Maryland names 23 Blue Ribbon schools a year after feds ended national awards

Maryland has named 23 public and Catholic schools as its 2026 Blue Ribbon Schools a year after the U.S. Department of Education abruptly discontinued a similar program that honored high-performing schools across the nation each year.

The Trump administration announced in August 2025 that it would no longer administer the decades-old National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. The program recognized schools for students’ performance on national and state assessments or for their success in narrowing achievement disparities for different student groups compared with the state average.

That prompted Gov. Wes Moore to reinstate a Maryland Blue Ribbon program that ended in the 2019-20 school year. Last year, the state recognized seven schools that had been in the running for the national award.

This year, the state program is run by the Maryland State Department of Education in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Archdiocese of Washington. Officials selected 12 public schools and 11 Catholic schools, primarily from suburban school districts in the Washington and Baltimore regions. This year’s list is unusually long; state and national blue ribbon designations have typically gone to fewer than 10 Maryland schools each year.

Schools must apply for the designation. They are judged on a variety of factors including performance on state and national tests and success in closing achievement gaps, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“Maryland Blue Ribbon Schools demonstrate what is possible when strong leadership, dedicated educators, and engaged families work together on behalf of students,” Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright said in the release. “These schools are among the best of the best in our state, achieving one of the highest honors in education.”

The public schools honored include three in Baltimore County, three in Montgomery County, two in Harford County, and one each in Anne Arundel, Carroll and Frederick counties and Baltimore City.

“Academic excellence and faith formation go hand in hand in our Catholic schools,” said Sister Patricia McCarron, superintendent of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s schools. “These Maryland Blue Ribbon School Awards affirm the dedication of our educators, the partnership of our families and the achievements of our students.”

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