State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces Exemplary Program Awards for Arts, Career Technical Education, and Physical Activity and Nutrition

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today announced additional honors for 22 California Distinguished middle schools and high schools selected as having an Exemplary Program in Arts Education, Career Technical Education, or Physical Activity and Nutrition. Distinguished Schools applied separately for these honors. This year’s honorees include 10 schools for Arts Education, nine for Career Technical Education, and four schools for Physical Activity and Nutrition—with one school receiving honors in two categories.

“We know that closing the achievement gap includes world-class instruction, including access to STEAM, career technical education, physical education, and nutrition education.” said Thurmond. “Instruction outside of core academic subject areas—like job training, entrepreneurship, and STEAM—helps all students prepare for 21st century jobs and sparks creative and healthy minds. I congratulate these 22 Exemplary Program Award winners for their outstanding work.”

The Exemplary Program Award winners, along with other California Distinguished Schools, Exemplary Districts, California Green Ribbon Schools, Civic Learning Award Schools, Model Continuation High Schools, National Blue Ribbon Schools, and National ESEA Distinguished Schools, all will be honored in April during a ceremony at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. More information on Exemplary Program Awards is available at the California Distinguished Schools Program webpage on the California Department of Education’s website.