Only 300 schools nationwide are named by the U.S. Department of Education as National Blue Ribbon Schools, and Aiken Elementary School is one them.

It is a thrilling honor, says principal Sharon Foret Cagle, that is given to schools whose pupils are largely drawn from poverty or low-income districts, but who rank in the top 10 percent of statewide academic achievement. The NBR program, recently revamped to be in line with the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act, must also meet Annual Yearly Progress standards.

Aiken Elementary was only one of four South Carolina schools to make the Blue Ribbon list; no Georgia schools in the Augusta area made it. Principal Cagle, her pupils and teachers are celebrating their achievement this week. They've earned it. We can only add: Good work, and keep it up.