Burbank and Lyons elementary schools are among 27 schools from across the country named to the 2017 America’s Best Urban Schools list by the National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST).

Selected from thousands of schools in the nation, Burbank was named a Gold Level winner and Lyons was honored with a Silver Level award.

Gold Level prize winners were announced at the 2017 America’s Best Urban Schools Symposium on May 16 in Nashville, Tenn. Both Burbank and Lyons participated in the symposium and presented about their campuses.

The America’s Best Urban Schools Awards are presented annually to the nation’s highest performing urban schools. In order to qualify, schools must be located in a metropolitan area with 50,000 or more residents.

Schools are recognized for their high rates of academic proficiency for every racial/ethnic group, high achievement rates for English learners, high degree of proficiency for students with disabilities, excellence in STEM education, high attendance rates, low rates of out-of-school suspension, high graduation rates, college credit and AP course completion, and dropout recovery.