Canonsburg Middle School honored for third time
Canonsburg Middle School has been recognized as a model school for a third time.
Canon-McMillan School District announced Tuesday the school – which has 858 students in grades seven and eight – was among 10 schools in Pennsylvania to be redesignated as Don Eichhorn’s Schools to Watch.
The Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education awards the designation for a three-year period based on criteria developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform.
To make the list, schools must submit a written application. If the application passes muster, a committee from PAMLE visits schools to observe classes and student work. It also interviews school staff, parents and students.
“It’s really how it should be,” said Canonsburg Principal Greg Taranto. “You can’t judge schools based just on a test score.”
The criteria on which schools are evaluated fit into four broad categories: academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity and organizational structure.
“It’s important that we’re providing a whole-child education – not just what’s tested,” Taranto said, adding the recurring designation shows the community’s support for that goal.
Thirty-eight schools were named Schools to Watch this year in Pennsylvania, one of 17 states where the designation is offered.
Schools must demonstrate progress toward specific goals to receive the designation again.
Canonsburg Middle initially received the designation in 2011 and again in 2014.