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Twenty-four Tri-parish schools received more than $8,000 each from the state Department of Education for increasing student achievement in the 2011-12 school year.
“This wasn’t just coincidence or luck,” said Terrebonne Parish School District superintendent Philip Martin. “This is the result of the hard work of our teachers and students. The designation is a blood-pressure check for our schools to find out if they are healthy and working well. We’ve been doing this as a district for years, but this the first time the state is designating schools.”
Almost 450 schools across the state, including 10 in Terrebonne Parish, received the hefty chunk of change as a reward for improving performance scores by or beyond a pre-determined growth target, from two to 10 points. Terrebonne Parish’s most improved school was Evergreen Junior High School, which increased its score from 87 in the 2010-11 school year to 97 for the 2011-12 school year.
“For the size of the school, I am pleased with the improvement,” Martin said. “It’s a big school, and it’s like a ship – the bigger it is to start, stop and turn. I am glad to have that many students and teachers moving in a positive direction.”
Martin was pleased that 10 of the district’s 36 schools were on the list, but pointed out that the buck will not stop at that number.
“Lots of work remains to be done, but great progress had been made,” Martin said. “I want to recognize the hard work of the students, parents and teachers of this parish. We will support them in any way we can.”
Other Terrebonne schools that received the Top Gains designation were Boudreaux Canal Elementary, Broadmoor Elementary, Dularge Middle, Honduras Elementary, Houma Junior High, Montegut Middle, Mulberry Elementary, Schriever Elementary and Grand Caillou Middle schools.
Each of the schools must use the money for educational purposes.
“We will use that to pay for advanced placement exams and to improve the advanced placement program for next year,” said Berwick High School principal Buffy Fegenbush.
The high school, located in St. Mary Parish, improved its score from 123.4 for the 2010-11 school year to 141.1 for the 2011-12 school year, up 17.7 points.
“It’s an ongoing process of work this year,” Fegenbush said. “We continue to improve traditional teaching methods and, in general, we have strong teaching practices such as bell-to-bell teaching. Teachers understand that each class is different. They are constantly adapting to the needs of the kids, and students go above and beyond what is normally expected.”
Fegenbush said that her school would continue to work with support and feeder schools and the community to continue to encourage students to do well in high school so that they would be prepared for employment or college after graduation.
Other St. Mary schools to receive Top Gains recognition were Morgan City High, Berwick Junior High, W.P. Foster Elementary, M.D. Shannon Elementary, Wyandotte Elementary and B. Edward Boudreaux Middle schools.
Lafourche Parish’s top gainer was Central Lafourche High School. The school improved its score from 90.1 for the 2010-11 school year to 114.6 for the 2011-12, an increase of 24.5 points.
“We work with the common core curriculum and build lesson plans using the curriculum,” said Central Lafourche High School principal Chris Kimball. “The kids are working harder, and the teachers are doing a good job. We continue to make improvements and, this year, we will begin administering the ACT test to all of our seniors.”
In addition to aligning with the core curriculum, the school also offers an after-school tutoring program and virtual courses for those who fall behind. Like Berwick High School, Central Lafourche High School will also use the money to purchase advanced placement exams for its students.
“At Central Lafourche, we have a great staff, and I am proud to be principal of this school,” Kimball said. “In today’s public school system, things change every day. Our teachers could be easily frustrated with the changes, but they are troopers and adjust and work hard to meet the standards on a yearly basis.”
Other Lafourche schools to receive Top Gains recognition were Bayou Blue Elementary, Chackbay Elementary, Golden Meadow Lower Elementary, Lockport Upper Elementary, Sixth Ward Middle and South Lafourche High schools.
Evergreen Junior High School teacher Helena Salmon helps eighth grade students complete assignments during a Louisiana history class. Evergreen was one of 440 schools across the state to receive the Top Gains recognition from the state Department of Education.
