Forbes Magazine recently released a list of the nation’s 25 wealthiest counties. Topping the list was Loudon County, Virginia, home of one of this year’s Breakthrough Schools, Park View High School.

NASSP’s Breakthrough Schools project, is sponsored by MetLife Foundation. The goal of the project is to identify, recognize, and showcase middle level and high schools that serve large numbers of students living in poverty and are high achieving or dramatically improving student achievement.

In other words, these schools are beating the odds. While poverty continues to be one of the only and most consistent linear relationships in social science and the best predictor of school success across the country, these ten schools have broken through the poverty barrier and have demonstrated consistent progress in raising academic achievement over an extended period of time.

I know what it is like to be the principal of a Breakthrough School. J.E.B. Stuart High School was in the first group named in 2004. Believe me, it was a great honor for our school. I had been preaching to our staff for years that we may not have the highest test scores in our district, but we may be the best school—doing the most with the students we have.

This award doesn’t come easily. It takes the total dedication of the entire staff to overcome tremendous odds. At the time Stuart High School was named a Breakthrough School, our home district, Fairfax County, Virginia, was the wealthiest county in America. This year Fairfax slipped to number two.

At the time, I felt that our award went largely ignored by our district. I was later told in private that the nation’s wealthiest county didn’t want a poor, disadvantaged, high-second language, high-mobility school like ours to be its poster child. It just wasn’t good for business.

While speaking at a luncheon at the recent NASSP Convention, I asked Park View High School Principal, Viriginia (Ginger) Minshew, “So, what is it like to be the poorest school in the wealthiest school district in America?” She didn’t have to say a word. I could tell by the look on her face, which confirmed my experience. Ginger agreed with me that there was a pecking order among the schools, and the poorer schools are at the bottom. Principals in under-resourced schools must constantly fight and advocate for their students.

We say we want under-resourced schools to excel, but when they do, it makes other, more advantaged schools uncomfortable. Leaders and teachers in these schools have all the same issues that their counterparts have in more resourced schools. However, they have many additional obstacles to overcome. They must first concern themselves with ensuring that basic needs of their students like food and clothing are met. Teachers in high-poverty schools often must be surrogate parents for their students, who don’t have the kind of support system that middle class students have.

Unlike her counterparts in Loudon County, Ginger Minshew’s school cannot reflect its community. If it does, it fails. Instead of following the lead of the community, Park View High School must overcome its context and be a leader and the creator of a culture of high expectations and high achievement.

However, there is another side to the story that only someone who had worked in a high-poverty school would understand. In fact, it is, perhaps, the best kept secret in education today. You see, in under-resourced schools, I felt more appreciation in one day from our students than many of my colleagues receive in a lifetime of working in more advantaged schools. You know that you are needed and that you are making a difference and that keeps you going every day. It doesn’t make the job easier, but it sure makes it more rewarding for principals like Ginger Minshew. Congratulations to Ginger Minshew and her dedicated staff at Park View High School and to all the 2010 Breakthrough Schools.

Something to think about: A number of the principals of these Breakthrough Schools, including yours truly, would have been replaced if current school turnaround measures were in place.