Our hats are off to — and we are certain the entire community joins with us in congratulating — Magnolia’s Central Elementary School.
As reported recently in the Banner-News, the school received some long-awaited news. For the first time in years, the fourth through sixth grade school will not be included on the Arkansas School Improvement Program list.
According to the Arkansas Department of Education, a school is considered in need of improvement if students’ standardized test scores do not meet a certain threshold. Depending on the scores, a school is then classified as either a focus school or a priority school, the latter being the lowest classification. CES was named a focus school.
To correct the situation and work toward progressing past such a distinction, CES principals were required to submit weekly and quarterly academic reports, and met monthly with state education representatives in Little Rock. The school was assigned a school improvement specialist, and emphasis was put on improving test scores.
CES Principal Angela Waters said in the Banner-News article, “This was not an easy task. We were under a microscope. Everything had to be turned in to the state so they could make sure that we were doing all that was required to get off of the list.”
A lot of hard work and dedication to accomplishing the goal paid off and, on March 6, Waters received notice from Magnolia Public School District Superintendent John Ward that CES had earned its way off of the School Improvement Program list.
That’s the very good news. Here’s the not so good news.
The CES campus is now the sole school in the Magnolia district to earn removal from the focus school classification list. East Side Elementary, Magnolia Junior High School, and Magnolia High School are all still classified as focus schools.
So, district-wide the work must continue to achieve what CES was able to accomplish. We look forward to the day when we can report that no Magnolia public school is on the Arkansas School Improvement Program list.