An unsuccessful appeal to the state Board of Education means Pembroke Academy is labeled a “school in need of improvement” under the federal No Child Left Behind act.

“The label is a source of frustration for us because we’ve made so much progress,” said PA Headmaster Michael Reardon.

The label follows two years the school hasn’t met a standard called “adequate yearly progress” based on scores on an annual standardized test administered to 10th-graders.

Under No Child Left Behind, certain subgroups, such as students with identified learning disabilities and economically disadvantaged students, must each meet the mark of adequate yearly progress in both reading and math.

PA’s appeal to the state board centered around three special education students and their math scores, said Reardon. School officials lobbied for a retroactive medical exemption for one of the students, and tried to show other ways through which the other two students met competency in math.

Reardon said school officials also pointed out that PA has made gains in its standardized test scores that far outpace statewide averages over the last eight years.

“We thought we had a decent case but the authorities felt otherwise,” Reardon said. “It is what it is and we’ll have to deal with it.”