Honeoye Falls-Lima Wins Nation’s Highest Honor

LIMA – The Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District announced Tuesday that it has been chosen as the recipient of the prestigious 2016 National Blue Ribbon Award.

According to a press release from Honeoye Falls-Lima School District, the school will receive a plaque and a flag to be hung at the entrance of the high school. The U.S. Department of Education will formally present the award, considered the most prestigious award that an American school can achieve, at a Washington D.C. award ceremony on Nov. 7 and 8.

“This is a great representation of how hard our students and staff work,” said David Roth, HF-L High School Principal. “I am very proud of each and every one of them.”

Every year, the U.S. Department of Education seeks out and honors public and private American elementary, middle, and high schools demonstrate that all students can achieve at high levels. The National Blue Ribbon School Award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes winning schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

The National Blue Ribbon School flag flown at a school is widely recognized as a symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.

Public schools nominated for the National Blue Ribbon Schools award must meet one of two eligibility criteria, either as High-Performing Schools which are ranked among the highest performing schools in both reading and math, or as Improving Schools with at least 40 percent of their
student population classified as disadvantaged that have reduced the achievement gap and improved student performance in reading and math.

The Department of Education has awarded more than 8,000 schools the Blue Ribbon Schools award since the award was created 34 years ago. In New York State, only 19 schools are nominated for the Blue Ribbon Award, and the U.S. Department of Education chooses the winning schools from these 19.