RCPS principals share long-term school improvement plans
The Rappahannock County School Board on Tuesday received long-term improvement plans from the district’s two principals, that include benchmarks for academic achievement and reducing chronic absenteeism.
The continuous improvement plans were presented by elementary school principal Jennifer Wessinger and high school principal Carlos Seward. The plans are a way for each school to set goals for the future and include a list of essential actions the school intends to follow.
Wissinger said the overarching goal at Rappahannock County Elementary School (RCES) is to “provide a literacy enriched focus embedded into instruction that promotes academic success in all subject areas.”
Other highlights from the RCES improvement plan include:
► RCES students will increase their instructional reading level by a year’s growth and close the learning gap with an emphasis on students with disabilities and multiple races. (A previous survey showed these demographics of
Superintendent Dr. Shannon Grimsley said that after this semester ends in December, they will be able to provide a summary on how each school is doing with their goals.
students had the lowest test scores.)
► RCES students will continue to improve in fluency and the understanding of concepts dealing with numbers with an emphasis on increasing the pass rate for students with disabilities.
► RCES will decrease absenteeism rates 10% — chronic absenteeism dropped from 24.7% (2021-2022) to 8.65%, but the district hopes to reduce it further. Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student who misses at least 10% of the school year.
► RCES will enhance the school culture for all staff and students and provide a positive, academic, and social-emotional learning-focused culture, by maintaining high expectations and providing support.
An accreditation report reviewed by the School Board in September showed that overall pass rates for students with disabilities at both RCES and RCHS dropped from last year. At RCES, 50% of students with disabilities passed the state’s English exam, compared to 78% the previous year. For math, 54% of RCES students with disabilities passed compared to 64% last year.
Stonewall-Hawthorne member Larry Grove requested that Superintendent Dr. Shannon Grimsley update the School Board on benchmark academic progress periodically. Grimsley said that after this semester ends in December, they will be able to provide a summary on how each school is doing with their goals.
Seward said the overarching goal for Rappahannock County High School (RCHS) is to “provide an environment that meets student and staff social and emotional needs while enhancing the academic growth of all students, particularly in the four core areas.”
Other highlights from the RCHS improvement plan include:
► RCHS will increase student achievement on the Standard of Learning (SOL) tests in English, math, science and history by the end of this academic year.
► Monitor quality control and provide targeted feedback on instruction via weekly classroom walkthroughs and observations.
► Reinforce high student attendance by establishing protocols to identify students who have attendance issues and have a chronic absenteeism rate under 15%.
► Provide training and support in trauma-informed education among faculty and staff to support positive behaviors and appropriate corrective interventions among students.
► Meet regularly with student organizations and affinity groups to continuously gauge student perspective and encourage student voice in the operations of school.