Published: December 03, 2008 02:48 am      

East schools note accomplishments

LSIC delegations submit reports to BOE

PLEASANT VALLEY — Marion County Board of Education’s special meeting Tuesday gave five schools an opportunity to show off their accomplishments.

Each school has a Local School Improvement Council, which is made up of administrators, faculty, parents, community members and partners in education.

A delegation from each school attends the special LSIC meetings held by the MCBOE in their attendance area to present the state of their school report to the board.

Tuesday, the East attendance area was on tap for the event, bringing five schools to East Fairmont High School. Each delegation presented a report detailing its school’s achievements, goals and needs to the board.

The following is a brief listing of each school’s report.

• East Dale Elementary is proud of its technology integration in the classrooms and the teacher data notebooks, which are large binders of information which include ongoing assessment data, parent communication logs, and discipline forms among other items. Each teacher has one and they are tailored to meet the needs of each grade level.

The school is in need of a new gymnasium and would like the $10,000 allotment from the board of education to be reinstated. That money went toward tutoring and afterschool programs.

• East Park Elementary is proud of its continuing cooperation with its Partners in Education and the work they’ve done around the school. The school is also proud of making Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act for the fourth year in a row and its new professional development program for teachers.

The school would like to have a full-time technology teacher, some new furniture, repairs to its cafeteria and a hallway to connect the building’s second floors.

• Pleasant Valley Elementary is pleased with the way the teachers and students are progressing with the Response To Intervention program for reading and is offering more staff development.

The school needs more wireless access points, interior painting, roof repairs, new lighting and renovations to the restrooms on the building’s lower floor.

• East Fairmont Junior High is proud of its new character education programs and new “Failure’s Not an Option” program which encourages students to turn in all their work. That program has shown a dramatic increase in students passing core classes in both the seventh and eighth grades.

The school has a list of needs, including a new school building, which was part of the bond call Marion County voters failed to pass last spring. Other needs include: repairs to plumbing, the roof, banisters, painting and wireless access points.

• East Fairmont High is pleased with its positive behavior support program which encourages students to be prompt, prepared and respectful. The school has also fully embraced technology.

The school needs repairs to the roof, plumbing, the public address system and more outdoor lighting.

In other matters, Pleasant Valley Elementary PTO President Devanna Corley asked the board to explain why what she considered basic needs at the school weren’t being met. Corley said she considered painting, lighting and office furniture to be basic needs.

Board President the Rev. James Saunders explained the LSIC meetings weren’t the appropriate venue to address problems and that the meetings are held to accept reports from the schools. He suggested she take up her concerns with Superintendent of Schools James Phares.

Following the meeting, Corley and Phares did meet to discuss her concerns.

E-mail Katie Wilson at kwilson@timeswv.com.