Laie, Waialua and Hickam elementary schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Thursday.

Hickam and Laie elementary schools were named Exemplary High Performing Schools as measured by state or national assessments. Waialua was was named an Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing School for its success in that area over the past five years.

Oahu’s newest National Blue Ribbon Schools are similar in size — 652 students at Laie, 594 at Hickam and 543 at Waialua — but serve widely different student demographics.

Some 99% of Hickam’s students — 65% of whom are white — come from military families. About 200 new students enroll over the course of each school while another 200 leave throughout each school year.

“Our students come from all over the world, and we’re always concerned about knowing the child quickly,” said Principal Alisa Bender.

The two rural North Shore schools have different origins but similar demographics that are dominated by students who are either Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or of mixed ethnicities.

“Our school was established in 1966 to serve the children of sugar plantation workers,” Waialua’s principal, Scott Moore, wrote in the school’s application to the U.S. Department of Education. “The sugar plantation has long since closed, but the cultural legacy of that time and those workers lives on at Waialua Elementary School.”

Laie Elementary is a Title I school that serves children who often come from low-income families.

But “despite some of the challenges our families face, they and other community members freely give of their time and money to mentor, coach, teach, and support the youth of La‘ie,” school officials wrote in their application to the DOE.

It is the second time since 2012 that Waialua has been honored as a National Blue Ribbon School, both under Principal Moore.

He told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the latest honor was the result of “an especially low gap between nondisadvantaged students and disadvantaged students. (Achievement levels for both groups) were pretty good, and there was very little gap between.”

Waialua’s last Blue Ribbon banner did not survive hanging outdoors.

“The elements took their toll on the old banner,” Moore said. “When we do get the new banner, we’ll see if we can re-create the one from 2012 and have them together” — likely mounted inside.

“It’s special to win two (National Blue Ribbons) in 10 years, but it’s even more meaningful now,” he said.

Waialua was awarded blue ribbons under vastly different assessment standards, so the latest honor “means we were consistent,” Moore said.

For the current students at Waialua, especially the older ones, Moore hopes the new National Blue Ribbon honor reinforces the message “that they know they came from a good school and the success they had here is something that can play out on a larger scale on a bigger stage.”

Bender, the principal at Hickam Elementary, said the entire school focuses on making newly enrolled and departing students know “that they are loved.”

The students come from all parts of the globe, and their parents serve in all branches of the military.

“They’ve moved so many times, we want this to be a place where they feel welcomed,” Bender said.

Each new student is partnered with a fellow student, or “buddy.”

The school has created an “Aloha Transition Center” where new students learn how to make friends, “the joys of living in Hawaii and how to deal with homework,” Bender said.

Parents are encouraged to eat lunch with their children whenever possible to make up for long deployments and other absences.

And when each of the 200 or so students leaves throughout each school year, there are “a hui hou” announcements, lei and gifts including a stuffed bear.

“When they leave, we want them to know we miss them,” Bender said.

For however long the students attend Hickam Elementary School, Bender said, “We want to make sure our kids are leaders everywhere they go.”

The Oahu schools were among 312 public schools and 50 nonpublic school winners nationwide, according to the state Department of Education. All are scheduled to be honored in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14 and 15.