Principal Paul Vickers likes to get parents involved in his school.

Since Mill Run opened its doors in 2000, he’s been at the helm of this growing school is southern Ashburn. As the school has grown, he’s tried to grow the participation of parents in the process.

At a monthly citizenship breakfast, two students from each grade are honored for focusing on 10 character words established by a guidance counselor. Parents often attend the event, which is the first Wednesday of each month.

Since Mill Run students originate from 33 countries, the school’s International Night is used to celebrate the school’s diversity each fall. An event is also scheduled each fall involving parents in conjunction with Thanksgiving Day.

“We do a whole lot to involve our families. That’s something I’m very proud of,” Vickers said. “We have an extremely strong school community base. We do so much to involve our families in our school.”

According to the school’s improvement plan, the school is working to eliminate the disparity in achievement among minority and socio-economic groups – as are all Loudoun schools. During the 2005-06 school year on the reading SOL test, 75 percent of black and Hispanic students passed, while 92 percent of white students passed.

Meanwhile, 57 percent of lower-income students passed, compared with 96 percent of other students. Overall, 92 percent of students passed all required SOL tests, which is above the district’s goal of 90 percent.

The school’s nearly 1,000 students also have a curriculum steeped in technology. In addition to frequent trips to the computer lab, teachers have two carts of laptops at their disposal to check out for their students.

Students also spend two class periods each week in either arts or music class. The school has two art teachers who either visit individual classrooms or host classes in the school’s art room.

The school has a teacher who works with students to determine whether they might be gifted -- including those students who might not express themselves intellectually.

Several students are also involved it the school’s ESL program.

“We make sure we’re pulling up any deficits to keep that (education) gap from getting wider,” Vickers said.

Students bring home a closed envelope including their work and PTO information each Thursday. Information about homework and other school information is taken home daily.

Vickers said Mill Run plans to focus on student performance in the coming months and years, particularly targeting those students in groups who are performing more poorly.

“Not every student has success on these fairly objective measurement tools,” he said. “That’s going to be a huge focus for us and every school in Loudoun County.”