There has been cause for celebration at Holley Central School District the past few weeks. The district is among those commended by the New York State Education Department for making significant gains on fourth- and eighth-grade English language arts and math tests. The tests are used to measure how well students are meeting the state's tougher learning standards and whether they are on track to graduate. "Holley's trend has been nothing but upward over the past couple of years," said High School Principal Bill Pileggi.

On the fourth-grade math test, the percent passing jumped from 50 in 2000 to 79 in 2001. Eighth-grade math scores have risen from 47 to 60 percent passing over the past three years, while eighth-grade English scores have gone from 42 to 58 percent passing. Holley was listed among the state's most improved schools for both its eighth-grade math and English scores for 2001. "We still have a lot of work to continue with this upward trend," Pileggi said.

Pileggi attributes the higher scores to earlier identification of students in need of remediation. "In Holley, we identified the students before they took the tests and gave them the skills they needed to do well," he said. The district also uses a proactive approach to staff development. "Our staff has worked very hard training to prepare students to meet the standards and learning about any new developments with the tests. They know what concepts they have to get across to their students," said Pileggi.

While Regents scores weren't among the highly publicized figures released by the state, Pileggi noted that Holley's Regents scores improved in 11 out of 14 areas. "Math is an area of weakness (which the district is working on improving), but our English results improved ten percent in the past two years," he said.

To recognize the students' hard work in achieving these improved scores, the Holley Board of Education provided free lunches to all students on November 16. "In today's world, we feel it is important to let our children know that we take pride in them and encourage them to continue to 'reach for the stars,' " said a letter that was signed by all of the board members and sent home to parents.

The same week, the board also recognized staff with a surprise reception at which board members and administrators commended staff for their efforts. Each staff member received a pin that shows a flock of geese flying in V-formation. The board chose the pin to signify the teamwork staff displays in working together toward a common goal - student success.