The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) announced Monday that the national business news publisher Industry Dive and its publication, Education Dive, named it the District of the Year as part of its 2017 Dive Awards recognizing “top disruptors and innovators” in education.

“These administrators, schools, trends and breakthroughs are transforming the industry and shaping the future,” stated the award announcement.

Awardees were nominated by Education Dive readers and chosen by its editors based on resonance and industry impact, according to the release. The criteria included “a district that has been leading in a specific buzz area, setting an example of how to do things in the context of 21st Century learning.”

Education Dive Editor Linda Jacobson visited LBUSD’s central offices and Cabrillo High School as part of the award selection process.

“Strong school districts have clear plans for where they want to go and how they plan to get there, and they don’t chase after the latest initiative just because it might carry with it some additional funding,” Jacobson said in a statement. “The LBUSD has demonstrated these principles.”

Jacobson also highlighted the Cabrillo Academy of Law and Justice, the Long Beach College Promise initiative, the district’s College Readiness Guide and its long-standing efforts to build support systems, including instructional leadership teams, at each school and at the district level as reasons for the selection.

“These teams carefully lead schools through the implementation of major initiatives, such as the districtwide Chromebook rollout or challenges such as how to incorporate specific career and technical knowledge into classes of students from several industry pathways,” Jacobson said in a statement.

“Thank you to Education Dive for recognizing the innovation and hard work of everyone in our school communities,” LBUSD Superintendent Christopher J. Steinhauser said in a statement. “We continue to find new ways to close achievement gaps for our students. Being recognized for these efforts on a national stage gives our people a much appreciated boost of moral support.”

Other nominees for this year’s District of the Year Award were Vail and Benson school districts in Arizona (as a co-nomination), Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina and Albemarle County Public Schools in Virginia, according to the release.

Read the entire Education Dive article here and learn more about Washington D.C.-based Industry Dive here.