How shared commitment earned King Middle School a Blue Ribbon award

As a former football and wrestling coach, Jason Bryant understands what it takes to build a winning team. 

The King Middle School principal is a firm believer that a leader's energy and passion are contagious, capable of unifying a school community around a shared goal. His unwavering commitment has paid off immensely, culminating in the Harrodsburg, Kentucky, middle school being named a 2025 Blue Ribbon Lighthouse School, the highest honor given out through the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence’s national assessment process. 

The award honors King Middle School’s commitment to educational excellence and its dedication to fostering a nurturing and effective learning environment. For Bryant, this is more than just an accolade to display in the school. It’s a testament to the collective power of a unified staff and a bold vision to do what’s best for students.

“A kid only gets one shot at a great education,” Bryant said. “They don’t get do-overs. We intend to do everything we can to make it a great one.”

Bryant is deeply appreciative of his close partnership with Gradient Learning, which he says played a large part in the school receiving the Blue Ribbon recognition. While he deeply values the high-quality curriculum and platform support provided by Gradient, Bryant wants his educators to know these are merely tools to help them do their jobs at a high level. 

"A kid only gets one shot at a great education. They don't get do-overs."

Bryant makes sure his teachers know that real success lies in the human connection and shared commitment of everyone involved. This includes Geoff Osmun, a Leader Coach at Gradient Learning who regularly communicates with Bryant to ensure King Middle School has everything it needs to build both academic and life skills that prepare kids to flourish in school and beyond. 

“He’s laser-focused on what matters, and he pushes us to always look at things differently,” Bryant said of Osmun. “I remember when he heard we were having some struggles once, he said, ‘I’ll be there next week.’ That simple statement reminded me we are all on the same team. I told him after that, ‘Geoff, I’m all in. Let’s do this.’”

Bryant’s leadership has re-energized his community of educators and learners. By focusing on a "coach’s mindset," he has cultivated a culture where people feel supported and valued. He points to the measurable gains: King has moved from a low-performing "orange" rating to a high-performing “green” in all academic areas and is no longer classified as a "Targeted Support and Improvement" school by the state of Kentucky.

Bryant believes the true success of their work lies not just in test scores, but in what he calls “the eyeball test.”

“It’s when you can just walk around and feel that a school is truly humming,” Bryant said. “I love coming to work each day because of that.”

A parent’s perspective on academic growth

The most personal example of this success came from Bryant’s own family. His son, Kyler, was a dedicated student through his middle school years, but struggled with math. 

"Every day he was telling me, 'Dad, this is tough. I don't know why we're doing this,’” Bryant said.

As a coach and a leader, Bryant understood that pushing through a tough schedule is how you get better. He held firm, knowing the consistent work and dedicated feedback from his teacher would pay off. By the end of the school year, Kyler was proficient in math and even began to enjoy the subject. This provided Bryant with yet another powerful lesson in resilience, which is one of the Gradient’s Whole Student outcomes to set students up for success inside and outside of the classroom.

"If I listened to him, we would’ve thrown the math program out," Bryant said. “But I know that short-term comfort can come at the cost of long-term growth.” 

Bryant said his son’s journey in overcoming his math struggles reaffirmed his belief that it’s crucial to give students access to high-level, rigorous content that blends academic and life skills.

“Sometimes our preconceived notions of what a kid can do is actually what limits them,” Bryant said. “It’s in the struggle where they truly grow.”

A game-changing philosophy for education

By prioritizing buy-in and a shared commitment to Gradient’s holistic education approach, Bryant ensured the school’s transformation was deliberate and lasting. This successful process was a direct result of Bryant's past experience as a school leader when he had “moved too fast” when implementing something new.

“This time, we were determined to do it right,” Bryant said. “Our methodical approach has led to a truly successful implementation of the Gradient program.”

He believes that the high-quality curriculum provided by Gradient, combined with dedicated coaching and development support, has the potential to be a "game-changer for the industry." It's not just about the content but about the foundational philosophy that mirrors his own coaching philosophy: a belief in the power of human connection, high expectations, and the resilience that comes from embracing a challenge. 

Bryant sees a future where schools are no longer defined by test scores alone but by the holistic growth of their students. The Blue Ribbon Lighthouse School award is a validation of the hard work done by everyone at King, and a motivator to keep setting new goals. 

Bryant said the award is also proof that when leaders, teachers, and students are “all in,” they can achieve extraordinary things.

“As educators, we’ve got to find the things that work and latch onto it for our kids because there are a lot of distractions out there,” Bryant said. “We all need to find ways to connect with our students, because when you do that in the right way, it’s so powerful.”