whipple Heights Elementary School, Perry Local School District in Canton
  • Mariemont Junior High School, Mariemont City School District in Cincinnati
  • Montgomery Elementary School, Sycamore Community City School District in Cincinnati
  • Dublin Jerome High School, Dublin City School District in Dublin
  • Saint Brigid Of Kildare Elementary School, Diocese of Columbus in Dublin
  • Girard Intermediate Middle School, Girard City School District in Girard
  • Granville High School, Granville Exempted Village School District in Granville
  • Seton Catholic School, Diocese of Cleveland in Hudson
  • Orchard Park Elementary School, Kettering City School District in Kettering
  • Hocking Hills Elementary School, Logan-Hocking Local School District in Logan
  • Marion Local Elementary School, Marion Local School District in Marion
  • Minster Elementary School, Minster Local School District in Minster
  • Pugliese Elementary School West, Steubenville City School District in Steubenville
  • Fallen Timbers Middle School, Anthony Wayne Local School District in Whitehouse

There are of 325 schools that received the honor this year. Last year, another 16 sixteen schools were named Blue Ribbon schools. 

Of the 325 schools, 307 of them are public and the rest are private. Of the public schools, 44% are in suburban areas, 33% are rural and 22% are urban. For the private schools, 65% were either in suburban or rural areas with the rest being in urban areas, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

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