Officials from South Pike High School, which is under a two-year mandated school improvement order, laid out plans to buckle down and raise the performance level at a school board meeting Monday night.
Principal Warren Banks and his high school team presented a program to school district trustees that includes plans for improving graduation rates and school attendance, reducing the number of tardy students, and creating a better learning environment — all part of a package to lift the school’s academic level.
“We’ve gotten off to a good start,” Banks said of the new year. “There have been a few bumps in the road, but we’re on the way up in every area.”
The school improvement plan is in place because South Pike failed two years in the same area. In 2006, the district did not test the required number of students and didn’t achieve its Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind initiative. Superintendent Dr. Bill Gunnell said that resulted from a federal order that was given to the state Department of Education, involving the testing of special education and GED students — something Gunnell said came late in the year.
Banks said school attendance last year often ran below 95 percent. This year, the numbers are between 95 and 97 percent.
To firm up the numbers, Banks said the school did something new to cut the number of kids skipping school.
“We called each of those children’s homes,” he said. “Sometimes there were unpleasant discoveries. Parents were not aware their children were not at school.”
Banks said he and his team are busy dispelling myths about the school.
“South Pike is a good school, and we’re going to prove it to you tonight,” he said. “We’re going to be soaring to new heights.”
That means work not only for students, but for teachers, too.
Banks presented a 12-step plan for teachers to promote better classroom management and discipline. Those include being patient with students, being consistent, making parents allies by staying in touch with them regularly and keeping students actively involved every day.
Teachers have received pointers on maintaining better control in the classroom, starting off with establishing a rapport with students first thing each morning.
Banks said staff members are more visible at bus loadings and unloadings to help support drivers, the high school campus is cleaner, and the noise level has been reduced.
“There’s a lot of instruction going on,” he said.
Banks said extracurricular activities, including established clubs and others that are planned for the district, are important to students.
Some of those extras, such as attending pep rallies, are privileges not every student can take advantage of.
Banks said students were fired up for the first football game against McComb, where more than 3,000 tickets were sold. But disruptive students were not allowed to attend the pep rally.
“They didn’t like that at all. Those children were very saddened,” Banks said, noting they’ll be less likely to misbehave during the year.
The staff also is busy promoting school clubs — Beta, French, math, JROTC, FBLA, VICA, OSACA, FHA, band and choir. Prospective clubs include the 400 Club, for students who score 400 or more on state tests; a Future Educators of America; a school newspaper, with staff from the school’s journalism class; Rotary Interact; and Student Government Association.
“The more you can get students involved with activities, the better you’ll be able to keep them out of trouble,” Graves said, noting that clubs have an educational component that will only help students improve in academics.
Officials heard from other members of the high school improvement team: Alice Mitchell, who reviewed test scores; vo-tech director Dr. Brenda Jackson; and assistant principal Paul Graves. Assistant principal Tate Ott was absent, as was counselor Tyrone Varnado.
Mitchell noted that mandated tests students have been given have been based on Level 1 and Level 2 academic work. This year, those tests will be more rigorous — on Levels 2 and 3.
She said the district linked Compensatory Reading I with English I, and Compensatory Reading II with English II and saw great results, including a 100 percent passing rate on the English portion of the Subject Area Tests.
Now, their attention will turn to mathematics, with concentrated efforts to lift Algebra I scores, which saw a decline last year.
