1. Student Achievement:
a. Based on the overall percent of students who are scoring proficient or above on
the ISAT, the existing reading and Language Arts programs are achieving a high level of proficiency.
b. As measured on the spring 2005 ISAT the areas of strength in Reading and Language Usage are: Literary Analysis, Interpretive Comprehension, Punctuation, Grammar, Composition Writing and Composition Structure.
c. As measured on the 2005 Direct Writing, the 7th grade scored above the state average.

2. Professional Development:
a. The school district offers a wide variety of professional development courses through the school year. Besides the regularly scheduled teacher in-services activities the district offers courses in: 6+1 Writing Traits, Step-Up-To-Writing, PLATO, effective teaching strategies, classroom management, Microsoft Suite, and parenting classes that help teachers work with parents to meet the needs their children. Also, teachers are encouraged to participate in statewide professional development opportunities.

3. Context and Organization:
a. A strength of the school is the organization of grades into "Teams". This allows teachers to know and take a personal interest in each student, provides for consistency in expectations and policies in all of a student's classes, allows for shared decision making and promotes communication between teachers.

4. Curriculum and Instruction:
a. The district has a written scope and sequence which includes power standards.
b. Academic goals are aligned with the State's academic standards.
c. Targeted at-risk groups are identified and instructional programs are designed to support their individual needs.
d. Teachers use a variety of assessment procedures to guide instruction.

5. Family and Community Involvement:
a. The teachers enter student academic information into "PowerGrade", which allows parents to access their student's grades and missing assignments via the Internet.
b. Newsletters, e-mails and personal phone calls are used to communicate with parents.
c. Parents can use e-mail, phone calls and personal visits to communicate with the teachers.
d. A back-to-school night is held each fall to introduce parent to their child's parents, the curriculum, the expectations for the students, and what the parents can do to be involved in their child's education.