The Albuquerque School for Excellence is being recognized for -- what else? -- excellence.

The school is one of three schools in New Mexico being awarded a Blue Ribbon award. The award is based on a school’s progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

“We are one of the three schools in New Mexico to be awarded a Blue Ribbon award, and we are one of 15 charter schools to be nominated for this nationwide,” said Mustafa Ayik, the school’s executive director, KOB4 News.

Students and staff have worked hard to make the state charter school successful. Administrators at the school told KOB4 News their student test scores are above the national average.

“We are very proud to receive that recognition, to be nominated for closing the achievement gap, because two years ago when the pandemic started, we were all talking about how to close the achievement gap,” Ayik said, according to KOB4 News.

Administrators said the ability to set their own agenda is an asset. The school is also tuition-free and selects students through a lottery system. This year, they have just under 1,000 students.

“We are our own district, so we make our own decisions with our admin team and governing council,” Vickie Kwiecinski, K-5 principal at the school, told KOB4 News. “We have a lot of flexibility. It’s fulfilling and I can’t wait for the teachers to really let it set in. It’s been hard, the last few years have been hard on teachers.”

Acequia Madre Elementary in Santa Fe and Texico Middle School also received the National Blue Ribbon award. These schools are part of almost 300 schools nationwide to be recognized.