Salisbury University's partnership with Snow Hill Elementary School and the Worcester Elementary Cluster was one of five PDS partnerships recognized by the National Association for Professional Development Schools for "Exemplary PDS Achievement" in 2011. Keys to the application which led to the award included linking data related to intern performance and student achievement to the "Nine Essentials" of professional development schools, as developed by NAPDS in 2007-08. Other factors include documenting the level of engagement by PDS site faculty in local, statewide and national PDS initiatives and the judicious use of text features to highlight the application submission.