While there may have been a few sighs of relief amid the cheers when a district accreditation team pronounced the Shelby County School System a quality school system, we were not surprised to hear all the accolades.

We cover Shelby County education week in and week out, and we’re always impressed by the quality education our students are getting.

As the accreditation team said, there is an extremely high level of commitment to education that can be seen in all corners of the county, from Superintendent Randy Fuller down to the faculty, staff, students and community of each school.

That commitment to education is vital to keeping Shelby County one of the fastest-growing counties in the state.

Our school system is one of the biggest reasons new residents consistently flock to Shelby County, which, in turn, brings in more businesses every day.

We applaud everyone who works in education here in Shelby County for helping to create fantastic places for our kids to learn, grow and get ready for adulthood.

We would also like to encourage the school system to follow the accreditation team’s one major recommendation: coming up with a plan to recruit and retain quality minority educators.

The wider the diversity of teachers working with our students, the more our students can learn and the better they will be prepared for the world beyond Shelby County.