News & Events

This US Department of Education program was created in 1982 to honor schools throughout the nation that have achieved high levels of performance. Schools may only apply if they are nominated by their state departments of education. Bullis Charter School (BCS) was 1 of 11 schools from California to be named Exemplary High Performing Blue Ribbon School in 2014.

Partnership for 21st Century Learning (“P21”) identifies, documents, promotes, and celebrates examples of successful 21st century learning in order to provide educators and communities a variety of models to draw from (Patterns of Innovation report), and offers policymakers and P21 State Partners local examples to help encourage their support. BCS was one of 19 schools in the country to be named a 2015 “P21 Exemplar School,” joining the ranks of fewer than 60 schools nationwide.

BCS is designated a 2016 California Gold Ribbon School by the California Department of Education (CDE). The California Gold Ribbon Schools Program honors some of California’s most outstanding public schools. Selected schools demonstrate exemplary achievements in implementing state standards in priority areas including English Language Arts, English Language Development, Mathematics, and Next Generation Science.

Wanny Hersey, the founding Superintendent/ Principal of BCS, was one of five elementary school principals in the country to win the NAESP’s Digital Early Learning Award. Hersey is being honored for the school’s emphasis on creating and implementing digital tools and offering blended learning early education services that are scientific, holistic, experiential, accountable, and relevant to the personalized needs of each child.

The California Department of Education recognizes public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Approximately five percent of California schools are honored each year following a rigorous year-long selection process. BCS has been named a California Distinguished School twice, in 2008 and 2014. Additionally, BCS was one of 13 schools to win the California Exemplary Arts Education Program Award for its award-winning Drama, Choirs, Bands, Strings, and Visual Arts programs in 2014.

The Schools Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation recognizes schools that meet an acceptable level of quality, in accordance with established, research-based WASC criteria.

Stanford University’s Design School has designated eight schools as Design Thinking Home Schools to support educators incorporating design thinking into their curriculum and practices. As a “d.home team” school, BCS is part of a network of Bay Area schools that serve as a model for innovative teacher professional development approaches and educational pedagogies that can be replicated in other schools.

Future Ready is a bold nation-wide initiative to maximize digital learning opportunities and help school districts move quickly toward preparing students for success in college, a career, and citizenship. As a Future Ready School, BCS is part of a network of schools recognized for its commitment to providing  students with the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed in the global community through personalized digital learning.

Common Sense Digital Citizenship Certified Schools are dedicated to teaching digital literacy and citizenship to young people. BCS has been recognized for educating its students to be safe, smart, and ethical digital citizens and for taking a whole-community approach to preparing its students to use the immense power of digital media to explore, create, connect, and learn while limiting the perils that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism, loss of privacy, and cyber-bullying.

The Santa Clara County’s Wall of Honor for Biliteracy and Pathways Awards honors districts and charter schools that prepare students for 21st century global competence through policies and actions that value language and cultural assets. We are very proud that BCS’s K-8 World Language curricula and our commitment to students attaining a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in one or more languages in addition to English, are being recognized for this recognition.

The Climate Stewards Leadership Program recognize students that provide sustained professional development, collaborative tools, and support to build a climate-literate public that is actively engaged in climate stewardship. BCS is recognized for its work in increasing students’ understanding of climate science and commitment to practical actions to reduce the impact of climate change through its ocean, climate, and atmospheric science education.

An Ocean Guardian School makes a commitment to the protection and conservation of its local watersheds, the world’s ocean, and special ocean areas like the national marine sanctuaries. BCS is recognized by NOAA for its students’ work over 12 years in the conservation of watersheds in the towns of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, as well as its programs to protect the world’s ocean through its K-8 Leatherback Turtles curriculum and partnership with the Leatherback Trust helping preserve marine sanctuaries locally and internationally.

Wanny Hersey, founding Superintendent/Principal of Bullis Charter School (BCS), was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Artspiration Principal Arts Leaders (A-Pal) Award. Mrs. Hersey was recognized for her work as an outstanding administrator and advocate for arts education in Santa Clara County.

Eco-Schools is an internationally acclaimed program that provides a framework to help educators integrate sustainability principles throughout their schools and curriculum. BCS has won the Silver Award for its dedication to climate literacy and eco-friendly practices. Eco-Schools is sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation.

The mission of Green Up Our Schools is to reduce the amount of material sent to landfill through early student engagement. BCS was named as a member of the Green Up Our School Consortium for improving its recycling by more than 50% and diverting over 240,000 lbs of recyclable material from landfill every year.

The Champion Creatively Alive Children grants are intended to help schools build creative capacity, nurture children’s creativity, and inspire other schools to do the same. BCS received a monetary grant and Crayola products to assist their innovative work in sharing its S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) curricula and practices with educators from schools and districts throughout Santa Clara County.