Ephrata Area School District

Attollo Recruit Program: A six-week program that aims to instill Six Pillars – Strong Mind, Competition, Resiliency, Accountability, Sacrifice, and Finishing Strong – to help ensure students obtain access to college. Students meet before school from 5:30 – 7:00 AM three times a week for six weeks. In addition, students set individualized plans of action with one goal in mind – being accepted to college and successfully graduating. In addition to learning about the college application and selection process, students participate in a mock college interview with district leaders and explore ways to secure scholarships and outside funding to diminish or even eliminate college costs. Finally, students are challenged to solve a Rubik’s Cube in under two minutes by unlocking its algorithm, a feat only four percent of people in the world have been able to accomplish. At first, many students feel this is an impossible task, but after hard work and dedication, students tackle the challenge and learn to ultimately be empowered to accomplish anything. Our school district’s success with Attollo was recognized by the National School Board Association (NSBA) in 2018 with a Magna Award.

Elementary School Family Groups: Comprising at least one staff member and approximately 15 students across multiple grade levels. The groups meet once a month and discuss the meanings of different life-ready dispositions, including integrity, resilience, honesty, adaptability, self-awareness, independence, and continual learning.

The Ephrata High School Unified Track Team Unified Track: in partnership with Special Olympics – promotes a fully-inclusive co-ed high school sports program. In turn, this program successfully brings together students with and without disabilities. They train together and compete as equal teammates, and through this experience, they become friends. Every person on the team has an important role. Each athlete and partner participates in one running, field, and relay event. They make connections through a common interest in track and field to promote acceptance, respect, and inclusion. The team’s motto for this season is, “We are United. We are Family. We have each other’s backs. We are Unified Track. We are Mountaineers.”