Is G.L. Wiley Middle School a low-performing school or an achiever? Based on state standards, it’s the former. Based on effort to overcome challenges, it’s the latter.

Wiley, though rated “academically unacceptable” for the fifth straight year, showed enough improvement to forestall drastic measures by the Texas Education Agency such as shutting it down or putting it under alternative management.

The school was held back by a single category — science. Wiley students showed improvement for a second year in math and reading.

So, the future of Wiley remains in Waco’s hands, not in the state’s. That’s as it should be. A school is nothing more than an extension of the community, the students, the parents. A community gets out of a school only what it puts into it.

It’s the same at every school. Wiley’s challenges are greater, however. Encouragement is due for improvement amid those odds.