News on the education front hasn’t exactly been cheery of late, judging from layoffs of classroom teachers and sharp state cuts to public education. It sometimes seems that even the public at large has concluded the worst of our education system and given up on teachers and schools.

Banish the cynicism. Waco High School staff and students last week attended the Texas Secondary Schools Summit for High Schools That Work, held at the University of Texas in Austin, to explain just how they turned around elements of their long-troubled campus.

Tribune-Herald staff writer Wendy Gragg tells us that Waco High made four separate presentations during the summit — the only school at the conference to lay claim to that distinction. Staffers and students discussed ways they improved academics and behavior on campus.

Those topics included the embedding of math in every subject taught; having a reading coach instruct teachers how to incorporate literature in every subject (we’d love to hear more on that); overhauling in-school suspension to provide behavior modifications during that time; and the success of the school’s “Grand Central Station” where students get immediate help on academic concepts before they fall too far behind.

Yes, Waco High still has an unacceptable state rating, but officials say this time it’s because of clerical errors regarding the number of dropouts. Meanwhile, test scores have improved significantly and fights on campus are down, largely because of efforts by principal Clarence Simmons and his staff to completely change the academic environment, including a dress code and the end of students spending lunch off-campus.

A year or two ago, when Simmons was in the thick of implementing some of these changes, we recall his getting grilled by both parents and school board members wary of his methods. No doubt his critics were well-intentioned in their reservations, though we clearly understood what Simmons was attempting. And things are obviously turning around at Waco High, something even the hard-to-please Texas Education Agency is readily acknowledging. In fact, they’re the ones who recommended Waco High take a starring role at last week’s conference.

All of which leaves us unusually optimistic about the coming school year. Students are not only learning more and excelling, but teachers, staff members and parents are learning about what works in an academic environment — and what doesn’t.