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School districts rise in ratings
• Two of three city schools Successful Test scores are back, and the Holly Springs School District is excited to have the best scores the district has ever had. Two
of the three schools in the district that participate in the testing
system have been rated Successful based on the accountability rating
system completed by the Mississippi Department of Education. Both the
Holly Springs High School and the Holly Springs Junior High have been
labeled Successful. “We are especially pleased
that the schools have reached this milestone in the second year of a
more rigorous testing and labeling system,” said Irene Walton Turnage,
superintendent of the Holly Springs School District. “To have two of
our schools labeled Successful is an honor and indicates that our
schools and the district are moving in the right direction.” The
superintendent gives a lot of the credit for the schools being labeled
Successful to the leadership of the principals of the two schools,
Cedric Richardson and Louise Sanders-Tate, the instructional
coordinators and coaches, and the great staff at both schools. The
superintendent is also pleased that the district as a whole reached its
goal set for last year and made significant advances on the state
labeling system. The district moved up two levels from being labeled
At Risk of Failing to Academic Watch. “Our motto
this year is ‘One District – One Vision’ with the vision being to be a
Star District with all Star Schools,” Turnage said. “Having two of our
schools labeled successful lets us know that our vision is attainable.” The
district administrators and staff are humbled by the progress made but
understand that there is still much work to be done. According
to Superintendent Turnage, although two of the schools were labeled
Successful, the third school in the district, Holly Springs
Intermediate, did not reach Successful status. It is labeled an At Risk
school. “We know that the staff at our upper
elementary school is working hard, but because it is a larger school
and has almost twice as many students testing, it must be even more
focused on student achievement and growth,” she said. “We have
evaluated our program and put things in place that we believe will
allow the upper elementary school to make the same gains as the other
two schools.” She said the district also
understands that maintaining and hopefully exceeding the current
overall progress in the future will take a lot of work, but with
everyone in the district having the same vision, the district will get
there. The district had other highlights with
test scores. Two students, Jeffrey McCaskill and Calvin James, both
made perfect scores on the Algebra I and Biology I tests respectively.
In addition to the two students who made a perfect score, the district
had a record number of students scoring advanced and proficient. The district has no failing schools and met Annual Yearly Progress as measured by the No Child Left Behind mandates.
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