Hafen Elementary School has officially been deemed an "exemplary" school by the State Department for its vast improvement in meeting federal proficiency standards under the No Child Left Behind Act. Terry Owens, testing and accountability coordinator, told the school board the good news at its Nov. 8 meeting.

Schools are deemed "exemplary" when they go from being ranked "in need of improvement" to "high achieving" within three years.

The ranking is based on the school's annual yearly progress (AYP) results, or the percentage of students who passed standardized proficiency tests.

Owens, principal at Hafen Elementary, told the board the ranking was a goal met.

"In 2004, at my very first staff meeting, I told the staff at that time that within three years we'd become a model school," Owens said. "And in the past four, to 2007, the state declared us a 'high achieving' school."

Owens said the rankings were the result of a number of changes made within the school and a combined effort of teachers and administration.

"This is the result of teachers working hard," Owens told the board. "It's been a lot of dedicated teachers that come early and stay late, and they put everything into the school."

The principal explained the reading curriculum was changed to focus on state standards and that more interactive teaching, as opposed to worksheets, was also implemented.

In addition, technology has also been incorporated into the classroom, with fifth graders getting quizzes "beamed" to them on a small personal computer, which the principal said has been met with enthusiasm by the students and increased active learning.

Owens also stressed that a supportive parent-teacher organization was also instrumental.

As if that weren't enough, Owens added her school's English Second Language students were performing exceptionally well, including one ESL third-grade student who earned a perfect score on the reading Criterion Referenced Test last year.