Area Schools Among Top 100

Area Schools Among Top 100

By Virginia Thomas
Southwest Technology Center

Three of Southwest Technology Center’s sending schools, Blair High School, Granite High School and Navajo High School, have been named to the Southern Regional Education Board’s High School That Work top 100 lists. The three schools were recognized at the 20th Annual HSTW Staff Development Conference this past summer at Orlando, Florida and again at the Oklahoma Career and Technical Education Summer Conference in Tulsa.

The top 100 schools in the nation are recognized in 14 areas dealing with student performance. Blair made the lists in three areas including the percentage of students taking a college prep English curriculum and meeting the reading performance goal, the percentage of students taking the college prep science curriculum and meeting the performance goal and the percentage of students at an intensive level of quality career and technical studies.

Navajo is listed in two areas including the percentage of students taking college prep English curriculum and meeting the performance goal and the percentage of students at the intensive level of literacy across the curriculum.

Granite is also listed among those in the percentage of students at the intensive level of literacy across the curriculum.

Senior students from schools that participate in the High Schools That Work initiative are tested every two years in the spring, and the HSTW top 100 lists are derived from the test results.

According to SREB executive director Gene Bottoms, this recognition indicates that these schools have had the courage to lead by turning the knowledge of school improvement into action and helping their students to increase their level of achievement.

High Schools That Work is the nation’s largest and oldest school improvement initiative. More than 1,000 schools in 31 states are using the HSTW and Making Middle Grades Work framework of goals and key practices to raise student achievement and prepare them for further studies and careers.

Susie Hardage, career counselor, (center) and Brenda Krieger, director of student services, go over the enrollment figures with B.F. Rowland, campus director.

More than 7,900 educators from 45 stated attended the staff development conference this past summer.

HSTW is part of the Southern Regional Board of Education, which is a nonprofit and non partisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia that advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region.

SWTC’s director of student services, Brenda Krieger serves as the facilitator for HSTW participation by five of the districts partner schools including those previously mentioned as well as Eldorado and Olustee schools.

Two weeks into the new shool year, Southwest Technology Center’s enrollment in full time programs shows a 10 percent increase over 2005-2006 with a total enrollment of 315. The figure indicates that 12.90 percent of all eligible juniors and 24.40 percent of all eligible seniors from the seven partner high schools are enolled in a full time training program. The construction trades program at a little over 94 percent full has shown one of the greatest increases.