Faculty at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts) took a moment recently to celebrate the school’s recent award-- being named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The school was one of only 349 schools in the nation and 19 in Pennsylvania to receive the award this year.

The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

During a faculty meeting Oct. 10, school administrators, faculty and staff celebrated this prestigious honor with a blue ribbon cake and faculty were given blue shirts to commemorate the award. Administrators praised the faculty and staff for their hard work and dedication.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools award affirms the hard work of educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content.

All schools are honored in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates:

• Exemplary High Performing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.

• 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 over the past five years.

Charter Arts has been honored in the Exemplary High Performing Schools category.