National Honor Pinned On Sharon High

earned national recognition Thursday, becoming a Blue Ribbon School.

The U.S. Department of Education accepted 305 schools nationwide this year into the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, agency spokesman David Thomas said. The 256 public and 49 private schools were nominated by their state's department of education, he said.

The program "honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools that are either high performing or have improved student achievement to high levels, especially among disadvantaged students," the agency's website says.

The 305 schools will be honored at a conference and awards ceremony Nov. 14-15 in Washington, D.C.

Sharon High Principal Jose Libano said the award reflects "what our kids have done, the teachers have done, our entire staff, the people in the community."

"These are the things that make Sharon High School successful," he said.

Sharon High and the Boston Latin School are the only new Massachusetts honorees.

The .

The schools then had to apply for the honor. Thomas said program officials then vetted the applications.

Libano said Sharon High's application included its English and math MCAS scores.

"We said, 'This would be a great honor, and our community and our school deserves this kind of recognition for all the hard work by the people from the elementary (school) to the high school,'" Libano said.

Libano said he announced the news to the school today.

He also added the National Blue Ribbon logo to the high school's website.

"It's a source of pride for the school and for the community," Libano said.

The national award is the latest honor for the Sharon public schools.

Sharon has the in Massachusetts, according to Boston magazine's 2011 ranking.

The list of the top 50 school districts is in Boston's September issue.