Seneca Valley Middle School student president Liz Frank, right, and vice president Shirlann Harmon congratulate fellow students as well as administrators on the school's designation as a School to Watch at a celebration Friday in the intermediate high school auditorium.

JACKSON TWP — This isn't the first time the Seneca Valley Middle School has been named a School to Watch, but that doesn't mean the celebration was any less exciting the second time around.

Students, teachers and administrators convened Friday afternoon to celebrate the honor, given by a group called The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform.

This is the second time in three years that the middle school has been given the designation.

The group gives out the award based on criteria for high performance such as academic excellence, outstanding organizational structure and social equity.

Each of the middle school's students packed into the intermediate high school auditorium to celebrate, decked out in white T-shirts commemorating the designation.

Also on hand were a few parents, a school board member and state Rep. Dick Stevenson.

Principal Andrea Peck congratulated the students for the honor, but made sure to thank everyone at school, everyone from administrators to janitors.

“This accomplishment belongs to each and every one of you,” she said.

However, she also spoke to the students, saying none of the national recognition would be possible without their hard work.

“We are privileged not only to teach you but to help you learn about yourself,” she said.

In return, middle school student Liz Fronk thanked administrators for providing a “positive, bully-free” environment for students to learn.

She said being named a School to Watch again is “definitely something to be proud of” for each student.

Fronk added she's not surprised at the redesignation, however.

“We're always pushed to excel to our full potential here,” she said.

District Superintendent Tracy Vitale, who was previously the principal at the middle school, said the recognition is a “conformation, a statement” that students are making about the Seneca Valley School District.

Vitale said she would relish this day, just like she did three years ago when the school was first honored.

“This is about getting the recognition you so richly deserve,” she said.