Student initiative at MP sparks academic growth
MOUNTAIN PINE — Just weeks after Mountain Pine High School received news it was one of a handful of schools in the state to jump from a D to a C letter grade, it has been recognized for “beating the odds” for growth in English Language Arts.
Each year, the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas highlights highgrowth schools serving low-income communities. Along with Mountain Pine, Jessieville High School and Cutter Morning Star Elementary School were also recognized for their growth, with Jessieville winning five placements in ACT Aspire, Math Aspire, and ELA growth.
According to OEP, the awards are based on the 2022 content growth score calculated by the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. The scores reflect how much students improved from 2021 compared to how much they were projected to improve.
MPHS Principal James Galarza said school accountability for student achievement growth is a major priority and is a reflection of the hard work teachers and students alike put in.
“I think it’s a major accomplishment that’s special for them, given the circumstances that most of our students are in, you know, the environment that they live in,” he said.
“It’s always difficult to motivate students that come from a poor or poverty background, and just by the growth that we’ve seen in their academic success, it’s a testament that even though they have some challenges at home that they — whether it’s the staff, community, or whoever all is involved — are working together to push these students. That they are taking an interest in actually trying to perform on the test and better themselves.”
MPHS English teacher Robyn Martin said she believes this is a great indicator of the future for the school and its students, noting, “we can have pride here and we can pass this on to the students and they can have pride.”
“They worked just as hard as we did, otherwise we wouldn’t see this achievement,” she said.
In low-income schools, in which the majority qualify for free or reduced lunches, there seems to be a cyclical factor in the challenges students and their families face throughout life, Martin said.
“Whether it’s insecurities about food or money or other situations that they have, because their parents also grew up in that,” she said. “It is good to see that we are breaking that cycle and that they don’t have
to see that they are part of the circle that’s never going to end, but that they have opportunities within themselves based on their efforts and their hard work that they can achieve things also — that it’s not just based on where you’re at, where you came from, but it’s where you’re going.”
Consistency from the school as a whole, she noted, is the key to continuing to improve and better students’ lives. With a major focus being on literacy of the students from the time they are in kindergarten to when they graduate, she said the ELA foundation is not enough and the teachers must keep reinforcing growth.
“It’s a whole team effort all across the board no matter what content area,” she said. “From agri to science to English, it’s (important) we work together to keep reinforcing not only the reading standards but those positive forward-looking, ‘there’s opportunity for you.’”
Positivity is another huge key, Galarza said.
“So many times there’s a lot of negativity out there and ‘oh this school’s this’ or ‘this school’s that.’ So anytime you get positive (news), it is great to be recognized. … When the student fails, I think a lot of our staff at Mountain Pine feels like they let them down. And I think that gives them that extra boost,” he said.