Pepperell Primary School is one of seventeen schools from across Georgia to be announced as "No Excuses" schools by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation today at a news conference.  Pepperell Primary is a school for pre-k through third-grade students in the Lindale community.

The selection of "No Excuses" schools is based on the Georgia Public Policy Foundation's 2007 "Report Card for Parents," a searchable database of statistics on Georgia's public schools available at www.gppf.org.  These schools have above-average percentages of low-income students but at the same time exhibit significantly higher academic scores than statistical projections based on the statewide relationship between poverty and test scores.

Pepperell Primary was the highest ranking area school on the elementary grades listing of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.  Pepperell was listed in the top 10 percent on the list of 1176 elementary schools in Georgia.

In a news release from the Foundation, the group's education expert Dr Holly Robinson described the schools as demonstrating the "impact of highly motivated, dedicated teachers, dynamic leadership, active parent and community support, and high expectations for all students."  She said, "They prove that regardless of socioeconomic status or race, the 'no excuses' philosophy - caring about academic gains and a focus on student achievement - works."

In the release, Foundation President Rogers Wade, also added, "These schools break the mold and prove that closing the achievement gap is not only possible, but is being done."

The 2007 Report Card for Parents numerically ranks 1,176 public elementary schools, 476 middle schools and 369 high schools in the state by achievement score and the percentage of students exceeding standards. According to the Foundation's website, because there is a strong link between poverty and test scores (the higher the poverty rate, the lower the test scores), the report includes two other criteria for information purposes only. The first is the poverty rate ­­- the percentage of students in each school who qualify for the federal free/reduced-price lunch program. The second is a poverty index that measures how well a school is performing relative to its poverty rate.

The 2007 No Excuses schools are:

Rigdon Road Elementary School (Muscogee County)
SW Laurens Elementary School (Laurens County)
White Elementary School (Atlanta Public Schools)
East Lake Elementary School (APS)
Capitol View Elementary School (APS)
Union Point Elementary School (Greene County)
Greensboro Elementary School (Greene County)
Oglethorpe Elementary School (APS)
NW Laurens Elementary School (Laurens County)
Monte Sano Elementary School (Richmond County)
Dimon Elementary School (Muscogee County)
Cascade Elementary School (APS)
Pearson Elementary School (Atkinson County)
Benning Hills Elementary School (Muscogee County)
Pepperell Primary School (Floyd County)
Screven County High School (Screven County)
Washington County High School (Washington County)