Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28), along with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, recognized Andrew Trautmann Elementary School, located in Laredo, Texas, as a recipient of the 2010 National Blue Ribbon School Award. Only 314 schools nation-wide received the honor this year.

The award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools whose students achieve at very high levels or have made significant progress and helped close gaps in achievement especially among disadvantaged and minority students.

The schools—254 public and 50 private—were honored at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Several members of the Trautmann school faculty and administrators from the United Independent School District attended, including Superintendent Roberto Santos, Assistant Superintendent Pamela Juarez, Principal Cynthia Rodriguez, Board members Roberto Ramirez and Juan Molina, Assistant Principal Kristina Chapa and teachers Roselynn Gutierrez, Toni Cantu, Cindy Vega and Alexa Schaefer. 

 “Education is the gateway to opportunity,” said Congressman Cuellar. “We must do everything within our power to ensure that the children of our community have access to a quality education. I laud Trautmann Elementary School Principal Cindy Rodriguez, the teachers, and the hard-working staff for their great work and commitment to bettering our community through education.”

"Our nation has a responsibility to help all children realize their full potential," Duncan said. "Schools honored with the Blue Ribbon Schools award are committed to achievement and to ensuring that students learn and succeed. Their work reflects the conviction that every child has promise and must receive a quality education."

Each year since 1982, the U.S. Department of Education has sought out schools where students attain and maintain high academic goals, including those that beat the odds. In the past 28 years, more than 6,000 of America's schools have received this coveted award.

The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors schools based on one of two criteria:

1.      Schools whose students, regardless of backgrounds, are high performing. These are schools ranked among the state's highest performing schools as measured by their performance on state assessments or in the case of private schools, that score at the highest performance level on tests referenced by national norms in at least the most recent year tested; and

2.      Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that improve student performance to high levels as measured by the school's performance on state assessments or nationally-normed tests.

A list of the 2010 Blue Ribbon Schools is available at http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/awards.html.

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