Morningside Elementary School has been named a 2016 National Blue Ribbon School, one among 279 public and 50 private schools receiving this honor.

Principal Audrey Sofianos and a teacher will represent Morningside Elementary at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Nov. 7-8, according to a news release from Atlanta Public Schools.

“Our school is honored and thrilled to be recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School!” said Sofianos. “I am so proud of our students and their love of learning.”

National Blue Ribbon schools are recognized in one of two performance categories, either as exemplary high performing schools or as exemplary achievement gap closing schools. The performance categories are based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates.

The school was nominated by the Georgia Department of Education, and then was required to complete a comprehensive application about school practices.