The 1999-2000 school year is the sixteenth year of the Blue Ribbon School Recognition Program of the U. S. Department of Education. This cycle will be for secondary schools (middle or high schools) who wish to submit the application. The date for submission at the state level is Friday, October 8, 1999, 4:30 p.m. You will need to submit the original application, plus three copies, and the disk to: Ed Jones, Arkansas Department of Education, 4 Capitol Mall, Room 301-B, Little Rock, AR 72201. Time is being allowed for review of all nominations by a review committee, with emphasis on those selected for national competition. There will be time to make any corrections, as well as any enhancements to the nomination package before the Department of Education mails the selected nominations to the United States Department of Education by November 15, 1999.
If you have applied before, the different sections of the nomination package have new questions for response and some questions have been rearranged. Additionally, the special emphasis area, which is optional, has three choices: (1) Family Involvement, (2) Character Education, or (3) New American High Schools.
The minimum period of operation for schools, including newly merged schools, is five years. That is, the school must be in its sixth year of operation when the application is submitted.
Schools must not have received national recognition in the Blue Ribbon School Recognition Program during the five years prior to the current application year. Previously reorganized schools are eligible in the sixth or subsequent year.
You may access a Blue Ribbon Nomination Package through the Blue Ribbon Schools home page at www.ed.gov/ and click on "Topics A-Z". Then, click on "B" for Blue Ribbon Schools, or contact Ed Jones.