It’s not every day that one of your schools gets recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School. When we learned that one of our schools – Balboa Boulevard Magnet School – was awarded this honor, we were elated, and thought we’d tell you a bit more about how a school gets selected and why Balboa made the grade.
Schools are recognized based on school-wide student scores, scores for various student groups and graduation rates. They are among their state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or national tests. Both public and private schools are eligible for selection and span all grade levels. Nominations are made by senior officials in each state.
Balboa Magnet School was recognized as one of the state’s highest-performing schools, in part because of the outstanding distance learning practices that the school adopted during the closure of school campuses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is confirmation of the hard work of our school, our staff, our scholars and our parent community,” Balboa Gifted/High Ability Magnet Principal Christine Chun said. “Our teachers saw this as an opportunity to learn, and from wherever they started, we collaborated. Teaching in person is our craft, which we do so well. We refine practices to meet students’ needs. But trying to deliver instruction over Zoom called for a whole different set of skills. We taught our students to work on having a growth mindset and we as educators had to practice it daily during distance learning.”
“I am so proud of Balboa Gifted/High Ability Magnet Elementary School for being distinguished as a National Blue Ribbon School,” Board Member Scott M. Schmerelson said. “It is through the efforts and commitment of the principal, teachers, staff and students that have made this a model school. Our students, family and school leaders should beam with pride over this achievement. Congratulations!”