(March 2, 2005) -- Ten LB Unified School district elemenary/K-8 schools are finalists for this year's CA Distinguished School Awards...and are awaiting visits (March 6-31) by teams of educators who'll decide if the finalist campuses get the top honor.

Buffum, Edison, International, Muir, Prisk and Twain are elementary school finalists. Hudson, Newcomb, Robinson and Tincher are finalists in the K-8 category. (Carver, Gant and Gompers elementary schools earned Honorable Mention).

The CA Distinguished Schools Program, initiated in 1985 by the CA Dept. of Education (CDE), honors elementary and secondary schools in alternate years. Those eligible to apply (based on their Academic Performance Index and Adequate Yearly Progress results) undergo a selection process conducted by CDE in partnership with the CA County Superintendents Educational Services Association with help from local educators from across the state.

Loca educators evaluate the schools under the direction of CDE, and those schools judged exemplary are then visited by an outside review team to validate the application information. (The ten LBUSD finalist schools this year are awaiting those validation visits this month.)

A CA Distinguished School must demonstrate high academic expectations for all students, achievement levels at and above state standards, strong leadership, competent and caring teachers focused on standards, and outstanding curriculum.

Statewide winners must also show exemplary family involvement and partnerships with the business community, comprehensive guidance and counseling services, ample support for students with a wide range of needs, and a safe learning environment that promotes citizenship, caring, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness.

Winning schools may apply for the National Blue Ribbon Award.

Last year, LBUSD's Hill Classical Middle School, Hughes Middle School and Wilson Classical High School were named CA Distinguished Schools...and five of this year's nominee/finalists would be repeat winners (Hudson, International, Newcomb, Prisk and Twain.)

A total of thirty LBUSD schools have already received this top state honor: Avalon, Cubberley, Hudson and Newcomb schools, Polytechnic and Wilson high schools, California Academy of Mathematics and Science, Hill, Hughes, Rogers and Stanford middle schools and Alvarado, Barton, Cleveland, Fremont, Gant, International, Keller, Kettering, Longfellow, Los Cerritos, Lowell, Madison, Naples, Prisk, Roosevelt, Signal Hill, Stevenson, Tucker and Twain elementary schools.