District celebrates student achievement
The Shelby County Schools board held its first ever #WeAre901 event Monday at five schools - Kingsbury Elementary, Memphis East High School, Douglass High School, Manassas High School and A.B. Hill Elementary School - to celebrate "district-wide" growth.
School board officials toured all five schools throughout the day — the last stop being at A.B. Hill — where students have increased their reading levels and have the second highest growth score in the state of Tennessee, according to the school board.
Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, close to 250 kids from A.B. Hill were met by school board officials with large signs and danced to local rapper Blocboy JB's "Look Alive" as they celebrated inside the cafeteria.
Joris Ray, chief of academic operations for Shelby County, said they brought in school district alumni like former NFL player Daniel Williams and “Shark Tank” winners Madison Star and Mallory Iyana to motivate kids during the event.
"We wanted to show our students that despite your circumstances, you can overcome and you too can be a celebrity. You too can be a chef. And you too can be a scientist or whatever you want to be," said Ray. "This is about our students. This is about our principals and it is about our schools today."
Schools in the Memphis area became consolidated after the city of Memphis and the Shelby County School District merged five years ago. Just last year, six suburban schools from Shelby County seceded.
School District Superintendent Dorsey Hopson said back then, there were fears the school district was headed for "total chaos and failure," citing concerns in funding, academics, turnaround, safety and equity.
Nearly 80 percent of the district's students are African-American, and close to 80 percent of the schools qualify for Title I, according to Hopson.
Hopson said the schools on the tour were selected based where the board felt there was evidence that their strategies were working over the last five years. Hopson added that the board is still working to "dramatically reduce" the number of priority schools in the district.
"A.B. Hill is a school that literally was one of the lowest performing schools in the state, and within one year, under a new school leader, they earned their way off the priority list," Hopson said.
"I think what we see today is while poverty is real that is not an excuse because all kids can achieve and can achieve at a high level if they have the right supports," he added.
For all levels of Memphis students from elementary to high school, the transition of moving from a Level 1 school to a Level 5 school is hard, Angela Whitelaw, chief of schools for the board said.
A.B. Hill moved from a Level 1 school to a Level 5 school in one year. After five years straight of being on Level 5, Whitelaw added that Douglass High School progressed.
Kingsbury Elementary received accolades from the board for growth in equity.
Whitelaw described East High School as the "epitome" of where the board wants to go in the future when it comes to Memphis students becoming more exposed to science, technology, engineering and mathematics work.
Manassas was praised for their positive growth within their student culture and school environment. Whitelaw said the school has taken strides into affecting their students' livelihoods.
"They have changed so much around their discipline, around the culture of their community, as well as inside the school," Whitelaw said.