Towns County Schools–a cut above

Towns County Schools–a cut above

Recent AYP scores indicate TCS zooming to the top

By Frank Bradley

Sentinel writer

With educators struggling across the state, Towns County Schools has tightened its belt and seems to be surging ahead. Results of recently released Annual Yearly Progress scores places all three Towns schools in the “distinguished” category having met all their 2010 AYP goals. More than two thirds of the school systems in Georgia did not meet these this year’s AYP goals. Schools that miss the mark for at least two consecutive years are labeled as “needs improvement” and face sanctions.

Fortunately, Towns County Schools does not fall in that category. Moreover, Middle School Students have excelled on state tests in Reading, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science for grades six, seven and eight with more than half the class scores ascending to the top three school systems in North Georgia (out of 13 systems including Hall, Union, Lumpkin, White, Rabun, Stephens, Banks, Dalton, Hart, Franklin, Stephens, and the City of Gainesville). The 8th Grade Social Studies scores placed Towns first in the region. Language Arts and Reading scores for 8th Grade had Towns as number two in the region.

Middle School principal Darren Berrong said only one class in one subject fell below the state average on its test scores. That was also the case two years ago. Last year no class in any subject fell below the state average.

Berrong said he is not happy if any class in any subject test falls below the state average. “We need to make constant improvement,” he said. “We are continuously working to do that. That means working with each individual student who is having difficulty with any subject.”

Asked about any changes in his school’s programs, he said there were only two: “We’re looking at a new math remediation program,” he said. “We’re also are going to provide students with more hands on time, more lab work in Science.”

The number of students in the three grades of Middle School have been hovering around the 270 mark for the last few years, according to Berrong. He said he is expecting 271 student to return from last year and another six who have indicated they will be transferring into Towns Middle School. With the start of school two weeks away, he also expects to pick up a few more who will be transferring in.

While Georgia is experiencing a loss of some 8,000 teachers, Berrong said he will be down a total of three personnel from last year. He loses the Assistant Principal position, a Physical Education position and a Remedial position. These losses come as a result of retirements and a transfer to the high school.

High School principal Roy Perrin told me 2010 was the 7th straight year the high school had met its AYP goals. It is the 5th year it has been recognized as “distinguished.” Also for the 2010 school year, TCHS had a graduation rate of 96.5%, a gain over last year’ graduation rate of 95.9%. This has placed the Towns County graduation rate among the top 20 schools in the state.

Math test scores for 11th graders jumped from 74.9 % last year to 76.1% this year; English test scores jumped from 87.7 % to 92 % this year, according to Perrin.

“Our scores have improved, but they are not where we need to be,” Perrin told me Tuesday. In the 13-member region, Towns math and reading scores jumped to 6th place. Perrin said next year, Georgia’s standard level will mirror that of federal standards. And the federal standards keep going up each year, he said. In 2013-2014, under current law, we will be required to have a 100 % pass rate in order to meet the federal AYP goals.

Perrin said the high school will only be cut a half-teacher position in the upcoming school year. That will be in Science, which could mean slightly larger class sizes.

“We’ve been pretty lean all along,” he said, “Therefore state teacher cuts won’t affect us that much. We also will be cut eight teacher days. Six of those are teacher work-days, and two will be “student days.” The upcoming year, we will have 178 school days.”

Three teacher have left the high school this year and will be replaced. There will be a new Social Science teacher, a part-time Science teacher and a new Band Director, who will be shared with the Middle School.

It appears the Towns School system is well on its way of achieving excellence. With a administrative and teaching staff that is motivated and focused on providing its students with the knowledge, skills and attitude needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive job market, all is needed if for this year’s students and parents to get behind their school to make the Towns learning experience the best ever.