Walker County Schools-Moving Into the Future 2022
We are excited about the continued positive accomplishments happening across the Walker County School District. We have been extremely fortunate to see these accomplishments happen in spite of the continued impacts of COVID-19 over the past two years. We have the privilege and opportunity to work with stakeholders from all of the communities across our great county and provide services that have a positive impact on the lives and futures of the students we serve. We take this privilege and responsibility very seriously and feel confident that we will continue to see results that make our citizens proud and create a better Walker County for future generations.
Let’s begin with our amazing teachers, support staff, transportation department employees, school food service staff members, custodians, maintenance department, administrators, guidance counselors, school social workers, and especially our school nurses. Their incredible resilience and service from the onslaught of a global pandemic and continuing forward during the changes, variants, and unknowns have been unmatched and will forever be the defining characteristics of these amazing people. They never wavered in their attitude or the service they provided to the students placed under their care. During this season of uncertainty, as well as the unrelenting anxieties associated with this virus, the District continues to see positive results and improvements in every key indicator, but especially in our graduation rates. Walker County Schools achieved the following rates for the 2021 Cohort:
2021 4-Year Cohort Graduation Rates:
WCS District 91.0%
LaFayette High School 90.2% Ridgeland High School 91.1%
2021 5-Year Cohort Graduation Rates:
WCS District 92.0%
LaFayette High School 90.4%Ridgeland High School 93.5%
We are also extremely proud of the continued positive achievement levels of our sub-group populations:
All Students 91%
Economically disadvantaged 90.1% Students with Disabilities 84.3%
2021 5-Year Cohort Graduation Rates:
All Students 92%
Economically disadvantaged 92.1% Students with Disabilities 87.2%
We are confident that our work with the development of true feeder patterns for each high school is building the necessary foundation of success for all students as they progress from Pre-K through High School
A second highlight and continued validation of another positive accomplishment are the results from our 5-Year Accreditation Review Visit in October. COGNIA accreditation and certification are like no others. Their research-based performance standards give our district a shared framework to achieve measurable, meaningful improvement outcomes. The final report from their team of expert peer reviewers, not only validated our current mission, vision, and achievement levels, but it will also continue to guide us as we leverage our strengths for continuous improvement into the future. The three components reviewed for their effectiveness included Leadership Capacity, Learning Capacity, and Resource Capacity. The Walker County School District was commended on their growth mindset, united, supportive and innovative childfocused approach, and caring and family environment created for all students and stakeholders. The district received no required actions from the review team, and all performance standards were rated in the Improving or Impacting level indicating high performance at each school and as a collective district. We have a copy of the final report on our school system webpage (www. walkerschools.org) for your review. We will now take this information and begin to construct and develop a new strategic plan for the District covering the next three to five years. Our theme will be to “Reimagine” our processes and determine how we can successfully reach that 8-9% of our students who are not graduating on time and reach our goal of a 100% Graduation Rate. The process will begin with our administrators and school-level leadership teams and then involve all employees at each building location. As we build this framework we will request input and feedback from our stakeholders across the district to ensure our goals and focus are aligned with what our communities are suggesting and see as important in the development of their children. We will also reach out to our partners with economic development and ensure our strategic planning includes components that will continue our development of a workforce-ready student prepared for local business and industry. We also want to ensure we are continuing to appropriately address our mission and vision as we continue moving forward as a high performing and successful school district whose purpose and focus continues to be:
”ENSURE ALL STUDENTS GRADUATE: READY FOR COLLEGE, READY FOR WORK, READY FOR LIFE”
Finally, we are very excited about the future and continued growth and expansion of our LAUNCH Program. We have plans for the continuation of our partnership with Georgia Northwestern Technical College and to enhance the level of services we are providing our students in the areas of dual enrollment and industry certifications offered in high-demand career pathways. LAUNCH is a collaborative effort that encourages business and industry leaders, small business owners, economic development, and educators to investigate solutions for economic growth, expansion of current services, and the continued promotion of developing Walker County as a viable option for graduates to live, work, and play in their home communities. We are currently working with both high schools to ensure we are offering classes and pathways that lead to industry certification, or the definitive opportunity for our students to move into the workforce immediately after graduation; workforce ready. Students participating in LAUNCH, who are in their junior or senior year of high school, will attend classes on the campus of GNTC. They will successfully fulfill all high school requirements as well as be enrolled in college-level pathway-specific courses through GNTC. This dual enrollment opportunity will not only provide students with their high school diploma but will also direct them to lucrative career choices with the potential of immediate employment upon graduation. This offers local businesses and industries a home-grown workforce with the required skills to increase production and limit repetitive training for employees. It will also refocus our efforts on encouraging our students to embrace the benefits of living, working, and giving back to the community where they were born and raised.
A final but pivotal part of our success, now and into the future, is the realization and awareness that all accomplishments would not be possible without the continued support and faithfulness of the members of our Board of Education. They truly understand and embrace the importance of the work of all educators and the positive impact this is having across Walker County. They are truly a vital component of our team and share in all our successes.