The Elmont School District has many challenges including a student population in which over 70 different languages are spoken and a population made up of some students with special needs. It is a community made up of blue collar workers. Yet, Elmont still meets state standards and even exceeds them. So what's the district's secret? That's what members of a New York State Assembly Task Force on Successful Schools came to the Gotham Avenue School to find out.

On Monday, the assembly task force including State Task Force Chairman Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr., Assemblymen Dave McDonough, Bob Barra and Joseph Saladino along with local Assemblyman Tom Alfano came to the Gotham Avenue School to hear testimony from members of the Elmont School community on what makes Elmont such a successful school district.

"When the task force wanted to look at successful schools, I knew we had to bring them to Elmont and show them how it's done," said Alfano, whopointed to Elmont's national recognition for improved student performance under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and the New York State Department of Education's recognition of Alden Terrace, Clara H. Carlson, Dutch Broadway and Gotham Avenue Schools as High Performing/Gap Closing Schools.

Thiele, the ranking member on the Assembly Education Committee said the purpose of the task force is to identify reasons why certain schools succeed while others struggle and to highlight additional areas in which the state could assist districts in helping students reach their full potential.

For Superintendent of Schools Al Harper, who took over this year from the highly successful Dr. Maria Palandra, the answer is simple. "We're receptive. One thing teachers are expected to do is love children. We celebrate other languages and cultures. We all have one common goal. We love our children," he said.

Elmont made quite a lot of progress in recent years when it comes to state standardized tests. In 1998-1999, 70 percent of Elmont students were meeting or exceeding state standards in fourth-grade math. In 2004-2005, 95.3 are meeting or exceeding state standards. In fourth-grade English Language Arts (ELA), 50 percent were meeting or exceeding state standards in 1998-99. In 2004-2005, 86.7 are.

It's appropriate the assembly task force came to the Gotham Avenue School since the New York State Business Council had awarded the school its Pathfinder Award for closing the gaps in student performance on the math standardized tests.

Among some of the topics discussed were academics and enrichment, the role of technology, fiscal responsibility, community involvement and facilities.

Elmont Board of Education President Aubrey Phillips spoke about Elmont's philosophy when it comes to a plan to educate the children of the district who come from a wide range of backgrounds: the philosophy that all children, regardless of race or income of family, can learn and can succeed. "Before adopting Elmont's education plan, we consulted our community to find out their views and addressed the issue of education equality, reaffirming a philosophy that all children can learn. As a result of our high expectations, our students have attained significant performance gains," he said.

One person familiar with the increased success of the district is its director of curriculum Lynne Stucchio, who believes one reason for the district's success is mapping out a curriculum to address state standards.

Harper, whose previous position was principal of Elmont Memorial High School, believes in using data analysis to identify students' strengths and weaknesses.

Whatever the reasons for Elmont's success, all components of the district would agree that it's mostly about the school community - educators, parents, students and community members - working together.