The Leflore County School District will bring a number of new programs and technologies into its classrooms this year.
The first day for all staff in the district will be Friday. The first day for all students will be Aug. 6.
“The district has made great advancements in technology by adding new labs and Promethean boards in all elementary schools to meet the technological requirements and to provide extended learning time as we continue to implement the new College and Career Readiness Standards,” said Mary Johnson, director of elementary curriculum, in a statement.
This year, parents will receive training on the requirements associated with the state’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act. Third-graders must demonstrate they can read at a certain level in order to be promoted to fourth grade.
The training will educate parents and help to bridge the gap between the school and home, Johnson said.
The district will implement a research-based program known as Accelerated Reader, which will work with Star Renaissance Learning, an educational assessment program. Johnson said it is designed to “help close the literacy achievement gap during the foundational years” — kindergarten through sixth grade.
To help with improvements in literacy, the district has been awarded a grant from the Phil Hardin Foundation.
Teachers also will have a step-by-step guide for providing any needed interventions with students. These programs will help the district track students’ progress, she said.
Two new principals are joining the district this year:
•Bobby Taylor replaces Annie Johnson as principal of Leflore County Elementary School. Johnson retired.
•Barren Cleark replaces Jacqueline Boyd as principal of Amanda Elzy Junior High School. Boyd left the district.
Other new offerings this year:
•Claudine Brown Elementary School will have a pre-kindergarten that will serve 20 students. The district opened pre-k sites at Leflore County Elementary School and at East Elementary School in 2012.
•A new social studies sequence will allow students to start receiving credits toward graduation beginning in the eighth grade. Previously, credits could be applied only in 10th and 11th grades.
•A dual enrollment option will be offered to 11th- and 12th-graders in which they take online courses from Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead.
•All 11th-graders will be enrolled in ACT prep courses.
•Students performing in the bottom 25 percent on state assessments will be assigned a personalized learning path through the Classworks program.
•The district has developed a dropout recovery initiative that focuses on those ages 17-21. The district’s goal is to re-enroll them and provide an alternative setting in order to graduate.
•Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
