JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley Middle School is being recognized again as a School to Watch, a program that honors schools across the country that excel academically.

The program is run by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, which launched the Schools to Watch program in 1999. It annually recognizes schools that meet or excel 37 criteria from academic excellence to organizational structure.

This isn’t the first time the school district has been recognized nationally for its achievements. The same group named the middle school a School to Watch three years ago.

Superintendent Tracy Vitale in a news release said the district is “extremely excited” about being recognized again and that she’s proud of the students, teachers and staff who worked hard to make the middle school an example of “educational excellence.”

“Schools to Watch recognizes those schools that deepen students’ knowledge and use a variety of methods to assess and monitor the progress of their learning,” Vitale said. “Seneca Valley Middle School exemplifies all of these qualities plus so much more.”

There are more than 340 schools across the country recognized as Schools to Watch, according to a news release.