City University Alumni Lead Blue Ribbon Schools

City University alumni and Washington State Principals Lauren Hopson and Jerry Pugh have reason to be proud.  Both of their schools were recently named recipients of the prestigious No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools (NCLB-BRS) Award which nationally recognizes schools for their academic achievement as some of America's most successful schools.

The NCLB-BRS Award honors schools that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement as measured by state assessments where at least 40 percent of their student population comes from disadvantaged backgrounds.  It also rewards schools that are in the top 10 percent of all schools on state assessment scores.  This award is a way to acknowledge the hard work of students, staff members, families and the community in closing the achievement gap.  For more information on the U.S. Department of Education NCLB-BRS program, go to http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/faq.html.

On September 23^rd, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the 2005 NCLB-BRS Award recipients.  Lauren Hopson’s and Jerry Pugh’s schools were among seven Washington schools that were recognized. Hopson, a June 2000 Education Leadership Program graduate, is Principal at Image Elementary School in Vancouver, Wash.  Pugh, a 1996 graduate of the Education Leadership Program’s principal certification program, is Assistant Principal at Jenkins High School in Chewelah, Wash.  The principal and a teacher from each school will be presented with a plaque and a flag signifying their NCLB-BRS status at a ceremony held in Washington, DC November 10-11th.