Pittsburgh CAPA earns Blue Ribbon Distinction
We are thrilled to announce that Pittsburgh CAPA was selected as a 2009 Blue Ribbon School. CAPA is one of only two high schools in Pennsylvania to receive this honor.
Pittsburgh CAPA’s selection was based on its students achieving in the top 10 percent of the state and the school’s achievement of Adequate Yearly Progress.
Pittsburgh CAPA will be among the 314 Blue Ribbon schools – 264 public and 50 private – to be honored at an awards ceremony on November 3 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.
The Blue Ribbon award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior, or have made dramatic gains in student achievement and helped close gaps in achievement among minority and disadvantaged students. Selection is based on one of two criteria:
1. Schools whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on state tests or in the case of private schools in the top 10 percent of the nation on nationally-normed tests;
2. Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that demonstrate dramatic improvement of student performance to high levels on state tests or nationally-normed tests.
In addition, public schools must meet Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, in reading (language arts) and mathematics. Each state — not the federal government — sets its own academic standards and benchmark goals.
Over the past 27 years, more than 6,100 schools have received this coveted award.
For more information about the Blue Ribbon program, please visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/awards.html
Read Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article here.
Pittsburgh CAPA among nation’s best schools (earlier Pittsburgh Tribune-Review story)
