Los Ranchos Elementary School in San Luis Obispo is celebrating its designation as a National Blue Ribbon School.
Los Ranchos is one of just 356 schools in the country to be named a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School and the only school in San Luis Obispo County to receive the award this year.
The school held an assembly on Friday to celebrate.
"This is the most exciting thing that's happened in our school in many, many years, so there's quite a buzz going around campus right now and I think it's going to last for quite a while," said Principal James McMillen.
The U.S. Department of Education bases its Blue Ribbon awards on student performance data such as assessment results and graduation rates and highlights schools that excel in academic performance or make significant progress in equity for student achievement.
Mr. McMillen says when school staff heard about the award, they said, "Let's keep going!"
"We're not going to stop. We're not just going to — we're going to pause and celebrate because that's important — but we're not going to stop. We're going to keep working just as hard, if not even harder than we ever have," he said.
Just 29 other schools in California also received Blue Ribbon awards.
