DCHS receives national award

ATLANTA - State School Superintendent Kathy Cox recently announced that six Georgia schools - including Dawson County High - have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education. <br> <br> Dawson County High Principal Rick Brown attributes the award to a lot of hard work &#34;not by me, necessarily, but when good things happen it has to happen in the classroom.&#34;<br> <br> Brown also noted the support of the Dawson County Schools Superintendent and others in the central office, as well as the parents of the students.<br> <br> &#34;I had some parents here (when I got the news Thursday) in parent-teacher cofnerences and I shook their hands and said &#39;you&#39;re a part of this.&#39; So, we are very excited for our community.&#34;<br> <br> The six schools are:<br> <br> - Alexander II Magnet School, Bibb County <br> - Dawson County High School, Dawson County <br> - Kedron Elementary School, Fayette County <br> - Main Elementary School, Rome City <br> - Robert A. Cross Middle Magnet School, Dougherty County <br> - Savannah Arts Academy, Savannah/Chatham County <br> <br> The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools that make significant progress in closing achievement gaps or whose students achieve at very high levels. <br> <br> The schools are selected based on one of two criteria:<br> <br> 1) Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests. <br> 2) 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. <br> <br> The schools are nominated by the state Department of Education and all nominated schools are given the chance to apply. <br> <br> Under No Child Left Behind, schools must make Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, in reading and language arts and mathematics.