A total of 17 Burbank, Glendale schools win state’s rare Gold Ribbon Award
Lincoln Elementary School third grader Isabella Alonzo shows how she plays the recorder, after the flag ceremony at the school in La Crescenta on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.
More than half of Burbank Unified’s 11 elementary schools and half of the 20 elementary schools in Glendale Unified earned Gold Ribbon Awards this year, state education officials announced this week.
The recognition goes to schools making progress in preparing students for 21st-century colleges and careers, and it temporarily replaces the California Distinguished Schools program as state education officials work to create new accountability systems for schools.
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In Burbank, honors went to George Washington, Joaquin Miller, Providencia, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Walt Disney and William McKinley elementary schools.
The ten Glendale winners were Abraham Lincoln, Cerritos, Columbus, Horace Mann, Monte Vista, Mountain Avenue, R.D. White, Thomas Edison, Thomas Jefferson, Valley View elementary schools.
Burbank Supt. Matt Hill said he was proud of the seven campuses for being recognized as “exemplar” schools.
“These Gold Ribbon Awards are another example of the amazing work our men and women do on behalf of our students every single day,” Hill said.
Kelly King, assistant superintendent of Glendale Unified, said school officials are “incredibly proud” of the schools that were honored.
“Each school got to show which best practice to highlight so they really got to show off what they’re most proud of,” King said. “Each one is so unique, incredible and special.”
Statewide, 6,000 elementary schools were eligible to apply for the award, and 772 campuses earned it.
The schools that won have made gains in student achievement after implementing the California state standards in math, English, science and in supporting English learners.
“California teachers are developing an education model for the nation, training the students of today to be the problem-solvers, inventors and pioneers of tomorrow,” state Supt. Tom Torlakson said in a statement.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
