The beacon of light continues to burn bright at Rising Starr Middle signifying the school’s high performance and academic achievement among Georgia’s middle schools.

The school has successfully completed recertification as a Georgia Lighthouse School to Watch. Rising Starr originally received the designation in 2003. In order to keep standards high, schools must reapply every three years. Rising Starr is one of only 11 Georgia Lighthouse Schools to Watch.

A Georgia Lighthouse School to Watch is a school that is conscientiously moving to fully meet the nationally endorsed criteria for high-performing middle schools, one that has made marked progress in meeting all of these criteria, including measurable gains in the academic achievement of all students. Such schools serve as models and mentors for other schools seeking to improve, even as they continue their own efforts to provide an exemplary educational program for students.

The Lighthouse Schools program is a special designation for middle schools in Georgia under the auspices of the National Middle School Association, the Georgia Middle School Association, and the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform.

Principal Len Patton attributes Rising Starr’s continued success to the dedication of its teachers and staff, the outstanding support and involvement of its parents and its wonderful students.

Rising Starr’s reapplication was submitted in the summer of 2006 and a committee visited the school on December 6, 2006 from the Georgia Lighthouse Schools to Watch Board. Dr. John H. Lounsbury, Dean Emeritus at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Georgia, and internationally renowned middle grades expert, chaired the committee.

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