Aiden Prestridge and Effie Gross, Legacy third graders, participated in the Academy's annual STEM EXPO with their Rube Goldberg demonstration titled How to Feed your Friend.

Legacy Christian Academy has officially been selected by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) as one of its nominees for the prestigious National Blue Ribbon Schools Program.

"This is a highly-distinguished nomination; only 50 private schools throughout the entire country receive this nomination by CAPE each year," says Legacy Superintendent Tim Borruel. "In fact, this nomination is so rare that there was not a single private school throughout California that was honored with a nomination in 2014."

This nomination honors Legacy Christian Academy as an "exemplary, high-performing school." One of the major prerequisites for a school to receive this nomination is that its student scores on a standardized test must rank in the top 15 percent of either the country or the state. Legacy Christian Academy has a history of scores well within this mark. In fact, over the past five years, Legacy students had a percentile average of 91.5 percent on SAT-10 nationally-standardized tests when compared to other private and public schools throughout the country.

Test scores alone don't make a school worthy of a Blue Ribbon nomination, however. According to the US Department of Education, these exemplary organizations share core elements like leaders with "an articulate vision of excellence," a faculty that is supported by professional development and mentoring, adaptations that boost every student and mutual respect between families and educators - all qualities that Legacy displays in spades.

The intense Blue Ribbon application process required that Academy administration describe the campus's distinctive curriculum and community for evaluation by CAPE's professional educators, focusing efforts on programs that set the Legacy experience apart from other schools regionally and nationally.

"A good portion of our application focused on our Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programming and emphasis," says Stephanie Niednagel, Legacy's director of academic instruction. "We were confident that Legacy's methods for incorporating STEM across curriculums, as well as our STEM programming like our annual STEM EXPO
and Family Science Night, would be well received. Other primary elements included Legacy's impressive foreign languages curriculum; all our students learn Spanish and many also learn Mandarin Chinese. Our remarkable arts and music programs were also highlighted, as were our students' successes in national competitions like spelling bees and state competitions in STEM and history."

It's the Academy as a whole, though, that prompted the Blue Ribbon nomination. "It is reflective of the rigorous, challenging academic program Legacy has provided for over 20 years," says Legacy Principal Dr. Matthew Northrop. "This nomination supports the Legacy way! Every day at Legacy, students gain the skills necessary to become innovative leaders with hearts of strong Biblical character. Each Legacy student is growing in their ability to think deeply and creatively as they develop the skills of communication and collaboration. Through Legacy's differentiated instruction, technological focus and academic acceleration, our students are cultivating a successful future for themselves - and our world."

"This nomination by CAPE is a testimony to the hard work, dedication, professionalism and love of so many," says Legacy Co-founder Donna Borruel. "I'm deeply proud of our administration team, teachers, students and families. Each member of the Legacy community has contributed positively to - and is thrilled by - this nomination. It inspires us to re-invest in our commitment to provide the best Kindergarten through eighth grade educational opportunity available anywhere."

In September of this year, the US Department of Education will officially announce the 2015 National Blue Ribbon Schools from among the nominated private and public schools. To officially honor the recipients of the National Blue Ribbon Award, a ceremony will be held later in the fall in Washington, DC. "We're optimistic," says Superintendent Borruel. "It's in God's hands now."