Pearl River County School District and Poplarville Special Municipal Separate School District were two of 51 school districts honored at the Mississippi School Boards Association’s Lighthouse School Leader Awards luncheon Tuesday.

The districts were two of 20 districts that received the “Lantern Award for achieving at least a  “B” rating with no schools below a letter grade of “C” under the Mississippi Department of Education’s Accountability Standards for the 2012-13 school year. The Pearl River County district ranked 20th in the state with a district-wide QDI score of 192. Poplarville school district received a district-wide QDI score of 173.

“The mark of student success continues to rise, and Mississippi school districts have a proven track record of providing leadership to achieve, and even exceed, the standards,” said MSBA Executive Director Michael W. Waldrop. “The MSBA Lighthouse School Leader Awards Program is our way of cheering school leaders on as they persist on the path of increasingly higher student achievement for all students.”

Pearl River County School District Superintendent Alan Lumpkin and Board President Jeff Jones accepted the award at the luncheon last week.

“This award comes from a lot of hard work and dedication by many stakeholders,” Lumpkin said. “The students at PRC are really stepping up to the plate as academic expectations and standards continue to rise each year. Our teachers and support staff continue to provide quality instruction with rigor while motivating their students to do their best.

“Goal setting leadership from the administrative team at PRC has also focused our entire staff on the vision of Growing to Greatness. Our goal at PRC is to become an ‘A’ school district and we will continue to strive for excellence as we prepare our students for life after high school,” he said.

Assistant Superintendent Nina Guthrie added, “It is great to be recognized by the Mississippi School Boards Association for the efforts of the district’s teachers and students.”