PITTSBURG, Kan. — Seven years ago, when the Pittsburg School District received its first “standard of excellence” designation in connection with state assessments, there was a huge celebration.

Years later, such awards come more regularly, and no one thinks to have a big party with cake and punch.

Except this year.

Test results from last spring show that Pittsburg Community Middle School earned five standards of excellence: one for every grade level in reading, a buildingwide writing award, and a buildingwide composite standard of excellence. The school has 550 students.

Assistant Superintendent Cory Gibson summed up the accomplishment in one word: remarkable.

That’s because historically, many school districts struggle with achieving good state assessment results at the middle-school level.

Three years ago, the middle school met 69.2 percent of the requirements put forth by the No Child Left Behind program. This year, it met 82 percent.

Fifty-nine percent of Pittsburg Community Middle School students who are eligible for free and reduced-priced lunches — commonly used as the measure for students who are “at risk” — met No Child Left Behind requirements three years ago; this year, 76 percent met the standards.

School personnel no longer talk about how classes or grade levels are faring, but how individual students are doing.

The school maintains a data folder for every student in reading. It charts the student’s level when entering the school, along with trends, weaknesses and intervention methods tried.

In addition, staff members identify students who are struggling in reading and carve out 50 minutes in each school day to give them additional support.

The district also hired Mary Beth Dunlavy, a 30-year veteran of special education, and Shelley Hale, an expert in adolescent reading and at-risk strategies, to coordinate the efforts.

Hale told Gibson that she never would have believed that the school’s accomplishment was possible. But they both knew how much was riding on it.

Said Gibson: “By middle school, if students aren’t experiencing success or we’re not trying to do something about it, we know that statistically their chances at being successful at high school and beyond are not good.”