School board hears school improvement plan update

The Continuous Improvement Process plans for the three Daleville City Schools were presented to the Daleville Board of Education at the regular monthly meeting Oct. 20.

Windham Elementary School Principal Carrie Heninger, Daleville Middle School Principal Ted Folsom and Daleville High School Principal Joshua Robertson outlined objectives for their respective schools that included a commitment of the faculty and staff continue to strive to provide the best education possible for students in the city school system.

Currently WES has some 450 students, DMS has 375 students and DHS has 300 students enrolled, said Daleville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Lisa Stamps.

“We want to ensure that we are providing the learning experiences and the resources that will increase our student engagement,” said Heninger. “Our objective is to ensure that strategic teaching practices are being implemented to increase student engagement and to provide more individual opportunities that support student attendance and positive behavior.”

Closed for a decade, the DBOE decided to reopen the middle school—housed on the DHS campus—for the 2020-2021 school year because of increasing student enrollment in the city’s high school and elementary school, which are located on two geographically separated campuses.

Reopening the middle school for the city’s fifth through eighth graders lowered the near-capacity population at WES. “Student enrollment in the system has increased by 156 students in two years, not including the Pre-K students,” Stamps said at the time she recommended the middle school reopening. The 1,041 student population in 2018-19 was a 12 percent increase from the year before. The 1,086 students in 2019-20 is a 17 percent increase from the 2017-18 school year.

Re-opening the middle school was done in two phases, with Phase 2 being completed this summer.

Folsom told the board that one of his objectives for the middle school is “to provide classroom instruction and remediation that will increase student engagement and increase standardized assessment scores.

“To provide a learning environment that fosters high expectations and increases student engagement and to provide opportunities and initiatives to create a positive culture that increases student ownership,” are other priorities, he said.

“I am happy to hear that because I was here when we closed that school and we were just praying for increased enrollment,” said DBOE member Johnny Buchanan. “And all of a sudden, enrollment is coming like a buffalo herd.

“That’s a plus for us,” Buchanan added. “It makes me feel good that we can accommodate our community and they do not have to go elsewhere.”

Robertson provided the board with a strategy map that included a main focus on student achievement, learning experiences and building and maintaining a school culture.” We have to start in the classroom and we do that with strategic teaching,” he said. “And we always focus on increasing school pride.”

The board also heard from Fort Rucker Youth Education Support Services School Liaison Officer

Kimberly Kozel about Student-to-Student Program training that was held at DHS Oct. 26. “Student-to-Student is a sponsorship program not just for military kids but for any new students who transfer into the school system,” Kozel said. “It’s a student led program, with sponsor oversight, that places a new student with a student of similar age and interests as they navigate the new school environment.”

A team from the Military Child Education Coalition came to Daleville from Florida to conduct the all day training, Kozel said. “I’m excited for the opportunity and excited to see what the kids can do with it.”

Stamps agreed. “We’re glad to get that program started again and it will be a great thing for our students.”

In unrelated business, the board accepted the low bid for a new air conditioned school bus for $94,693.90 from the state purchasing cooperative.

The DBOE approved the resignation of DHS Registrar Kim Folsom and approved the hiring of Sherri Millar as a WES special education teacher, Kim Cook as a WES first grade teacher and Rachel Mayberry as a bus driver.

The next meeting of the DBOE is Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the Central Office Conference Room. The meeting is open to the public.