One rural Wiregrass elementary school is receiving national accolades for academic achievement.

W.S. Harlan Elementary School in Lockhart, Alabama is one of Alabama’s five Blue Ribbon Schools for 2009.

W.S. Harlan Elementary joins Enterprise High School as the only Blue Ribbon Schools in the Wiregrass since the program started in 1982.

For a principal who attended the school himself in the 60's, the distinction is even more special.

“It’s truly an honor for the faculty, staff, students and community. It's a team effort from everybody here and for our little school to be chosen as one of the top schools in America is truly an honor,” says Principal Brent Zessin.

73% of the student body falls into a financially disadvantaged demographic, that on average nationally doesn't perform as well on tests

But students have proved that's not the case at W.S. Harlan.

“We just work really hard to develop the best product that we can,” says Zessin.

“We just work, work, work, all day long. We have a very intense reading program our children are divided up into groups and they just sit still and they listen,” says kindergarten teacher, Suane Evans.

Both teachers and administrators say there's a recipe for success.

“One is we generally love kids,” says Zessin, “Second, we have structure and discipline and we have boundaries set and children need boundaries. Third we just teach. We follow the state guidelines and course of study and we just teach, teach, teach and somehow kids get it and they learn.”

They also say parents and the community stay very involved in the school.

W.S. Harlan has also been named a Torch-bearer School and a Distinguished Title 1 School.