Two schools—Hidden Hollow Elementary and Lakeridge Junior High—have earned the prestigious National PTA School of Excellence designation. Announced in April at ceremonies at each of the schools, the honor represents a year-long commitment in identifying and implementing an action plan for school improvement based on PTA's National Standards for Family-School Partnerships.
An Elite Accomplishment
Only six schools in Utah have achieved the School of Excellence, according to Melinda Tanner, who serves as the state’s PTA Schools of Excellence chair.
“It's pretty significant because the school and the PTA have to create a plan, implement the plan, and then gather community feedback to see where they can improve,” said Tanner.
Tanner, who has children attending Hidden Hollow, said that less than 350 schools nationwide have earned the designation this year.
Earning the title requires a rigorous, year-long journey driven by community feedback and focused improvement. The process includes a community feedback survey at the beginning of the school year to accurately diagnose the specific needs of the population. Guided by this data, the PTA and school leaders work hand-in-hand to formulate a customized action plan, implement it throughout the year, and redistribute the survey to measure concrete growth and determine what went well.
Standards-driven Approach to Success
The School of Excellence program is based upon the six national PTA standards and decades of research that says the more families are involved in school the more successful students will be. The six standards are:
Welcome all families
Communicate effectively
Support student success
Speak up for every child
Share power
Collaborate with community
“As we have strived to be a school of excellence, we have really enjoyed aligning our school goals and priorities with the efforts of our PTSA,” said Derek Elison, principal at Lakeridge Junior High School.
Hidden Hollow’s principal, Sarah Smith, explained that a school community aligned to clear standards helps everyone understand what those goals are and how each group can contribute to meeting them.
“The standards help us focus on what works for our students,” Smith said. “When we build a plan [that is standards-aligned] we are building on each other's efforts and strengths.”
The standards of communication was particularly powerful at Lakeridge.
“Receiving feedback from our Lakeridge community, students, and faculty have helped us focus on increasing engagement with our Lakeridge families,” added Elison. “We have improved our communication methods with our families and students and have increased our number of student celebrations and activities and been more transparent with our school data”
Collaboration is Key
“You cannot do this by yourself,” said Tanner. “It takes commitment from the principal to support you in sending out the feedback to the entire school.”
School leaders agree that working together is fundamental in earning the School of Excellence designation, as well as meeting the long-term goals for student success.
“When the parents are aware of what we are chasing as a school, they are more engaged in the conversations centered around student learning,” Elison said. “They are aware of the systems and processes we have put into place to support high levels of student learning.”