Two Long Island elementary schools have earned the right to fly the Blue Ribbon flag this year, continuing a long line of awards given to area schools by the U.S. Department of Education.

Lakeville Elementary School in Great Neck and South Grove Elementary School in Syosset have both been named 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools, federal officials announced Monday. The two schools are among 21 in the state and 356 nationwide to receive the designation this year.

Schools are recognized with Blue Ribbon honors in two categories: outstanding academic achievement and success in reducing achievement gaps among different student groups. Both South Grove School and Lakeville School are represented in the outstanding academic achievement category.

Typically, award applications require several months of preparation by dozens of school and district staff, and the announcement of winners is often accompanied by a pep rally of sorts — such as at Lakeville School, where hundreds of blue-clad students cheered the 1 p.m. announcement and shook pom poms.

“I’m just thrilled – speechless right now,” Mi Jung An, principal of South Grove School, told Newsday on Monday.

South Grove, which enrolls 420 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, places a strong emphasis on encouraging students’ individual academic interests, local officials said. One example of the school’s approach is its longstanding tradition of “brown bag” sessions, where children can listen to experts speak about various topics during lunch. One recent visitor was a cartoonist; another was a paleontologist who handed out small fossil samples.

“This demonstrates the district’s commitment to promoting the interests and strengths of all students,” said Michele Webb, a teacher in charge of academic support at South Grove.

The Syosset system provides a special education specialist to each of its seven elementary schools.

A tradition at Great Neck is a “morning meeting,” where students are asked to share experiences individually with their classmates — for example, describing a bad moment when they were scared or discouraged, or a good moment when they succeeded. The idea, school officials say, is to encourage students to put in a little effort, even if the topic of conversation may be uncomfortable at first.

“We encourage children to take risks, respectfully challenge the thinking of others, and celebrate their own unique ability to make positive contributions,” Lakeville School officials said in their application to the U.S. Department of Education.

The school has 770 students in grades one to five.

Emily Zucal, the school’s principal, said student academic achievement there is improved by an emphasis on “sequential and cohesive delivery of content.” The idea is to ensure that all classes in a given subject and grade level are delivered as scheduled, so all students and teachers can be assured that everyone has access to the same academic content and nothing has been skipped.

The key to this is that “our teachers work very well together,” Zukal said.

Blue flags and banners are a familiar sight in Nassau and Suffolk County. Each year they win several awards. Three of the area’s schools, in Amagansett, Jericho and New Hyde Park, won blue ribbons last year. Four area schools won the year before.

Such schools “raise the bar for our nation’s students,” U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “As we celebrate their successes, we should look to these schools for inspiration.”

In addition to traditional public schools, private schools and independently run charter schools can also apply for the federal program.

John Hildebrand is senior education writer for Newsday and has covered school news and political issues on Long Island for more than 40 years.