Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education, named the joint Florida Atlantic University High School and A.D. Henderson University School as a National Blue Ribbon School this month.

The recognition is based on the academic performance of the students, according to FAU High Communications Manager Alvaro Frydman. Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year by top education officials in all states, and 348 other schools in all states, including D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, received the award this year, according to the Department of Education.  

“A.D. Henderson & FAU High School won this recognition because of the innovative, exceptional education … that has occurred within our walls since our doors opened in 1968,” Frydman said.

FAU High School, which opened in 2004, and A.D. Henderson are two separate programs, but regarded as the same school for categorization purposes. Both located on FAU’s Boca Raton campus, Henderson is for kindergarten through eighth grade, while FAU High School could be described as college for free.

In FAU High, ninth grade students take intensive high school level coursework while being prepared for college, and in tenth through twelfth grade, the high schoolers trade regular coursework for full college courses on the FAU campus, for free.

Jessica Wilson-McCoy is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].