BY DEBBIE PAGE

The Mooresville Graded School District Board of Education received several reports, including a variety of summer learning and credit recovery opportunities that will be available to students at all grade levels, during February’s board meeting.

The board also heard mid-year improvement plan updates from each school in the district as well as instructional highlights and honored a former board member and several employees and students for their accomplishments.

HYATT AWARDED ORDER OF LONG LEAF PINE

Former MGSD board member and long-time principal and administrator Roger Hyatt was presented the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by N.C. Senator Vickie Sawyer. 

An “overwhelmed” Hyatt thanked Sawyer and the board for the honor as well as his supportive family and the professionals in MGSD.

“To have success, you have to have the will and skill to do things and the wisdom to surround yourself with capable folks that can work together to accomplish things,” Hyatt said.

Referencing the Order of The Long Leaf Pine toast, Hyatt said he liked the part where “the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,” noting that statement stands for what Mooresville Graded School District is all about.

The district takes all the children of varying abilities and “makes something great out of them,” he said.

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

Mooresville High School seniors Emma Devore (student body president) and Kadyn Harrington (senior class president) were nominated by Meghan Black and the MHS Administration Team as the February Students of the Month.

The teens have “shown their dedication to the MHS student body throughout the school year. Daily we hear Emma and Kadyn read the announcements but don’t see the editing, organization, and finding the perfect dad joke to include that occurs behind the scenes.”

“Emma and Kadyn have also served the student body by promoting school spirit, being positive role models, and helping plan activities such as homecoming events, which is no easy task. While we’re sad they are graduating, we can’t wait to see what Emma and Kadyn will do in the future!”

ARTIST OF THE MONTH

Senior Ben Moore was nominated by art teacher Debbie Hauff as the February Artist of the Month. Ben will enter the Savannah College of Art and Design in the fall, majoring in Sequential Arts.

Haufff said Ben is “a wonderful and extremely talented young man who has a passion for art. He is kind and caring and is always the first one to offer help if it is needed. I had the pleasure of teaching Ben for the first time last semester in Art III Honors, and he is in my Art IV Honors class this semester.”

Hard-working and detail-oriented, Ben takes his art very seriously and is always striving to get better. He seeks additional art classes outside of school online and is busy building his visual library to help him at SCAD next year.

“I know that Ben is going to do great things with his art!”

In addition to his artistic achievements, Ben is also an active and familiar member of his school, serving as a lead anchor on the Blue Devil Update. He also earned the Eagle Scout honor.

ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY AWARD

MHS Athletic Assistant Leslie Byers was nominated by Coach Charles Hopkins for the “Above and Beyond the Call of Duty” honor.

“Ms. Byers is a very important part of the athletic department, not only at MHS but both middle schools as well. She handles all travel for all three schools, which is a huge undertaking in itself while building a tremendous relationship with Christian Tours. This is invaluable when issues come up,” said Hopkins.

“She is also our queen of Final Forms, the platform we use for all athletic forms, rosters, and physicals. She works with all coaches to have schedules for each sport in one place in a timely manner. She also coaches three sports and builds great relationships with coaches and athletes. MHS Athletics is lucky to have her.”

Beyond her normal duties, Byers serves as a mentor in the Check and Connect program. She is an advisor for FCA, coordinates student volunteers for tournaments, creates senior letter shadow boxes for every senior athlete, feeds unlimited snacks, waters, and Jolly Ranchers to any student who asks, helps cover classes, tests one-on-one students, and is a fan of all Mooresville sports.

SPOTLIGHT ON PEOPLE

The board also congratulated ten MGSD educators who attained their National Board Certification in 2023. As part of the certification process, candidates build a portfolio that includes student work samples, assignments, video samples, and a thorough analysis of their classroom teaching.

Certification by the National Board is the highest credential in the teaching profession, and participation is voluntary.

Gina Ockers received her initial NBCT credentials this year. Those earning NBCT renewals include Ashley Ericson, Rebecca Howard, Hayley Johnson, Misty Loden, Karen Martin, Dayna Rietman, Stephen Stith, Tracey Waid, and Erin Trahan.

Instructional Highlights

MHS Principal Samone Graham, math teachers Ashley Lanning and Erin Trahan, and instructional coach Erika Akelman presented the successes of the Math I course at the high school.

Graham said for the 2022-2023 school year, overall proficiency improved in 12 out of 14 MGSD state-tested areas, with high school math improving 10 percent.

This fall, 44 percent students were proficient, up 6 percent over last fall. Lanning said they work hard to install a growth mindset in their students, many of whom lack confidence in their math skills.

The math teachers made several changes that helped improve students’ proficiency, including strategic scheduling with smaller class sizes and a reduced number of pre-math sections.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) focus areas included consistency in notes through guided note packets and developing and using common assessments using questions that match EOC style and rigor. They also embedded calculator-inactive problems.

Other changes were the “Blue Devil Block” math structure, which includes a short lesson to start (direct-instruction), opportunities to practice each day during class, extra time for one-on-one help during class, and opportunities for revisions on assignments and formal assessments to allow students to demonstrate mastery.

Trahan showed a video featuring student Sarah Corbin talking about Trahan’s grading for equity practices. Trahan removes points from some assignments to emphasize practice for mastery rather than just earning points toward a grade. They also have choice of how much they complete if they achieve mastery of a concept quickly or need more time to practice if needed.

Amari Scaife discussed how Lanning offering retakes is helpful to him because he can raise his grades. “Learning is learning, and it doesn’t matter when it takes place,” said Trahan.

Jorja Ann Hall from Ms. Bell’s class discussed stations and hands-on activities. She liked the interactivity and the individual attention the teacher could give during station time.

Akelman discussed using tier 2 interventions, which go beyond remediation to help students learn foundational skills they may have missed in middle school.

To further improve success, the high school began implementing math interventions with a small group of students during the fall semester. Sixteen students participated in this pilot program, which focused on pre-Math 1 skills such as function and algebraic thinking. Students met in small groups for direct instruction and additional practice.

For the spring semester, the high school expanded the program, now reaching 65 students. Students were identified using an universal screener and EVAAS data. All students are also enrolled in Math 1.

“Students are walking out of class feeling more confident in their skills,” said Graham.

Summer Testing Program

The State of North Carolina allows school districts to offer summer testing opportunities for EOG/EOC testing outside of the traditional school calendar with district board approval. This opportunity allows students who were close to proficiency to retake the EOG/EOC after remediation.

While the student score does not count for school growth, it does count for school and district proficiency calculations.

The administration will bring the summer testing and enrichment plan back, with any suggested modifications, for approval at the March BOE meeting.

Summer Opportunities

Tracey Waid and Jemma Conley presented the district’s summer learning programs. Middle school summer school will not be offered this summer because the remediation/testing model used last year was more effective in helping students achieve mastery. The YReaders program is being added as an additional option this summer.

Among the offerings are:

♦ A summer Career Accelerator for CTE Enrichment, including hands-on skills, and project-based learning in STEM for rising 6-8th and 9-10th Graders

♦ A summer testing opportunity for students who scored not proficient on state tests to receive remediation and test again. This applies to EOGs in 3rd-8th Grade and high school EOCs.

♦ The Read to Achieve program, which the state funded for Grades 2 and 3. Students demonstrating difficulty with reading can receive 72 hours of literacy instruction.

♦ YReaders, which serves at-risk kindergarten and first-grade students in reading through a partnership with the Lowe’s YMCA. The six-week camp also includes off-site field trips. About 65 students will be served through the program.

♦ High school summer school for students who did not receive course credit can take classes for credit recovery or new courses online for credit. NF Woods/ MIWAYE will host its own Summer School.

♦ Jump Start is for students at key transition years to help them get to know their new school. Offered for rising Kinders, rising 6th (WEB Leaders), and rising 9th graders (Link Leaders).

Most offerings will be located at the complex, with PVES hosting K-1 YReaders, MIS (2-5), MMS (6-12), and Jumpstarts at home schools.

Transportation and meals will be provided for all programs, which will run Monday through Thursday, with holidays on June 19 and July 4. Staggered start times will allow for multiple bus runs.

Summer graduation is scheduled for July 8 for eligible seniors.

Tentative Dates and Times

♦ K-1 YReaders Camp 6/10 – 7/18 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
♦ 2-3 Read to Achieve 6/10 – 7/11 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (testing on 6/26).
♦ 6-9 CTE Career Accelerator 6/3 – 6/6 for 9th and 10th grade and 6/10 – 6/13 for grades 6-8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
♦ MHS 9th -12th Summer School 6/12 – 6/22 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
♦ NF Woods Summer School 5/28 – 6/27 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Jump Start Programming is tentatively scheduled as follows:

♦ Kinder Jump Start 7/8 – 7/18 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
♦ Middle School Web Leaders will be 7/22 – 7/23 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. , for sixth graders on 7/24 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and other new students on 7/25 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
♦ High school link leaders will meet on 7/31 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for students on 8/1 from 7 a.m. to noon.

Summer Testing Plan

The summer testing plan offers students an enrichment opportunity outside of the school year to improve functional skills and to extend students’ learning. Students will attend in-person remediation lessons and then take the EOG/EOC exam to attempt to show proficiency.

This opportunity is offered in math (3rd-8th), high school Math 1 and Math 3, reading (4th-8th, high school English 2), and science (5th, 8th, high school Biology).

In March, parents will be notified about summer programs and remediation opportunity dates, and individual invitations will be issued to eligible students in May.

Students who are not proficient on their EOG or EOC are eligible to attend remediation programming, but any parent may request students participate, if space is available to accommodate these requests.

Priority invitations will be given to students within 5 scale points of proficiency and those with teacher/administrator recommendations, based on other data.

For Math 3-5 EOGS, summer remediation and testing will tentatively be 6/3 – 6/6, with Science 5 on 6/10 – 6/13 and ELA 4-5 from 6/17 – 6/20. Math 6 – 8 and Science 8 is scheduled for 6/3 – 6/6, and English Language Arts 6 – 8 on 6/10 – 6/13. All sessions will run from 8:05 a.m. to 1:55 p.m.

For high school End of Course test remediation, English 2 and Biology is tentatively scheduled on 6/3 – 6/4 and Math 1 and 3 on 6/5 – 6/6 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Testing will be done online and administered by trained school-based testing coordinators.

Board member Debbie Marsh requested that parents be notified as early as possible that their child needs the summer testing or summer school program assistance because they did not met proficiency.

“Personal communication is really important,” said Marsh.

“It really gives students a boost for the next year if they are successful in summer remediation,” said Superintendent Jason Gardner.

TEST DATA AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN MID-YEAR REVIEW

Test Data

Chief of Schools Mike Royal presented the mid-year test data to the board. Achievements included high growth for all high school fall semester EOCs, English 2 and Math 1 proficiency increases, and MGSD Kindergarten, 2nd, and 3rd grade DIBELS data reaching higher than the state average.

Areas for growth include 5th grade Math at MIS and middle school test data, in particular 8th grade math, at SBMS and 7th/8th grade ELA at both schools. High school biology also needs improvement.

Royal said all schools have specific plans and strategies in place to address deficiency areas, including:

● Increased access to guaranteed core curriculum;
● Purchase of research-based curriculum options and pilot phases for new materials; 
● Secondary course guides with Portrait of a Graduation integration;
● New data digs and data meeting formats;
● Future Science Standards and Science & Engineering Practices;
● New School Improvement Plan structure aligned to strategic plan;
● New Universal Walkthrough instrument and Wildly Important Goals (WIG) Scorecard; and
● Middle school data Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA).

School Improvement Plans

School Improvement Plans are created at each school annually using a team of teachers, administrators, and parents for input.

At the October 2023 Board of Education meeting, each school principal reviewed their school improvement plan with the board. Since then, schools have been hard at work implementing strategies related to school improvement.

A link to the detailed school level presentations from each school principal is HERE.

ITEMS FOR APPROVAL

2023-24 Budget Amendments

Chief Financial Officer Angie Davis presented several budget amendments, which the board approved unanimously.

From the State Public School Fund:

♦ Instructional Services – $934,731
♦ System-Wide support Services – $103,036
♦ Community Services Program – $1,852
Total: $1,039,916

From federal grant funds:

♦ Instructions Services – $287,224
♦ Community Services Program – $676
♦ Nonprogrammed Charges – $24,150
♦ System-Wide Support Services – a decrease of $14,419
Total: $297,631

From other current expense budget:

♦ Instructional Services – $15,443
♦ Community Service Program $22,551
Total: $37,994

Technology E-Rate MiniBid Approval

Historically, MGSD refreshes network and infrastructure equipment every four to five years. Through Federal eRate monies and supplemental funding from the State of North Carolina, the district can periodically replace network equipment at no cost to MGSD.

The Federal eRate rules require schools to use a state bidding process. MGSD participated in the process and received four bids. The district selected DSI Corporate IT Solutions and Services as the most responsive, responsible, and cost-effective bid.

Scott Smith requested the board approve the purchase of network equipment (140 access points and associated licenses) from DSI in the amount of $98,039.20.

The board unanimously approved the request.