Enfield Middle and Southeast Halifax High School will use more than $4 million in federal grant money to hire more teachers, a spokesperson for the Halifax County School System said today.
The money will also be used to improve teaching skills and show teachers how to meld new technology into their lessons, Keith Hoggard said. “One of the problems of all districts is they get new technology like smart boards but don’t get proper instruction (on using them). It’s something that goes underused. We want to maximize that way of learning.”
Enfield Middle School will receive $2,083,148 while Southeast will receive $2,909,148.
Hoggard said the schools will receive the money over three years.
Enfield’s share is broken down by $450,000 going to personnel costs, $601,000 going to instructional technology, $555,900 going to student support and $476,000 going to professional development.
The student support portion of the money will be used for programs like Summer Bridge, which helps students going into middle school from fifth grade and students going into high school from eighth grade. The grant will also fund tutors to help students prepare for college as well as training on how to handle discipline problems.
Southeast’s money will divided by $900,000 going to personnel costs, $710,400 going to instructional technology, $514,500 going to student support and $784,000 going to professional development.
According to a news release from the state Department of Public Instruction, the schools received the grants based on a formula that identified the bottom 5 percent of the state's consistently lowest-achieving schools according to state testing and, for high schools, a graduation rate of less than 60 percent. In addition, selected schools had to be Title I or Title I-eligible. In Title I schools, at least 40 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged. Alternative schools were included in the selection process according to federal requirements.
Fourteen of the selected schools serve at-risk middle and/or high school students in an alternative educational environment designed to be smaller and to increase opportunities for success over more traditional school settings. In addition, two elementary schools, one traditional middle school, and eight traditional high schools were selected.
State Superintendent June Atkinson said, "These schools serve some of our most vulnerable students, and they have been challenged to show the progress needed to ensure that students graduate with the 21st century skills to succeed. We are excited to see how this kind of intervention can make a difference in schools where a large percentage of the students are economically disadvantaged, or where many of the students have disabilities, or are at an increased risk for dropping out."
In order to apply for a School Improvement Grant, schools had to select from federally-defined intervention models with a commitment to begin implementation in the 2010-11 school year. Six of the schools will be implementing a Turnaround Model, 18 will be implementing a Transformation Model, and one will be Restarting.
The Turnaround Model includes replacing the principal and rehiring no more than 50 percent of the staff, implementing strategies to recruit and retain staff, adopting a new governance structure, and increasing learning time.
The Transformation Model includes replacing the principal and removing teachers determined to be ineffective after ample opportunity for improvement is provided, instituting comprehensive instructional reform strategies, increasing learning time and creating community-oriented schools, and providing operational flexibility and sustained support.
The Restart Model involves converting the school or closing and reopening it under a charter management organization or an education management organization and enrolling any former student who wishes to attend
