Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Annual Report On Prescott Schools Given

Prescott's three schools held public meetings to announce their plans for the current academic year.

Creating more opportunities to involve parents and the community in the operation of the Prescott schools is one of the district's goals.

The academic year began with the second annual back to school community coffee. Community representatives were the featured speakers, bringing greetings and best wishes to the faculty and staff.

This year the annual meetings were held at the individual campuses to encourage more time for active participation. All three schools met all state and North Central Association accreditation standards for the 1995-96 year.

This is the first year for NCA accreditation for Prescott Elementary School, primarily due to the improvements which were added during the 1994-95 building program. While the PES computer labs are operational, it is only for Prescott High students because of last year's fire. High school business classes will continue to meet in the PES lab until the PHS classrooms have been rebuilt.

PES also held two public meetings, one on Aug. 15, 1996, and the other on Aug. 20. An overview of the total elementary school program was presented at this time by grade level and special classes. The general layout of the building, including the new facilities was explained as related to arrival and dismissal procedures. Discipline policies and procedures, transportation, special programs (including Title I) counseling and media services were also explained at the time.

A team of five studied at the Arkansas Leadership Academy Institute in Oct. The team returned with a plan for increasing parent/community involvement, Partners in Education and Technology Funding.

There is an active Parent and Teachers as Partners organization poised to assist PES in any way possible. It's largest project for 95-96 was assisting with campus beautification and educational supplies.

For 1996-97, the PTP plans to invest in developing a technology center so all PES students will have access to computers.

A Parent Center was opened at PES during the spring of '96. The coordinator's chief job is being a liaison between home, school and other local agencies. The coordinator is available to assist parents and teachers as needed. She provides parenting workshops, helps parents make learning aides for their children as well as playing and active part in summer school programs.

The annual school improvement plan was also discussed at the meetings. Patrons were invited to call or visit with school administrators with any questions they may have during the year.

The PES improvement plan is to work closely with the technology committee and PTP to provide cabinets, computers, software and training for teachers in order to develop a computer lab program.

It also plans to continue providing workshop opportunities for teachers to enable them to keep up with the latest educational practices and trends.

Additionally, the plan calls for providing safety zones around all playground equipment and have the equipment checked twice a semester to see if any repairs are needed.

Beautification of the front lawns by providing shrubs and flower beds is another aspect of the plan.

Other portions of the plan include: adding incentives for students in the honor assembly programs; working with the parent coordinator to provide programs to help parents with their children and create a better school and community relationship; purchasing a new computer for the office with the latest technology; continuing to meet with grade chairpersons to discuss the curriculum instruction program and any school-wide problem which needs to be addressed; and make PES the best elementary school in the state.

Prescott Middle School held its annual meeting Aug. 8 in the school's cafetorium.

Parents had the opportunity to meet with their child(ren's) teachers, pick up student orientation packets which contained the class schedule, a supply list and course outline for each class, along with other forms which had to be filled out.

During the 1995-96 year, PMS accomplishments were highlighted by the seventh grade students, who scored at or above the state average on the state assessment test last Sept.

The district's goal is for all students to exhibit this kind of performance on a consistent basis.

The PMS Parent-Teacher Association completed its first full year of operations. This group provided social activities for the students and has been active in the campus beautification program by providing picnic-style tables for the campus, along with shrubs and flower beds.

The group's projects for this year includes repairs to the gym, repainting the dressing rooms and more picnic tables.

A team of seven studied at the Arkansas Leadership Academy Institute for teams during the spring. They had a rigorous schedule of classes in the change process, team planning, site based and self management. Time was allotted for the team to develop a skeleton of a strategic plan to be brought back to other faculty members for whole-group fleshing out.

The objectives are: strengthen leadership for school and district development; build teamwork and shared leadership and decision making; expand the vision for achieving 21st century schools; link resources and ideas for sound planning; develop plans and products to facilitate district initiatives; and expand the network of communities implementing Act 236.

The overall thrust of the PMS plan is to bring families and the community into a deeper caring, cooperative relationship with the school as it develops a set of core school values, incentives to reward positive behaviors and academic success, along with insuring a safe school environment.

The PHS meeting was held on Sept. 26 at the media center.

The four-period block schedule is in its second year of operation.

Most high school teachers have been trained in classroom management and cooperative learning strategies.

Instruction is teacher controlled, but student centered and geared to bringing about group and individual thinking, responsibilities, work and discussion.

The goal of the PHS staff is to provide students with the best teaching possible based on research-based practices that are proven effective. This will allow each student the best opportunity to be responsible for their learning and to achieve their educational goals and objectives.

A team of PHS teachers had the chance to participate in the ALAIT during the summer. They returned with improvement plans to be shared with the staff.

School policies, rules and regulations have been provided for students and parents in the form of a student handbook. The handbook serves as a guide to students in matters relating to grading, student rights and discipline. Students were also giv