Empire State Advantage Gold Award
In 2004 and again in 2007, the Binghamton City School District has earned the prestigious Empire State Advantage Gold Award for quality practices.  The ESA Gold Award is given to school districts that develop sound, forward-looking administrative and instructional practices.  BCSD is the first city school district to achieve this level of recognition in the history of the program.

BCSD has also received the following honors:

• Franklin Elementary was recognized as a High Performing/Gap Closing School in NYS; 
• Designated by New York State as a "21st Century" School District;
• Recipient of the "What Parents Want" award from School Match, an independent consulting firm that compiles data on how well schools meet the needs of students and parents;
• Binghamton High School is consistently included in the Challenge Index Directory of Best Performing IB/AP high schools in America.  The directory was published in Newsweek magazine;
• Benjamin Franklin Elementary and East Middle School were selected as "Blue Ribbon Schools" by the U.S. Department of Education;
• West Middle School was selected as a National Title I Distinguished School.
• Horace Mann Elementary was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of 95 elementary and secondary schools nationwide with exemplary programs to help disadvantaged students;
• The Binghamton High School Music Department was named a GRAMMY  Signature School by the GRAMMY  Foundation.