‘Blue Ribbon’ awarded to Avalon Middle School

Avalon Middle School in east Orange County won the national “Blue Ribbon Schools” award Tuesday, one of seven Florida schools and the only local one to earn the honor.

The award program run by the U.S. Department of Education recognized 325 schools nationwide.

The other Florida schools were in Homestead, Jacksonville Beach, Miami, Pembroke Pines and Tampa. All are public schools, though nationally the award went to a mix of public and private schools.

“This year’s cohort of honorees demonstrates what is possible when committed educators and school leaders create vibrant, welcoming and affirming school cultures, where rich teaching and learning can flourish,” said U.S Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a statement.

The 39-year-old program honors schools with the highest student achievement as measured by standardized tests or those that have done the best job closing achievement gaps on standardized tests between different groups of students.

Avalon Middle was honored in the closing-gaps category.

The A-rated school sits in the Avalon Park community and has just under 1,000 students enrolled. The school, which opened in 2006, has earned A’s from the state every year from

2007 through 2019.

The state grades are based mostly on student performance on state exams in math, reading, science and social studies.

Florida did not assign schools grades in 2020 because of the pandemic and did not again in

2021 unless a school district wanted grades issued.

The Orange County school district chose not to have any of its campuses graded this year.