Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MILFORD — Kids in the small town of Milford have a big reason to celebrate: They recently received a prestigious national award for improving their test scores from a full 20 percentage points.
For several years, test scores at Milford Elementary School hovered around 65 percent. But in recent years, they climbed and stayed to 85 percent. Because of this feat, the school was named the 2011 National Blue Ribbon School.
"When I heard that Milford Elementary received it, I was just thrilled," said Lisa Carter, Beaver County School Board member.
The recognition is given by the federal Department of Education to schools that are consistently high-achieving. Two hundred and fifty-six public schools and 49 private schools nationwide received the honor this year.
Milford Elementary School faces the struggles of many rural schools, but its principal decided one thing he could change was to stop losing a third of his teachers every year to jobs in bigger cities.
"A few would come and go, and it would just be a job until they found out where they really wanted to go," Carter explained.
So, the principal started only hiring teachers who committed to stick around.
"This was not going to be a training ground," said Ray Terry, superintendent of the Beaver School District. "You come here, you stay here. The teachers that have agreed to do that have stayed, and again made a big difference."
Scores have soared, and consistent teachers collaborate as a team.
"(It's) such a great recognition for our staff and all our kids that have worked so(It's) such a great recognition for our staff and all our kids that have worked so hard every day," said third-grade teacher Jamie Willden.
Another focus in this school is reading, so their Read Today reward was $1,000 worth of books to help them continue working in small groups.
"I'm excited because I like to read and I like to learn interesting things," said sixth-grader Jocee Campeau.
"I can learn a lot of stuff, and it's really interesting," sixth-grader Kadee Davis added.
The school's new principal plans to continue the same emphasis because, she says, it has shown that Milford's place on the map doesn't dictate their accomplishments.
"We're going to make a great school even better, and we can do it," said Principal Kar"We're going to make a great school even better, and we can do it," said Principal Karen Johnson.
KSL and Big O Tires could reward your school. Tell us about your accomplishments at target=_blank>readtoday.com.
----
Written by Nadine Wimmer with contributions from Molly Farmer.
