Steve Frey
Contributing writer
It was announced at the July 10 Radford City School Board meeting that McHarg Elementary School and Belle Heth Elementary School have both been awarded the 2017-2018 Board of Education Distinguished Achievement Award as part of the 2018 Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) awards program for advanced learning and achievement.
McHarg Elementary School and Belle Heth Elementary School were both awarded the Virginia Board of Education Distinguished Achievement Award as part of the 2018 Virginia Index of Performance awards program for advanced learning and achievement. Pictured are: (from left) Superintendent Robert Graham; Assistant Principal Ken Keister and Principal Tara Grant from Belle Heth; and McHarg Principal Mike Brown.
These awards are based on student and school performance during the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years.
VIP awards presented to schools and school divisions are based on criteria and guidelines adopted by the Virginia State Board of Education and the governor.
Schools and school divisions must meet or exceed all applicable state and federal accountability requirements.
They must also have 75 VIP points (including bonus points) in each content area, which include: English (combined reading and writing); mathematics; science; and history and social science.
Superintendent Robert Graham congratulated the teachers and staff at both schools for this honor and presented Principals Tara Grant from Belle Heth and Mike Brown from McHarg with a special award certificate.
In a release from the state education department, Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James F. Lane said, “Congratulations to the students in these…schools and to the dedicated educators who made these successes possible.”
Radford High School also was awarded a Wells Fargo Cup in academics for areas such as the scholastic bowl, creative writing, theatre, forensics, debate, film festival, broadcast, newspaper, yearbook and magazine.
“That’s the fourth year in a row that we have received first in some type of category,” said Graham.
Graham also welcomed returning school board member, Lynn Burris, as well as newcomers Liz Altieri and Lee Slusher. Graham added, “We appreciate you all serving the community, schools and our students and staff. We appreciate your leadership.”
Burris, in a 3-2 vote, was reelected as Radford School Board Chairman. Board members Altieri, Slusher, and Burris voted affirmatively for Burris, while Adam DeVries and Joe Hester dissented. Hester had nominated DeVries for the chairman’s position, but only Hester and DeVries cast votes for him.
Hester was unanimously elected by the board for the office of vice-chairman.
Kerri Long was approved as clerk of the board. Cindy Blankenship was chosen as deputy clerk. Elizabeth Williams-Price was approved as agent and Patty Manor became deputy agent. All were approved unanimously.
An administrative team of Ellen Denny, Executive Director for Curriculum and Instruction; Principal Mike Brown from McHarg, Principal Tara Grant and Assistant Principal Ken Keister from Belle Heth, and Principal Jerry King from Dalton presented the board with a power point summary of experiences leading up to, during, and after their visit to the High Tech High Spring Forum in San Diego.
Last year, Radford City was awarded the Virginia Department of Education “High School Innovation Implementation Planning Grant” for $50,000.
It was announced by the governor’s office on Thursday that the $50,000 grant has been approved for Radford for a second year.
The grant will be used to help Radford: “continue its three-year transformation from a traditional secondary school into an integrated program that combines core academics with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), career and technical education and training in cybersecurity.
The program emphasizes inquiry-based learning and real-world experiences to engage students and promote 21st-century skills, such as collaboration and creativity.”
In the presentation, Denny reviewed a few of the areas of focus last year: integrated learning, student exhibition and performance, student advisories, co-planning and academic support, and the “real world” work experiences/skill building. Attendance at High Tech High supported the attainment of goals in these areas.
High Tech High is a group of 13 public charter schools in San Diego County, California. HTH design principles include equity based on a diverse and inclusive student population; personalization through low student/teacher ratio, teaching teams, advisory groups and “passion pursued” projects, and collaborative design where students and staff co-create projects and pursue passions with a commitment to professional development.
Other areas discussed with the board include Problem Based Learning; performance-based assessment; exhibitions of learning; authentic, real-world learning; student-led conferences and presentations of learning.
From all of the information gleaned from visits to various schools and professional development activities, the Radford City School Division’s 2017-2018 Mission Statement or Goal is: To increase student activity and engagement through instructional practices that make all learning relevant (standards/skill based), relatable (real world, workplace skill emphasis) and rigorous (high expectations, performance-based) through:
1. Learning environments and experiences that promote student collaboration, communication, critical and creative thinking and a love of learning.
2. An Integrated subject approach that promotes “real world” learning projects for teams of students as well as individuals.
3. Innovative scheduling to support the integration of subjects (Core, CTE, Elective) at all levels.
4. STEAM-based lessons that are delivered through the engineering and design process.
5. Makerspaces that inspire and motivate students to investigate, experiment, invent, produce, evaluate, and refine.
6. Infusion of cybersecurity standards into the K-8 STEAM curriculum.
Slusher wanted to make sure there was adequate support for teachers in making changes, and the administrators explained ways in which teachers would be supported through professional development. Hester expressed a concern about the dichotomy between creative instructional techniques and SOL accreditation testing, and it was explained that the two areas needed to be united, and one way was through scheduling and increased instructional time.
Also, direct instruction would still be employed with specific math instruction used as an example.
Altieri said, “You know, we have a lot of people leaving the field (teaching); we have a lot of people not wanting to come into the field as it is structured today. This is the kind of thing that will make people excited about being a teacher and a student.”
Denny concluded the overview with a quote by John Dewey: “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.”
The Radford City school division has made a commitment that every student will be fully prepared for tomorrow through the implementation of these innovative instructional programs today.
Other news
In personnel changes, Lucinda Piro has been hired as a theater teacher. Following are new cafeteria services staff: Mendy Bibb—High School; Heather Fizer and Kelly McDaniel—Belle Heth.
Teacher Richard Fischer will be moving from Belle Heth to Dalton. Glory Lovik will move from assistant cafeteria manager to cafeteria manager at the high school. Mark Barnes will move from bus driver to custodian. Special education teacher Rosemary Anderson has retired.
The board meeting calendar for 2018-2019 was adjusted to change the Board Retreat date from Aug. 6 to July 30.
The Student Code of Conduct was approved. It was suggested to revise the Code for next year to make it “people friendly” and in “plain English” with an appropriate reading level to accommodate everyone.
The board also approved the Virginia School Board Association “Code of Conduct for Board Members” and various policy revisions, as well as the Safety and Crisis Management Guide.
Preliminary SOL results and graduation rate indicators are looking positive.
The board plans to set up quarterly meetings with the city council for information sharing.
Slusher and Altieri will be the delegate and alternate delegate, respectively, for the Virginia School Board Association conference in November.
The board was able to carry over approximately $575,000, with $400,000 applied to debt service and $175,000 for capital projects such as locker room and gym refurbishment.