State School Superintendent Kathy Cox announced that six Georgia schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.
"I am so proud of the teachers, administrators and students at these schools," Superintendent Cox said. "They are getting tremendous results from all of their students in every grade and truly deserve recognition as Blue Ribbon schools."
The Superintendent announced the winners during Thursday's State Board of Education meeting. The six 2006 Blue Ribbon Schools for Georgia are:

- Alexander II Magnet School, Bibb County
- Dawson County High School, Dawson County
- Kedron Elementary School, Fayette County
- Main Elementary School, Rome City
- Robert A. Cross Middle Magnet School, Dougherty County
- Savannah Arts Academy, Savannah/Chatham County

The No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap or whose students achieve at very high levels. The schools are selected based on one of two criteria:
1) Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests.
2) Schools whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on state tests or in the case of private schools in the top 10 percent of the nation on nationally-normed tests.
The schools are nominated by the state Department of Education and all nominated schools are given the chance to apply. Under No Child Left Behind, schools must make Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, in reading and language arts and mathematics. For more information on the NCLB - Blue Ribbon School awards, visit: http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/awards.html