HMS English Teacher Christine Parker has never seen an academic feat like the one pulled off by her Period 4 ELA students this spring and she's not sure if she will ever see it repeated: This group of 7th Grade students did not miss a single assignment from January to June.

"It's my smallest class," Parker said. "But still, these 21 students were flawless throughout the entire semester. Every one of them turned in every assignment." What did Parker do differently with this group? "Nothing on my part. The group just pulled together and worked hard to maintain a perfect record.It's just really impressive."

Parker went on to explain that she and the group weren't even aware that they were on track for a perfect semester until March. After encouraging her students to turn in an assignment, she paused. "I noticed that everyone had turned in all of their work since the semester started. I was just automatically reminding them to be responsible - and I saw that they didn't need the reminder," Parker said.

The group maintained their flawless grade book for the next three months and, as a reward, Parker surprised them with a pizza party. The pizzas were delivered by HMS Principal Bess Colpron and Dean of Students Sid Slom, both of whom were equally amazed by Period 4's collective achievement. "We talk a lot about the habits of successful learners with our students and this group put them into practice. They showed up ready to learn and they did their work with consistency and a high level of effort," Colpron said.

Speaking of effort, Parker was proud to report that her students shined on the Spring ELA Smarter Balanced Assessment. "5 of these 21 students moved up one or two levels on the [four-level] test. 86% of the entire 7th grade class passed the test with Level 3 or 4, which is phenomenal," Parker said.

When asked if she enjoyed teaching 4th Period, Parker responded, "Absolutely. These students are very fun to teach and they really impressed me with their character. They are a group of engaged learners who committed to a goal and never gave up."