Frankford Elementary School, a Delaware school with a diverse population of students from low-income families was honored by the U.S. Department of Education for its students' achievement. The principal cited high expectations as key to the success. Included: A description of how a school with challenges succeeded.

Frankford Elementary School in Frankford, Delaware, was highlighted as a model of excellence at a Philadelphia summit on the No Child Left Behind Act, according to an article in The News Journal

"The rural Sussex County school was honored last fall by national education officials for defying stereotypes of what a low-income, racially diverse student body can achieve," the article said.

Principal Duncan Smith said in the story that the most important factor for success is creating a culture that doesn't make excuses for why students can't achieve.

"If we establish the belief that it is possible, students will respond and rise to meet the expectations and their test scores will go up," Smith noted in the article.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE

Some of the information in this article comes from the U.S. Department of Education. To learn more about this article, you might read:

• Frankford principal speaks at education-reform summit
  This news article appeared in The News Journal on April 27, 2006. Note: This link was live at the time of publication. Some newspaper Web sites require registration. Others retain complete news stories for a limited time.