Riverside Intermediate School administration, staff and students took part in an assembly yesterday afternoon to recognize the school’s state award as a “School to Watch”.

The Plymouth school is one of 350 in the United States that received the designation.

The designation was recently announced by the Indiana Middle Level Education Association and the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. Shirley Wright, Executive Director of the Indiana Middle Level Education Association, spoke about the uniqueness of the award and the fact that Plymouth’s school is the only “intermediate” school to be re-designated for this status. She invited the school’s administration to go to Washington, D.C. to accept the award on a national platform.

In order to be eligible, the school needs to meet the criteria of academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity, and organizational support with evidence from the curriculum and schedule.

Meredith Perks, a representative of Senator Joe Donnelly’s office, and 17th District State Representative Tim Harmon gave words of encouragement as did Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter and Plymouth Community School Superintendent Dan Tyree.

Riverside Intermediate School Principal Jeni Hirschy accepted the school to watch re-designation award.

The celebration ended with a short video presentation and a rally for the start of I-STEP exams that begin today.

Photo caption: Principal Jeni Hirschy (right) accepts the re-designation plaque from Shirley Wright.