The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday designated nine Florida schools - including four charters, two private schools, and a district choice school - as National Blue Ribbon Schools.
This year, no other state had more charter schools winning the honor, which recognizes some of the top schools in the country that apply.
Gadsden County's Crossroads Academy Charter School of Business stands out because it is also the only Title I Blue Ribbon school in the state this year. The federal government considers every member of its its 99-percent minority student body to be economically disadvantaged (though just one in three students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, one of the lowest rates in Gadsden County).
In a statement on his school's website, Principal Kevin Forehand said his school had made history, as the first in its county to receive the honor.
"As a charter school comprised of all minorities and full of economically disadvantaged scholars, we have defied statistics by proving that we can achieve at nationally competitive levels," he wrote. "I still believe that it does not matter who you are, where you are from, or what conditions and difficulties families are faced with; high quality education is attainable by everyone."
Two private schools and three district schools (including a school of choice in Brevard County) were also recognized. One of the private schools, Fort Lauderdale's Westminster Academy, enrolls 67 low-income students through Florida's tax credit scholarship program. It is the tenth school participating in the program to be recognized as a Blue Ribbon school in the past five years. The program is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.
