Accomplished.

Friday was the last day of the first full week of Summer Professional Development -- it has been a great time so far. Our teachers have been troopers through long days of training and having a very positive attitude to boot! The highlight of my Friday (even better than the staff party, which was fun) was this moment:

Yes, that is my board of presentations I had to prepare for Summer PD. And yes, every single box has been checked off. Now I can get started on the other list of things to do. But, I did want to revel in my accomplishment.

Then, this morning, my school got a mention in The Washington Post! I think we can all revel in that accomplishment too. If you don't really feel like reading the whole article...here's the part that pertains to our school.

At D.C. Preparatory Academy's Edgewood Middle School campus in Northeast, reading and math scores also showed steady growth. Since 2006, reading pass rates at the charter school have risen 23 percentage points, to 65 percent; in math, 70 percent of students are now proficient, up 27 points.

Emily Lawson, the school's founder and chief executive, said the gains have been made as teachers have streamlined curriculum and interventions.

In addition, she said, teachers used a new tool this year: Every eight to 10 weeks, students took tests developed by the Achievement Network, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, to determine which standards they had mastered and which they had not. Teachers used the results to tailor their lessons to students' needs, Lawson said.