Two schools Receive National Blue Ribbon School Recognition

MIAMI – Two Miami-Dade County public schools – Key Biscayne K-8 Center and MAST Academy – have received the U.S. Department of Education’s 2006 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools award.

The Blue Ribbon Schools program recognizes schools that are academically superior or that demonstrate remarkable changes in student achievement in reading and mathematics for all students. There are two criteria that schools must meet to be nominated:

At least 40 percent of the students in the school must either qualify for free or reduced lunch or be either Title I eligible, limited English proficient, or migrant. This group of students must show dramatic improvement in FCAT scores in both reading and mathematics for the three most recent years (at a 60 percent proficiency level on the FCAT or higher).
The school must be in the top 10 percent of schools in Florida as measured by the FCAT in both reading and mathematics for the three most recent years, regardless of demographics.

Nominated schools also must make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the latest two years, including the year they are nominated.