HES principal shares enthusiastic goals with BOE
Board of Education president Kenneth Vance presented custodian Sondra Vaughan with a certificate of appreciation during the board meeting at Hillsboro Elementary School. Vaughan was recognized for her dedication and hard work for the school system. S. Stewart photo
Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
In his three months as principal at Hillsboro Elementary School, Terrence Beam has set several goals to improve and build on the education system at the school.
During the joint board of education and LSIC (Local School Improvement Council) meeting at HES, Beam shared his goals with board members.
Beam warned that he wouldn’t sugar coat his report on the current condition of academics at the school.
“We have a lot of work to do,” he began. “Our test scores are lousy, but we’ve got some good people and if you have good people, you’ve got a good chance to turn that around.”
Despite the test scores, which are evaluated by the state board of education, Beam is certain the students themselves are capable of doing well.
The school has begun departmentalizing third through fifth grade.
“Each of those teachers, instead of being required to take care of six or seven subjects, take care of two or three, which makes their lives simpler because they can spend more time on their particular subject,” he said. “We also tried to do that in a way so that each of the three teachers had a major area of responsibility that needed addressed.”
Harkening back to “the olden days,” Beam wants the teachers to focus on the three R’s; reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The major focus currently is writing, a skill Beam sees the students struggling with the most.
“Writing, to me, may be the most important component of all,” he said. “Our kids can’t write. They can’t put their thoughts down on paper to where you can understand what they are saying.
“I’m not being critical of them,” he continued. “It’s not their fault. They were not taught writing over a long period of time. Our kids are going to write a lot, they’ll get sick of it, but they’ll get better at it too.”
To track the progress of the students’ writing skills, fourth grade teacher Gina Hardesty is keeping files of their writing assignments.
Other goals Beam and the LSIC members have set for the school include parent involvement and communication, revising and improving the safe schools plan and creating an incentive policy for academics, attendance and behavior.
Beam said he has signed up 25-30 parents and community members as volunteers and will begin utilizing them soon. Projects he has planned for them include working in the library and assisting teachers. He also wants to get the senior citizens more involved with the students.
Many issues have been discussed under the safe schools plan, but they are on hold until the Needs Project is approved by the School Building Authority.
Beam is excited about enacting an incentive policy for the students. He explained that the students don’t have enough incentives during the school year and he believes an incentive policy will inspire the students in academics, attendance and behavior.
School nurse Jenny Friel gave a report on the current flu/swine flu (H1N1) issues the school system is facing.
“What I’d like to clear up is, right now it seems our physician offices and even the hospital, they are not doing the culture for swine flu,” she said. “The only way to test for swine flu is to actually do a culture and send it to the state laboratory for diagnostic confirmation.
“They are doing a rapid A, which is an influenza type A test,” she continued. “It’s a rapid test that will give them a positive or a negative result right away.”
Although physicians are not doing the H1N1 test, they are still telling parents the children have swine flu, according to Friel. Because the doctors are generalizing the flue viruses, Friel has received multiple phone calls from nervous parents who want the schools to close until the threat is gone.
“Flu is flu,” Friel said, trying to clarify the confusion. “Whether it’s swine flu (H1N1) or seasonal influenza type A. But whenever we put the name swine with it, we’re getting mass hysteria. We’ve heard of the deaths across the nation so it’s pretty scary for parents when the doctors say the swine word. The health department and I have been talking to them, asking them not to use that term, but they are still doing that.”
Friel said the H1N1 vaccination clinics for students will begin the first week of November, as supplies allow. The state department is only releasing 100 to 150 doses a week to the local health department.
In other updates:
• Board president Kenneth Vance presented custodian Sondra Vaughan with an award for he dedication to the school and, more specifically, for the painted stone sign in front of the school. Vance also recognized Kenneth Hamons and David Fowler who helped with the sign.
• Associate Superintendent for Operations and Treasurer Alice Irvine reported on the Needs Project for HES. The application was sent to the School Building Authority for approval. The project is estimated to cost $3 million for renovations to the current school and gymnasium, as well as the building of a new cafeteria connecting both buildings. The board will be notified in May 2010 about the funding and if it was approved.
Boundary commission visits Tamarack Ridge | Humane Society wants $85,000 for long-term animal control issues
