Students and administrators reported a successful first week of Columbus Municipal School District”s “Success Academy” and enrichment programs for the new 11-month school calendar at Stokes-Beard Technology and Communications Magnet School and Sale International Studies Magnet School.
“It”s going absolutely wonderful,” Stokes-Beard Principal Pamela Lenoir said Thursday. “We couldn”t be more pleased. I haven”t heard anything (negative) from parents or children; everybody has had a real positive attitude about the process.”
“The Success Academy has given Sale teachers the opportunity to work in small groups with students,” said Sale International Studies Coordinator Kay Ellis. “Both the teachers and students are enjoying the time spent working on skills and feel that the time has been very beneficial.”
“The success days have been absolutely remarkable!” CMSD Superintendent Dr. Del Phillips said Friday. “I visited Stokes-Beard and Sale the past few days to observe students and interact with teachers. Many have commented to me how much they have enjoyed the last several days, getting to work so closely with students in small groups for remediation, as well as those teachers sharing excitement about the students participating in enrichment activities that we normally wouldn”t provide for our students. I believe it has started with tremendous success and excitement!”
The CMSD board of trustees in May approved the calendar — under which students will attend school 199 days, until June 17 — after CMSD officials conducted a two-month poll of teachers and parents at Hunt Intermediate and all elementary schools in the district.
Only students at Stokes-Beard and Sale are following the 11-month calendar; students at Joe Cook Fine Arts Magnet School, Fairview Aerospace and Science Magnet School, Franklin Medical Sciences and Wellness Magnet School, Hunt Intermediate School, Lee Middle School and Columbus High School attend school 181 days, until May 21.
During the 11-month school year, Stokes-Beard and Sale students testing at proficient or advanced levels are encouraged to attend enrichment instruction, but students testing at minimal or basic levels are required to attend school during the extra “Success Academy” days, during which they receive intensive, small-group remediation in areas of need.
“Dig It!” was the theme for last week”s enrichment camp activities at Stokes-Beard, with students studying dinosaurs, digging for fossils, listening to an archaeologist from Mississippi State University and visiting the Mississippi Petrified Forest and Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson, among other things.
“They can fly,” Maya Rush, 8, said of the dinosaurs she studied, noting baking cookies was her favorite activity of the week.
Asked how the enrichment camp is helping her, the daughter of James and Mary Rush replied, “We can learn more, so if we need help with something, we”ll already know it, because we went through enrichment.”
During the enrichment activities, Success Academy students focused on core learning of “skills they need to be successful as everyday students” and, for third- and fourth-grade students, to prepare for the upcoming Mississippi Curriculum Test, second edition, said Lenoir.
“I like going to (other classes),” Kenidi Verdell, 7, said, referring to changing classes and instructors for Success Academy days.
“And I learned greatest and least signs,” Verdell, the daughter of Faye and Kennie Verdell, said, explaining mathematical symbols indicating a value greater than or less than another value. “(Success Academy days) help me to get in college.”
In February, assessments will be done on all Sale students and those who progress will move from Success Academy to enrichment activities; conversely, those who need extra help will move from enrichment activities into Success Academy work.
Currently, Stokes-Beard has 112 students in enrichment camp activities and 258 students in Success Academy.
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