Ten middle schools and three high schools were recognized in San Diego County. It is modeled after the federal Blue Ribbon Schools program. Elementary and secondary schools are honored in alternate years.
Schools receive the award for a four-year period.
Secondary schools with Stanford 9 test scores in the top half of the statewide distribution were invited to apply for the award. To win the award, schools prepared a 19-page application based on the best practices of exemplary schools. In the application, schools were required to cite evidence of student achievement, capable teaching, a well-organized curriculum, and parent and community support. Distinguished School applications were screened at the state level by curriculum experts, with the schools that submitted the highest-scoring applications slated for site visits by local review teams. Site visit reports for the schools above are available from Doug Langdon.