Winston Churchill High School Is One of Six Schools Named a Maryland Blue Ribbon School

Winston Churchill High School in Potomac has been named a Maryland No Child Left Behind/Blue Ribbon School of Excellence for 2006-2007 by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE).

Churchill High School will now go on to compete for the National Blue Ribbon School honor, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education.

This is the first year Maryland high schools were among schools named for this honor under the new Blue Ribbon schools award process that uses performance on state assessments as the primary criterion for selection.

One of six Blue Ribbon schools announced by MSDE on December 11, Churchill was among the schools named on the basis of superior performance on High School Assessments (HSA) in algebra and English, as well as outstanding performance on SAT and Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Joan Benz is the school's principal.

At the end of the 2005-2006 school year, 94.5 percent of all Churchill students had passed the HSA in algebra and 90.2 had passed the HSA in English.

Almost 76 percent of Churchill’s Class of 2006 graduates took one or more AP exams, with a mean AP exam score of 3.7, compared with the overall MCPS mean score of 3.1. In this group of graduates, 70.4 percent earned one or more AP exam scores of 3 or higher.

Other state Blue Ribbon schools are George Washington Elementary School in Baltimore City, Hereford Middle School in Baltimore County, Burleigh Manor Middle School and River Hill High School in Howard County, and Heather Hills Elementary School in Prince George’s County. The Maryland Blue Ribbon schools will be honored at a March 12, 2007, banquet in Annapolis and will be recognized by the Maryland General Assembly.

Competition for National Blue Ribbon status will include a site visit to the school and evidence of other outstanding aspects of the school’s program.