The Roanoke Rapids Graded School District will continue with plans set forth in its Vision 2035 initiative for the 2022-23 school year as the system attempts to improve performance and learning in light of state report card results which were released on Thursday.
Chaloner Middle and Roanoke Rapids High schools each received a D and Belmont Elementary received an F in the state report.
Superintendent Julie Thompson said today, in response to a statement released Thursday evening, the Vision 2035 directive focuses on “building opportunities and fostering community so that each student can reach their full potential.”
She said the system’s plan for improvement focuses on a combination of these teaching and learning strategies. “We are increasing instructional coaching and professional development for teachers and targeting skill development strategies in core and intervention time to help our students improve and achieve.”
Said Thompson: “We are strategically using our data to guide these plans. We are prioritizing engaging with every family to encourage student attendance because every day matters.”
In a video message to parents and community members posted on the district’s YouTube channel and embedded with this report, Thompson prefaced her statement by saying, “I’ve seen great things happening in our classrooms already and I know our students and staff are excited to start working hard this school year.”
Addressing the accountability data released by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the superintendent said, “Statewide, these scores reflect what we already know, and that is, that the pandemic has affected teaching and learning over the last few years.
“Because of disruptions caused by the pandemic, the accountability report for the 2021-22 school year is the first since 2018-19 to feature all components of the state’s accountability framework, including the calculation of A-F School Performance Grades and growth designations.”
Thompson said of those results, “Overall, our school performance grades are not where we want them to be. We are committed to making them better. Two of our schools have earned a D and one school has earned an F, designating them as low-performing, which is clearly not acceptable and not where we want our schools to be. We will make no excuses for these scores.”
She said, however, “While it is not evident in most of the overall letter grades, nearly all achievement scores improved from 20-21 to 21-22 and we are thankful for the perseverance and dedication that our students, educators, and families have shown.”
Manning Elementary School exceeded expected growth in 21-22, and “we are very proud of Roanoke Rapids Early College High School, which has earned a B and that is a great achievement in any year, especially following the pandemic.”
There is work to be done, the superintendent said. “We know that we have work to do and we’re committed to that hard work. We will focus our energy and efforts to work smart together across the district to meet school specific goals and actions and comply with all state directives. We will increase instructional coaching and professional development for teachers and target skill development strategies to help our students improve and achieve.
“We will strategically use our data to close our achievement gaps. We will prioritize engaging with every family to encourage student attendance because every day matters and we can’t do this alone.”
She closed her address stating, “We’re confident that the growth that we’ve seen during the pandemic is a testament of the growth that we can continue to see as we move forward together in the 2022-2023 school year. We can and will succeed together.”
