Eldon Middle School is home to roughly 300 students. It is not a big school by any means, the rooms aren't huge, and the classes aren't large - in fact, the entire seventh grade can eat lunch together at one time.

However, the school has something to brag about that many big city schools do not: national recognition.

The school changed its way of teaching to focus more on literacy and using special techniques like learning targets--basic outlines of what the student will learn in a chapter. That earned Eldon Middle School its title of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) school.

"Professional Learning Communities is basically a time for teachers to get together to decide, 'What do kids need in order to achieve in the classroom?'" said Tammy Martin, a library media teacher.

"Teachers used to go inside their classroom, and close their doors, and just teach that one group of kids, but now they're opening those doors and having discussions saying, 'Hey, this worked for me. Maybe you'd like to do this,'" Martin said.

Every school in the Eldon district started the program four years ago, and only two have made it to the national rank. Eldon Middle School applied for the national recognition just a month ago and found out the first week of April they had received it.

"It's not a quick program, it's not something you can implement in a week or even a year - it's an ongoing process," said Stacey Lawlass, a 7th grade social studies teacher.

"After we started it, we really saw the great benefits to it for the staff, but more so for the students," Martin said.

There are only six schools in Missouri with the ranking, so two in the small town of Eldon is a big deal.

"It's not all about money or resources, it's about using what you have and you can take anything and make a great learning experience out of it," said Toni Randall, a 7th grade communication arts teacher.

"I think the biggest change is how I look at how I teach the students. I'm really thinking about what I'm doing to help them learn the content they need to learn and master. I think it's making me more aware of how I teach, which is making me a better teacher and them a better learner," Randall said.

The teachers say while they're happy they have the recognition, they will still continue to grow as a school.