Two Montgomery County schools were selected as 2012 Blue Ribbon schools Friday.
Blue Ribbon is a U.S. Department of Education national award program, with recognition based on high math and reading scores on state tests or improved performance in schools with students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The area winners are Ridge Park Elementary School in the Colonial School District and the Spring-Ford Middle School Eighth Grade Center in the Spring-Ford Area School District.
Six other Pennsylvania schools were also selected.
Also, 17 New Jersey schools won the designation, including the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science in the Ocean County Vocational Technical School District and St. Paul School in Princeton.
Nationwide, the education department gave 219 public and 50 private schools the Blue Ribbon designation this year. The winners do not get a monetary reward, just the prestige that comes from being nationally recognized.
The number of Pennsylvania winners is down from last year, when 14 schools, including eight from Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs, got the award. Schools cannot apply for the honor more than once in five years.
At Ridge Park, a K-3 elementary school in Conshohocken, 100 percent of the third graders scored proficient or advanced - at or above grade level - on state math and reading tests in 2011. "It's a great day for us," district superintendent Maryellen Gorodetzer said Friday.
Gorodetzer added that the district has been upgrading offerings to elementary school students for several years, devising new ways of monitoring their performance and coming up with support for those who struggled, including before and after-school programs for some.
"We have an individual learning plan for each child," she said. "And the parents are very committed and supportive."
In Spring-Ford, at the eighth grade center, said school board president Thomas DiBello, "our students work hard and the staff, teachers, and administration have pushed to raise the bar there. It's exciting to receive this recognition."
Added Board Vice President Joseph Ciresi: "In recent years, we have seen our staff come up with more innovative ways to get our children engaged and involved. This award reflects a districtwide commitment to excellence in education."
