September’s El Dorado School Board was a time of celebration as the district recognized students, classified employees and teachers, and reviewed the district’s annual report to the public.
School board member Shaneil Yarbrough presented certificates and read comments from their teachers and colleagues. Students of the month were Isabel Clark from Washington Middle School and Becca Hooks from Barton Jr. High School; classified employees of the month were Sonya Hicks from Washington Middle School and Kim Conner from Barton Jr. High School; and teachers of the month were Jennifer Odom from Washington Middle School and Earlene Burns from Barton Jr. High School.
Rhonda Simmons, assistant superintendent - curriculum and instruction, and Bonnie Haynie, director of professional development and special projects, presented the annual report to the public. Simmons discussed three new district goals for the school year: Response to Intervention (RTI), Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and Essential Standards.
“These are really on the edge of what’s new in schools,” she said. “RTI is an additional support system for students. We’re finding it really effective in the schools that are using it. PLC allow professionals, teachers to come together and discuss the important things that impact student achievement. And with essential standards, there are a lot of things students need to learn, but we’re going to key in on what they need to know in order to be a successful student.”
Simmons reviewed school reports for ACT Aspire testing in reading, math, English and science. The presentation showed the poverty percentage and percentage of students who are in need of support, close, ready and exceeding, as well as the percentage that met the readiness benchmark, which is comprised of ready and exceeding students.
The third and fourth grade classes for Hugh Goodwin, Northwest, Retta Brown and the fourth grade class at Yocum all demonstrated improvement over last year in math. Washington Middle School fifth and sixth grade declined in math compared to 2018, while Barton Jr. High and El Dorado High School showed improvement.
“The high school had the best math scores they’ve had ever, so we’re happy about that,” Simmons said.
Most grades also showed improvements in English, reading and science. A complete copy of the report can be found HERE.
Haynie discussed AP scores, noting that almost 12 years ago, the board approved opening AP classes for fifth grade.
“Last year, we had 344 students take 789 AP exams,” she said.
The district also adjusted how it managed summer school, extending it from three to six weeks. During that session, 134 kindergarten through second grade attended the session, with an average daily attendance of 100. Out of the 100 students who were tested, 70 showed growth and 25 reached grade-level reading expectations.
The district also opened up the Accelerated Reading Lab to elementary students over the summer.
“Members of the El Dorado Football team, El Dorado Police Department, Barton Cheerleaders, UCAPS, El Dorado’s Literacy Team, and Reeves Robinson, greeted and encouraged these young readers. Students participating in summer learning programs at St. Johns, Boys and Girls Club, and Take 5 brought vans full of students to the AR lab,” the report read.
Karla Nelson, the children’s librarian at Barton Library (which is located just north of Hugh Goodwin Elementary School) noted that the summer initiative increased the number of students visiting the library, with some 5,600 children’s books being checked out during the summer.
The district served free breakfast and lunch during the summer, serving 2,200 breakfasts and 2,955 lunches per day.
As of Sept. 9, district enrollment was down 71 students to 4,217.
The board also received an update on the new teacher induction program from Stephanie Lowrey. The program pairs incoming teachers with mentor teachers over the course of three years, and also provides professional development opportunities for the mentors. Lowrey discussed the beginning weeks of the program, and how new teachers were responding to the one-on-one time they’re receiving from their mentors.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the beginning work of our mentors,” Lowrey said. “They’ve been working hard with their new teachers.”