The Smackover-Norphlet Board of Directors met on Thursday, February 25 in the Hobgood Auditorium.
The meeting began with a presentation from Smackover High School principal Bernadette O’Guinn.
O’Guinn presented SHS teacher Jonna Bates with the Employee of the Month award and offered the board an overview of current projects and strategies at SHS.
“Ms. Bates has 35 years of experience and has taught at SHS for 35 years. She says jokingly that this has been her only adult job,” O’Guinn said.
O’Guinn said Bates teaches Honors AP Biology, Honors AP Chemistry and Physics and praised her teaching methods.
“She demonstrates an extensive knowledge in her content and has created a warm and caring environment for her students. [Bates] is committed to her profession, consistently reflects on teaching and… takes a leadership role in team and departmental decision making that affects the academic performance of our students,” O’Guinn said.
Next, O’Guinn delivered a presentation relating the current state of SHS.
“Currently Smackover High School has 313 students enrolled, with 264 students on campus and 49 students virtual,” O’Guinn said.
O’Guinn next explained methods utilized by SHS teachers.
“Teaching methods used include explicit instruction, active learning, one-on-one conferences and various interactive technologies.The learning management system utilized for virtual instruction is APEX,” O’Guinn said.
O’Guinn listed a variety of intervention strategies used at the school to help struggling students,
“We have extra support for Virtual Arkansas math classes and math tutoring is available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Arrangements can also be made to accommodate student’s schedules. We have extra support for Virtual Arkansas English classes. There’s a teacher as well as a paraprofessional in the classroom to tell students about activities and answer questions,” O’Guinn said.
O’Guinn also addressed the topic of summer school.
“With summer school, we’re looking to offer recovery for students who have failed courses in order for them to graduate on time,” she said.
The school communicates with parents, O’Guinn said, through mailed letters, emails and All Call messages. She said the school is also increasing communication to students through emails.
“This is an ongoing process that involves checking and correcting student data in our system. We’re continuing to build that communication system to provide open lines of communication to students and parents,” O’Guinn said.
Technology was another topic of the presentation.
“Smackover High School currently has 275 Chromebooks and 85 iPads for teachers to incorporate into their classroom. The use of one-on-one technology in the classroom allows each student to use the electronic device to access the internet, digital materials, digital textbooks and increase student engagement,” O’Guinn said.
She also updated the board on recent campus improvement including a class door entry system in the administration building for security.
“The entire staff of Smackover High School has brought a tremendous amount of creativity and tenacity to their profession and genuine connection with our students in the classroom and virtually this year under challenging conditions. I’d like to publicly say that we appreciate all their hard work and dedication to the progress of all our students,”O’Guinn said.