DCS teams with ESCC for medical assistant program

A new dual enrollment will be offered to Daleville High School students in the next school year.

The high school has teamed with Enterprise State Community College to offer a medical assistant program to students, Daleville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Lisa Stamps told those attending the Daleville Board of Education meeting April 22.

The incoming sophomores will be eligible to start the program. “The upcoming group of sophomores will start this program with two classes in the fall, two in the spring and two in the summer,” Stamps said. “If they take all the classes, when they graduate Daleville High School, they will also have earned an associate degree from ESCC.”

Juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to participate in the program for their remaining high school years, Stamps said, adding that more information about participating in the dual enrollment program will be forthcoming.

Stamps also briefed the board about the progress being made on re-opening the Daleville Middle School, which has been closed for 10 years.

The middle school will be comprised of students in the fifth through eighth grades and is set to open in August of this year. It will be housed on part of the high school campus and cleaning out of that section has begun, Stamps said. “The next steps will be to paint, strip and wax the floors and then we’ll start moving teachers over there.”

In unrelated business, Stamps told the board that the meal distribution program for children under the age of 18 resumed April 27. It will be on Mondays and Wednesdays from the Daleville High School Buildings, Level Plains Baptist Church and Providence Baptist Church in Clayhatchee.

Daleville High School Principal Josh Robertson gave an update on the status of the DHS seniors who are slated to graduate May 22. At the time the state decided on a school shutdown for the rest of the academic year, it was announced that the seniors who had attained a passing status by the end of the third weeks would be considered graduated.

Of the 68 DHS seniors, only 10 are in need of credit recovery or assignment completion, Robertson said. “The teachers are actively working with them to get them completed.”

“I have personally made phone calls to every senior’s parents to tell them their current status of their seniors,” Robertson said about the students who had anticipated graduating May 20. “At this point we know that nothing can happen before June 5 but we are still holding out hope to have a true, traditional graduation ceremony.”

Robertson said he and his staff are planning alternatives if a traditional graduation ceremony does not become a reality and details on that will be forthcoming.

Some 70 percent of the students are completing assignments online and a homework assignment drop box, fashioned from unused podiums, is in front of DHS for convenience, Robertson said. “We’re having to do what we can do with students wherever they are with whatever they have at their disposal.”

Robertson had high praise for the DHS staff who have all “jumped in” to make the best of the situation.

Windham Elementary School Principal Chris Mitten concurred. “I have to brag on the teachers because even though a lot of them were already using technology, this is a brand new challenge,” he said. “The teachers have checked in or attempted to check in with every single student multiple times.

“The teachers have gone above and beyond the call of duty,” he said. “They’ve really gone above and beyond making sure that those critical standards were covered so that those students are as ready for next year as they can be.”

“A lot of times people wait until the end to thank people,” Stamps said. “Our folks have stepped up and done an outstanding job. I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to everybody who has anything to do with the education system.

“Our folks have stepped up to this challenge with no complaints so when I say this is our finest hour, I believe that it is,” Stamps said. “It’s been proven that our folks have such a vested interest in these kids and want what’s best for them.

“We’re going to look at it in a positive light,” she added. “Because these kids are making history.”

The next meeting of the Daleville Board of Education is May 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Daleville High School cafeteria.