Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Few present for schools's report to the public

Few parents showed up for the public meeting of the Prescott School District.

The meeting was held in the foyer at Prescott High School, with two parents in the audience. The rest of those gathered were district employees.

This, though, didn't prevent the three principals from updating the Prescott School Board and audience on their plans for the future. Janet Gordon, federal program coordinator, also spoke at the meeting.

Howard Austin, Prescott Elementary School principal, spoke first, saying enrollment is up 39 to 421 this year.

He said the school has two goals to accomplish this year. The first is to improve math skills with emphasis on algebra and problem solving. The other goal is to improve all literary skills.

The idea, he said, is to make sure all students can do their work at grade level. Those who can't will be remediated into different programs.

The improvement plans have been approved by the Arkansas Department of Education. In fact, the ADE field specialist said Prescott's plans were so good they'll be used as a model for the entire state.

Next up was Jim Gober, McRae Middle School principal. He said there are 360 students at MMS, with 19 full-time employees on staff and another 10 being shared between MMS and PHS.

MMS, he said, offers more classes than the state requires at this time, and the test scores have been good. "We're pleased, but not satisfied," he said, "but we're at or above all state levels."

Some 58 percent of seventh graders improved their standardized test scores by five points, he said.

Gober gave the reason for the improvements as being a new writing program and returning to the basics of math by using the old fashioned MDAS  multiplication, division, addition and subtraction, especially in the fifth and sixth grades.

The three-year averages for test scores, he said, are good, but the goal is to continue improving them. Three-year scores are used by the state to measure how districts are doing on the Benchmark exam. This gives a perspective of three different classes of students.

Other goals at MMS include bringing up scores in math and literacy.

The idea, he said, is to provide students with the basics to be productive members of the community.

MMS, Gober said, has began instituting its parental involvement plan, as required by state law.

Carroll Purtle, PHS principal, said there are about 360 students in high school. PHS had a problem it enjoyed, somewhat, as class plans were made for 90 freshmen, only to have 98 show up. This caused some restructuring of classes and schedules, but the situation was handled.

All seniors, he said, are plugged in to graduate on schedule, and all other students are being geared with an eye toward their graduation day as well.

PHS, he said, met its Annual Yearly Progress (AYP), as required for the federal No Child Left Behind program.

However, Purtle said, the ADE doesn't know what the subgroup status is for the AYP, but districts will be responsible for this. This is about subgroups for the Benchmark exams, and includes students from different races, socio-economic backgrounds, etc...

Because of this, he said, there are missing pieces in what the students should be taught for the Benchmark exams.

At this time, though, PHS is working to find the gaps in mapping for literacy, language and math. Other classes, Purtle said, are helping with writing and math as they can. As an example, students in a science course are asked to do more writing.

Overall, the idea is to get the entire community involved in the education process  this is also part of the new state laws requiring parental involvement.

PHS, he said, is in its second year for the hospitality program. Students graduating from this course can literally step into a beginning management job for a restaurant or hotel, or they can go to college and learn the big business side.

A similar plan is being developed for computer engineering. The concept is for students who graduate this course to be able to set up their own computer business if they so choose, or go to college and continue their knowledge of computers.

PHS has brought back the choir program, with these students planning to go to different competitions. They will compete either individually or in small groups, but not as an entire class at this time.

The school has also added French to its language courses.

Gordon updated the board on the different government programs the district is involved in, from Title I to Title V.

Those in the Title I program, she said, are well qualified for the positions.

A new twist for Title I funds, she said, is they will be used school-wide next year. Currently, the monies can only be used for targeted students based on their SAT-9 test scores, what grade they're in and recommendations from teachers.