Sharon Elementary School in Alleghany County has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of its 2007 No Child Left Behind National Blue Ribbon Schools.

The Blue Ribbon Schools program honors public and private K-12 schools that are either academically superior in their states or demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.

Fewer than 1 percent of schools across the nation receive Blue Ribbon Awards each year.

Sharon is one of 10 Virginia schools to receive Blue Ribbon status.

Each school met the guidelines for Adequate Yearly Progress for 2007 under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Sharon has met Virginia's requirements for full accreditation since the 2002-03 school year. At least 95 percent of its students have been measured to be reading at or above their grade level by the end of third grade during each of the past three years.

All of the schools nominated for the award were judged on their Standards of Learning test performance in the spring of 2006. Ninety-nine percent of Sharon's students in grades three through five passed the Virginia SOL reading test, and 98 percent passed the math test. Among the school's students qualifying as economically disadvantaged, 100 percent passed the reading test and 97 percent passed the math test. Twenty-eight Sharon students scored a perfect 600 on 33 SOL tests.

All seven Alleghany County schools have met Virginia standards for full accreditation for the past four years. The school division and all of the schools have met all requirements for adequate yearly progress under No Child Left Behind in both of the past two years.