MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- At Hobgood Elementary School in Murfreesboro, students are challenged to do their best. They aren’t taught as a student body but as individual students.

Video: School Recognized Nationally For Student Achievement

"We use each and every living, breathing body in the building as a resource,” said assistant principal Michelle McVicker. “Every single person goes in and works one-on-one with students."

That's one of the reasons Hobgood has been chosen as a national Title I Distinguished School, meaning it has closed the achievement gap among student groups.

"We do a lot of things to wrap them in services, a variety of interventions and progress monitorings to bring them up to their proficient level,” said McVicker.

When students do well, they are rewarded. Thursday was Star Assembly, marking the end of the ninth-week period and their academic achievement.

"They don't, like, want to leave you behind,” said sixth-grader Scarlett Menises. “They want you to be advanced and proficient."

"You have a say in what you're learning, and it can also be fun; it doesn't always have to be boring,” said Colten Guess, a fourth-grader.

The school will serve as a model of how students can learn.

The progress of each one is tracked throughout the school year using a reading wall.

"We bring our team together and we brainstorm different strategies that we can use to make sure that they do make gains,” said Barbara Sales.

After Hobgood was named a Title I Distinguished School, a federal school official said the school will serve as a model for the nation of what works so that more students can benefit.