Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy earns 2013 U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School recognition
WASHINGTON (Sept. 24, 2013) — U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today recognized Northwest Pennsylvania College Academy (NPCA) as a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School based on the school's high academic performance.
Collegiate Academy will be honored alongside 285 other schools across the nation at a recognition ceremony held Nov. 18-19 in Washington.
“Excellence in education matters and we should honor the schools that are leading the way to prepare students for success in college and careers,” said Secretary Duncan. “National Blue Ribbon schools represent examples of educational excellence, and their work reflects the belief that every child in America deserves a world-class education.”
The National Blue Ribbon Schools award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools where students perform at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in students’ levels of achievement. Collegiate Academy was recognized as an “exemplary high performing” school, a category in which schools are recognized among their state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally-normed tests.
"It is such an honor for the school," said Dr. Tammie Smith, director of high school education for Erie's Public School and former dean of Collegiate Academy. "The students and faculty have worked very hard to earn this distinction."
Collegiate Academy enrolls approximately 800 students in grades 9-12 and is an urban, college preparatory magnet school with a 100% four-year college acceptance rate. The school is currently ranked #2 in Pennsylvania by Newsweek and The Washington Post and #3 by U.S. News & World Report, which also awarded NPCA a gold medal in 2012.
Collegiate Academy graduates have an average SAT combined math and critical reading score of 1120 and writing score average of 557. The class of 2012 received more than $16.5 million in college scholarship offers.
To select National Blue Ribbon Schools, the U.S. Department of Education requested nominations from the top education official in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates private schools.
A complete list of the 2013 National Blue Ribbon Schools is available at http://www.ed.gov/nationalblueribbonschools. 
