CARLSBAD -- Five North County campuses won the California Distinguished Schools award in 2007, including three from Carlsbad, state officials announced Monday. Calavera Hills, Carlsbad High and La Costa Canyon all won the award.

Other North County winners are San Pasqual High in Escondido and Valley Center High in Valley Center.

The state Department of Education bestows the award based on detailed applications and site visits where teams of local educators evaluate curriculum, staff training, student support and community involvement.

Across San Diego County, nine schools earned the award this year. The focus alternates each year between elementary schools and middle or high schools.

"I'm so pleased to see both our oldest and our newest schools honored for their excellence," said Kelli Moors, president of the Carlsbad Unified board of trustees.

Calavera Hills opened in 2004, while Carlsbad High was built in 1957. La Costa Canyon is also in Carlsbad, but is part of San Dieguito Union High School District.

Only about a fifth of the state's 2,400 middle and high schools were eligible based on statewide test score requirements, according to a news release from the Department of Education. Of those, 279 schools applied and 171 were selected statewide.

To be eligible, schools had to reach a score of 800 on their Academic Performance Index, a measure of students' scores on standardized tests that can be from 200 to 1,000, or have their scores improve by a state-defined amount.

"We're very excited to continue to show the good work our teachers and students have been doing," said Martin Griffin, principal at San Pasqual High, which opened in 1972.

He said that when evaluation teams visited San Pasqual, school officials emphasized programs they're proud of, such as the Freshman Transition academy, which gives first-year students special attention. San Pasqual had earned the state award before, in 2001.

This was the first year that Valley Center High achieved the Distinguished School designation.

"It's definitely been nine years in the making," said Valley Center High's principal, Ron McCowan. The high school opened in 1998.

"When the team came to visit us, we emphasized a caring staff and support for individual students, and I think they saw that," he said.

The Distinguished School award lasts for a four-year period. Thus, schools that received awards in 2005, such as Escondido and Orange Glen high schools in Escondido and Mt. Carmel in Rancho Penasquitos, are still valid.

The awards bring no money, but schools receive a plaque and a flag to fly over their campuses. This year's honorees will be formally recognized at a May 18 awards ceremony and dinner at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.

Contact staff writer Quinn Eastman at (760) 740-5412 or qeastman@nctimes.com.