A big honor for the Lennox School District. It's been granted accreditation from the North Central Association. It's what school leaders are doing inside the classroom that earned the district the Pre K-12 accreditation. The process started more than a year ago. School leaders set education goals and decided how they would achieve them. Then, representatives from the North Central Association came to interview Lennox school leaders about their plans. In the end, they were so impressed by the district's goals and what it's accomplished so far, they honored the district with accreditation. Superintendent Pat Jones says, "It's a ringing endorsement of the past and a real spotlight and an enhancement of what you're going to do in the future."

Just because the Lennox district has earned the accreditation doesn't mean the work is over. Now school leaders must continue achieving the goals they discussed with North Central Association officials during the interview process.  Superintendent Jones says, "It's not a stagnant thing at all. It's a real, living, breathing process that continues to generate growth and improvement in your school district."

Only one other school district in South Dakota has received such accreditation. That's the Meade County district in the western part of the state.