Prescott Schools Report to the Public
The Prescott School District presented its Report to the Public and school board meeting on Monday, October 14th. The Report began with a statement from Superintendent Robert Poole noting the district is a fully accredited school district with 79 certified staff and 59 classified. The enrollment is 330 for the elementary, 243 for the junior high and 297 for the high school making a total enrollment of 870.
The district had just received the results from the previous year’s ATLAS test and didn’t have time to dissect all the results before the meeting. The primary goal is focused on literacy as literacy is the key to everything in education. The district wants to make sure all the kids are improving in literacy and not only know how to read, but also to read for understanding. Mr. Poole said he was personally involved in raising the bar for both himself and the leadership in the district. He has applied for and been accepted to the “Leaders of Literacy Cohort 2”.
Mr. Poole will also be attending and serving on the finance committee for the upcoming legislative session.
The district closed out the financial year with a balanced budget. It was very tight and there is the hope to transfer money into the building fund for future building and district needs.
The facilities are in great shape and no immediate needs are anticipated in terms of the facilities. Mr. Poole expressed a desire to look at a storage barn of some kind for the agricultural supplies and equipment.
Since there is a slight decline in enrollment, it was noted the staffing needs will be monitored going forward.
Elementary principal Kimberly Grimes reported a current enrollment of 368 with the inclusion of preschool (38). Kindergarten had 61, 1st and 2nd grade had 67 each, 3rd grade had 62 and 4th grade had 73. There were 23 English language learners, 57 special education students, 250 low income and 14 students new to the district. For the kindergarten students, 29 of them attended 4-year-old Pre K. Of those 29, 16 also attended the 3-year-old Pre-K. Of the 29, over half, 15 scored advanced on the kindergarten screening this past spring. At the first of the year the students took the district’s first i-Ready diagnostic test. 12 students scored Early/Mid/Late K level. Of those 12,11 attended the district’s Pre-K. Mrs. Wood and her staff were commended for doing a great job.
With the i-Ready results there were improvements in relative reading placements from the previous year in grades Kindergarten, 1st and 4th while 2nd and 3rd had more students at 2 grade levels below. 3rd also had more students at 3 grade levels below. In 4th grade there was a marked increase of phonics scores from 35% to 68% proficiency as well an increase in vocabulary, overall comprehension, literature, and informational text.
In math the relative placements were generally better than last year.
Junior High Atlas data for math showed 3 students mid or above grade level, 19 students early on grade level, 58 students 1 grade level below, 43 students two grade levels below and 114 students 3 grade levels below. For reading it showed 17 students mid or above grade level, 18 students early on grade level, 31 students one grade level below, 31 students two grade levels below and 134 students three or more grade levels below.
The Elementary plan to improve achievement includes moving the core reading instruction to first thing in the morning, math instruction is in the morning, and paraprofessionals are in the classrooms in the morning to assist in small groups 1 on 1. There is Tier 2 and 3 intervention in the afternoon and a new curriculum Magnetic Math is being implemented. The district has a new State Reading Support Specialist, Gayanne Coleman, who is there every other week. The top 5 growth in reading (spring to fall) from 1st to 4th grades were recognized.
Tommy Poole, the High School Principal said decreasing absences and tardiness were a main goal of the high school coming into this year. Saturday school has dropped from 10-15 students to 4-5.
A tutoring program is in its second week. For math and English on Monday and Wednesday it’s after school and Friday from 9-11.
College Algebra is being taught on campus. Algebra is advanced compared to last year and ELA Writing rubrics are being used and writing is improving.
There are five new hires: Ms. Burson-Art, Mrs. Shanks-Assistant Coach/Physical Science, Mr. Gladney-Band, Ms. Ray-Math/Softball.
The overall culture and mindset of student learning has dramatically improved in all areas. This has been a team effort. There are 25 students currently taking 44 classes and 7 students pursuing career centered programs for nursing and welding.
The overall School District Action Plan to Improve Achievement includes instruction at grade level standards. This will result in new standards in ELA and Math, a new state test, classroom practice test questions, remediation/tutoring occurring in designated times, high expectations for all and intentional instruction. There also will be recognition of students for academic achievement and training with teachers on new standards and instructional strategies.
Other things covered in the report were goals that were met (kindergarten student identification of letters and ability to write numbers and fourth grade ability to add whole numbers). The district succeeded in many areas but 3rd and 4th grade math fell short – in 3rd for percentage of students mastering the skill and 4th for the subtraction goal.
The district is working with Title I and Enhanced Student Achievement Funding Programs in which the district spends the money and will be reimbursed after each month for the money spent. These programs provide full or partial funding for extra staff and supplies. The total amount of the two programs combined is $1.1 million.
The minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
There was an executive session and the meeting adjourned.