By Beth Christian Broschart
The Parsons Advocate
HAMBLETON – The Tucker County BOE met at Tucker County High School Wednesday and the highlight of the evening was a comprehensive overview of the things going on at TCHS by Principal Jay Hamric.
“Hamric spoke about the change in academics, behavior and attendance with the change to the block scheduling,” Tucker County School Superintendent Dr. Eddie Campbell said. “A poll of the student population is very positive about the block scheduling. TCHS has been making progress with the STEAM Innovation Zone Grant.”
“The students seem to like the opportunity they have to focus on less so they can put more energy and time into a smaller number of subjects,” he said. “It is allowing them to do better and more quality work. The number of students in the first quarter that achieved a 3.7 GPA or better went from 30 students to 80 students. That is incredible.”
He said another positive outcome with the block scheduling is the amount of students taking virtual courses through the West Virginia Department of Education.
“The kids have more opportunities to add things into their schedules,” Campbell said. “We have kids taking all kinds of courses we would never be able to offer as electives because of the size of classes and the number of teachers we have. I think this is a great benefit. It gives our kids more opportunity to take some things they wouldn’t in a normal schedule.”
Campbell said the Tucker County School system is looking to apply for an additional innovation zone grant to expand the program down into the middle schools.
“I talked a little bit with the Tucker BOE about our schools’ A-F letter grades,” Campbell said. “All three of our schools received a ‘C’ and talked to the board about what that means.”
Campbell said the ‘C’ designation means when the schools were evaluated, they met the criteria laid out by the State School Board.
“All three of our schools are doing what they are supposed to be doing,” he said. “The C designates our schools are making acceptable progress. In the eyes of the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education we are doing the things we should be doing and our students are achieving at the level they are supposed to be achieving at.”
Campbell said that is very positive.
“This establishes our baseline for all three schools,” Campbell said. “The positive thing that has come out of this is we think this is great, but we want to do better. We are going to find ways to increase and we want to get to that next level and get to a B level where are schools are doing commendable things. We want them to achieve over and above where the state says they should be achieving.”
The next Tucker County BOE meeting is slated for 4:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at Tucker Valley Elementary Middle School.
