On September 29^th 2015, Central High School was recognized by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School.  Central was one of 285 public and 50 private schools to be recognized as a Blue Ribbon School and only 1 of 35 public high schools in the nation to receive this award. Central High School is the first ever Shenandoah County Public School to ever receive this prestigious recognition.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recognized Central High School stating, “This honor recognizes your students’ accomplishments and the hard work and dedication that went into their success”. Duncan said in a video message to the 

. “Your journey has taught you collaboration, intentional instruction, and strong relationships in school and with your community. You represent excellence – in vision, in implementation, and in results – and we want to learn as much as we can from you.”

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students either achieve very high learning standards or are making notable improvements in closing the achievement gap. The award plaque affirms the hard work of students, educators, families and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content. The award flag gracing a school’s building is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.

All schools are recognized in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates:

Exemplary High Performing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. Student subgroup performance and high school graduation rates are also at the highest levels.

Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools are among their state’s highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s subgroups and all students over the past five years. Student subgroup performance and high school graduation rates for each subgroup are at high levels.

Of 

 performance categories Central High School is recognized as an

The Department invites National Blue Ribbon School nominations from the top education official in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity and the Bureau of Indian Education. The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates private schools. A total of 420 schools nationwide may be nominated, with allocations determined by the numbers of K-12 students and schools in each jurisdiction. The U.S. Secretary of Education invites nominated schools to submit an application for possible recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School.

 Students enrolled in Economics/Personal Finance take the WISE Financial Literacy Certification test, a nationally recognized industry certification. A school must have achieved a 80% passing rate on the WISE Financial Literacy Certification Test and have EITHER a majority of students at a given grade level take the Test OR have the students who took it achieve an average score of 85% or higher. 

-Leadership Service in Action

-Families Acting for Community Traffic Safety (FACTS)

-STOP the Violence

-Career Connection

-Families First

-Student Body

-Financial Fitness

-Power of 1 (Individual Project by Gwyneth George) 

Three groups participate in competitive STAR events and all 3 earned silver medals in:

Job Interview (Nakayla Irvin)

Chapter Service Project Display (Erika Thorpe and Gwyneth George)

Illustrated Talk (Summer Sypolt, Alexis Huffman, Hannah Copp) 

Nakayla Irvin finished 2nd overall qualifying for Nationals this summer in San Diego in Job Interview.