Nashville, TN – Northland Career Center in Platte City, Missouri, is the winner of a 2024 Gene Bottoms Pacesetter School Award from the Southern Regional Education Board.

The school was honored July 9 at SREB’s Making Schools Work Conference in Nashville.

Pacesetter Awards recognize schools that are implementing one of SREB’s Making Schools Work school improvement frameworks and are achieving success in meeting bold goals related to graduation rates, readiness for college and careers, and credential attainment.

Northland implements SREB’s school improvement design for technology centers. The school revised its English curriculum during the 2021-2022 school year to align with several criteria, including the Missouri Learning Standards and SREB Curriculum and Instruction feedback.

Northland commitment to continuous improvement in English is centered around coordination between the center’s certified English teacher and 12 program instructors. The team works to ensure all students engage in relevant, real-world learning experiences that meet Northland English standards by using a curriculum hub website.

The school offers a half English credit to every student each year to help students meet graduation requirements and allow room in their schedules to attend the career center. During the 2022-23 school year, 424 students earned this credit, with 405 on track to earn it in 2023-24.

SREB’s Making Schools Work Conference is held annually and provides educators with opportunities to participate in professional development, network with colleagues from across the country and build school and district leadership capacity.

Contact: Janita Poe, SREB News Manager, at Janita.Poe@sreb.org or 404-879-5516, ext. 216

The Southern Regional Education Board works with states, districts and schools to improve education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education and the workforce. An interstate compact and a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region.