RUSSELLVILLE, Mo. -- Russellville High School and Russellville Elementary/Middle School were were among 14 Missouri schools honored as Professional Learning Communities Exemplary Schools.
The Cole County R-1 School District honored both of its schools during its homecoming events last week.
Since the Russellville school board and administration decided to implement Professional Learning Communities five years ago, the culture, climate and expectation of learning has changed.
The process was instrumental in helping the district move from its ranking in the lowest 100 schools in the state to its current place as No. 4.
Only two other school districts, including Fulton, had multiple schools recognized by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently.
These schools have shown "outstanding" performance in implementing the professional learning community process, promoting a culture focused on learning with collaborative teams and effective use of data to increase student achievement, the department said.
The Missouri Professional Learning Communities Project began during the 2003-04 school year. It supports Missouri's Top 10 by 20 initiative, seeking for the state to be among the top 10 in the nation by the year 2020.