Prospect Ridge Academy has been a champion of the 5-Star Students software, which was first implemented at the high school level in 2020 and was introduced to PRA middle school students for the first time this fall.
Leading that charge for the Miners has been Von Miller, PRA High School’s Assistant Principal. His knowledge and experience with the 5-Star Students software has not only made a profound impact on the success of the tool on the PRA campus, but has also made Miller one of the leading experts on 5-Star Schools in the country.
This week, Miller was invited out to the 5-Star Students National Conference, held September 8-9 in Las Vegas. Miller presented twice during the conference on how to integrate a house system with the 5-Star Students platform, providing the tools for other schools to potentially mirror the success PRA has had with Peaks.
“When I first came to PRA, we had a method to track Peaks points, but it wasn’t as seamless as using a digital platform. It was an archaic spreadsheet. So integrating the 5-Star Students platform really helped us track those points easier and to allow kids to earn their points easier by checking in to events using their mobile devices or bar codes on their Student ID badges,” said Miller, who is presenting at the 5-Star Schools National Conference for the third year. “We’ve been very happy with how successful the change has been. It’s also made the process a lot easier for teachers to give points to kids for positive behavior in the classroom.”
In addition to the successful implementation of the 5-Star Students platform, Miller will also dive into detail on the success of the Peaks house system for PRA High School, which was expanded upon in 2025-26 when PRA Middle School introduced the “Middle Mountains” house system to foster a sense of belonging, building school spirit and inspiring competition.
“Not a ton of schools across the country are using a house system, so my presentation is about what a house system is, first and foremost, and how that can really help build a positive culture in a school,” Miller said. “It’s unique to use a house system. It’s even more unique to use the 5-Star Schools system on top of that, so we’re kind of a unicorn in that regard. It’s exciting to share that uniqueness with others. The 5-Star Schools platform has historically been a west coast model, but it’s slowly creeping across the country. It’s been cool to be a part of that growth wave.”
The analytics have backed up that success as PRA High School has seen a steady rise in student engagement since implanting 5-Star Schools in 2020. In 2024-25 alone, over 95% of the PRA High School student body had been involved using the application, whether that was by attending an event or participating in a club, activity or athletic team.