Rising Starr Middle remains a national and state model for middle school excellence by showing continued growth performance, earning recertification as a Georgia National Lighthouse School to Watch, an initiative of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform.

Rising Starr Middle became a Georgia National Lighthouse School to Watch for the first time in 2004. The school serves as a role model and mentor to other schools as they strive to establish the same high performance. In order to remain in the program, schools must re-apply every three years to demonstrate continued growth. This is Rising Starr’s fourth recertification.

The National Forum identifies four domains that are true of high-performing middle-grades schools, and awards the Lighthouse designation to those schools that are meeting them. The domains include academic excellence; developmental responsiveness (sensitive to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescence); socially equitable, (opportunities and support for every student and teacher); and organizational structures and processes (norms, structures, and organizational arrangements to sustain trajectory toward excellence).  

There are 18 states, including Georgia, participating in the Schools to Watch program.