By The Numbers for Week 5 of the prep basketball season
December 20, 2016
Loving arms enfold local children and adults
December 21, 2016
Philip Martin and JoAnn Matthews both received some early holiday gifts this year.
Martin and Matthews, schools superintendents of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish, respectively, each saw their school district ratings from the Louisiana Department of Education for the 2015-16 school year take big jumps from the previous year. Lafourche as a whole reached the highest letter grade possible while Terrebonne neared closer to the same status.
The Lafourche Parish School District made the leap to an “A” grade from the state after making large gains over the past year. The school district’s score increased from 95.8 in 2014-15 to 102.2 in 2015-16, passing the 100-point threshold to receive the state’s highest letter grade. The Terrebonne Parish School District made an almost five-point increase from 90.5 to 95.1 this past year, earning a “B” both years but moving the district considerably closer to an A.
Matthews credited the dedication of everyone involved, from students to teachers to parents, for Lafourche’s jump to an A.
“Working, of course, with all of our teachers on understanding all of the content, and the teachers working with the students in turn using a lot of strategies and of course our parents as well, doing homework at home. So it’s a deep commitment on all of our stakeholders’ parts to help move the school district forward,” Matthews said.
Martin credited the schools across Terrebonne with emphasizing the continually rising state standards and preparing students for the state exams and expectations. He expressed confidence in the TPSD’s trajectory remaining on an upward path.
“Although we’re pleased with [the grade], we’re not satisfied. Our goal and our mission is to become an A school district,” Martin said. “Next year, if we have the same amount of growth that we had this year, we will be an A school district. And I’m very confident that’s going to happen, actually. We’re getting better at this, and we know what areas we need to improve in,” Martin said.
The state’s grades for schools and school districts are based on a number of criteria, including performance on state exams, graduation rates in high schools, ACT scores and performance among minority students, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students. Lafourche had 39 percent of third through eighth grade students score at Mastery or higher on their state exams, compared with a 33 percent mark statewide. Terrebonne was slightly better than the state with a 34 percent mark.
In Lafourche, 23 or 30 total schools saw their scores improve, with Chackbay Elementary’s 14.8-point increase being the largest in the parish. Chackbay’s score jumped all the way to 107.2, putting it firmly in the A category. All three Lafourche high schools made large gains, with both Central and South Lafourche High Schools jumping from high B grades to strong A grades and Thibodaux near the highest mark with a 97.7 score. Galliano Elementary School had the largest drop off, going from a 104.3 A rating in 2014-15 to a 93, still comfortably a B, this past year.
When separating some elementary schools into upper and lower schools, such as Lockport Lower Elementary and Lockport Upper Elementary, Lafourche doubled its total number of A schools, going from six in the previous year to 12 now. The LPSD’s number of D schools dropped by one to two total, and Lafouche had no F schools.
Terrebonne Parish saw its number of A schools stay constant at four, although one high school replaced another among that list. The TPSD had 12 B schools and nine C schools in 2015-16, each an increase of one from the previous year. Terrebonne had seven D schools, one less than in 2014-15, and no F schools.
South Terrebonne High School replaced Terrebonne High School on the parish’s list of A schools after massive gains by STHS and a miniscule drop by THS. STHS saw its score go from an 88.8 to a 108 in one year, while THS’s tenuous A score of 100.1 became a very high B at 99.3 points. Elysian Fields Middle School saw the largest decrease in the parish, dropping from a 78.4 C rating to a 62.6 D grade. Overall, 21 of Terrebonne’s 32 schools, not including the School for Exceptional Children, which did not receive a grade last year, saw their scores improve.
Martin said while the progress made is encouraging, he knows students and teachers will have to continue striving to stay up with the state’s increasing standards. He said the TPSD will continue to emphasize those standards and make sure every classroom is preparing for those state exams.
“I don’t think we can ask kids or teachers to work any harder, but I think for the most part – there are exceptions to every rule – they’re working as hard as they can. But work smarter,” Martin said.
Matthews said the LPSD is focusing on improving math scores, noting the change in how math is taught presenting difficulties for both teachers to teach the “new math” and for parents helping with homework to understand it. However, she said Lafourche plans to continue making strides, even amid new challenges.
“It is very difficult in light of the hard economic times and losing some staff members, that sort of thing, but student achievement is very important to us, so our goal is to continue moving forward,” Matthews said. •
Gibson Elementary School Principal Sharon Henry (right) helps first grader Emma Haury take a math test.
