You've all heard the chestnut before: "There's no substitute for hard work."

But nowhere does that statement hold more true than in North Palos School District 117 where all three qualifying schools — Conrady Junior High School and Oak Ridge and Glen Oaks elementary schools — all won the Academic Excellence Award from the Illinois State Board of Education.

Paula Coughlin is the principal at Conrady; Gaylyn Grimm is the principal at Glen Oaks and Melissa Murphy is the principal at Oak Ridge.

The award is the highest honor a school can receive in the state of Illinois.

"This is one of the proudest days of my professional career," Supt. Ken Sorrick said after learning of the awards. "District 117 won the 'Triple Crown' of educational excellence.

The award is presented to schools that sustain academic excellence by having at least 90 percent of their students meet or exceed state standards in both reading and math for at least three consecutive years.

Oak Ridge School won the award last year.

Schools must have made Adequate Yearly Progress in 2008 and 2009, which includes at least 70 percent of students meeting or exceedng state standards in both reading and math.

And schools also must have a 95 percent participation rate in state assessments for all students in each subgroup as well as an attendance rate of at least 90 percent for elementary and middle schools.

Hard to believe this is the same district that several years earlier was simply meeting state standards on its ISATs.

Sorrick credited the implementation of an integrated management system with improving not only test scores, but the entire learning culture in the district.

An integrated management system is a process used to manage an organization with the goal of achieving performance excellence. The seven categories in the integrated management system include leadership, student and stakeholder focus, strategic planning, faculty and staff focus and process management.

"This journey will continue as we work toward continuous improvement," said Sorrick, who has been superintendent in District 117 since 2003. "We firmly believe our (integrated management system) is directly responsible for our academic successes."