In 2011, the Little Rock School District’s Wilson Elementary School was named a Needs Improvement Priority School, among the lowest performing five percent of schools in Arkansas. With 95% of its enrollment qualifying for Free and Reduced Lunch, Wilson is among the six poorest schools in the District and the 27th poorest in the state.

Conventional wisdom would have excused Wilson’s performance as inevitable, based on its challenged population. But instead of making excuses, Wilson went to work.

In 2013, the school achieved the highest three-year growth in the District in Math (+26%) and Literacy (+37%). For perspective, the next highest in the District was Franklin Elementary’s +13% in Math and +29% in Literacy.

Not only did Wilson emerge from Priority status, but it vaulted over Needs Improvement Focus and Needs Improvement to land in Achieving Schools, joining the seven highest performing schools in the District and top 138 in Arkansas.

Wilson Elementary is living proof that every child, no matter their race, economic level or Zip Code, can learn when adults quit making excuses and trade low expectations for high. The Little Rock School District and Arkansas Department of Education should identify whoever and/or whatever is responsible for the Wilson turnaround, bottle it, and liberally apply it across the District and around the state.