“This honor recognizes your students’ accomplishments and the hard work and dedication that went into their success… Your schools are examples for your communities, your states, and the nation…You represent excellence – in vision, in implementation, and in results – and we want to learn as much as we can from you.” ~ Arne Duncan, US Department of Education Secretary
Today is a historic day for our school and community! It is my sincere honor and privilege to share with you that New Horizon School, Irvine has been named a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence this morning by the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. This recognition is the realization and fulfillment of our mission of providing “an excellent academic education and firm grounding in moral and ethical values”. Achieving Blue Ribbon recognition involves a community of learners and leaders. A special thank you to Elementary Director, Uzma Said, for her educational leadership and goal setting and the efforts of all the teachers and students to realize this achievement.
As one of only 50 private schools chosen throughout the nation, New Horizon School, Irvine has been designated as an exemplary high performing school by meeting the criteria of students scoring in the top 15 percent in the nation in reading/language arts and mathematics as measured by a nationally normed test. The National Blue Ribbon of Excellence is a prestigious award presented to only the best schools in the country. We are so excited for our school, our students, our faculty and staff, our families, and our community.
In a broadcast announcement this morning, Secretary Duncan declared that New Horizon School, Irvine along with 281 total public schools and 50 private schools throughout the nation had been given the 2015 Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award. Of these recipients, New Horizon is the only Islamic school in the nation this year and one of only two Islamic schools to receive this distinction in history. New Horizon School, Pasadena received the award in 2005, and we owe their administrators a special thank you for leading the way!
Both Dr. Dina Eletreby and Mrs. Said will be travelling to Washington, D.C. on November 9th and 10th for a special recognition ceremony where they will be accepting the Blue Ribbon Award, Certificate, and Flag. In the weeks following the recognition ceremony, New Horizon will be having a number of Blue Ribbon Award events that will tie into the school’s celebration of its 15th anniversary.
Congratulations to our students, teachers, staff, parents and community! We have much to be proud of, and we will continue our commitment to excellence – a commitment to provide the best of an independent school education imbued with Islamic faith and values.
U.S. Education Department’s Blue Ribbon website and Secretary Duncan’s announcement: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html
New Horizon School, Irvine has been named a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Here are some details of the school’s ongoing academic successes:
- Over 40% of 3rd-6th grade students have scored in the top 5% nationally in mathematics and reading, qualifying students for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth program each year;
- Quantitative Reasoning scores have shown growth each year since the adoption of Singapore Math curriculum;
- In the three years that 6th grade students have competed, New Horizon has received an average of 42 medals at the Orange County Pentathlon for the last 4 years;
- New Horizon placed 11 out of 14 years total submissions to the Orange County Science Fair.
