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Ohio County Board of Education Considers District Goals

Next month, the West Virginia Department of Education will be assigning a letter grade of “A” through “F” to each of the state’s school districts as a measure of their success in preparing students.

While Ohio County Schools hasn’t yet received its grade, board of education members Monday night spent considerable time discussing how well the district is achieving its mission, and who should be submitting goals for improvement in the district.

School board member Christine Carder thinks it’s time educators start “looking at different measures of success” other than standardized test scores to determine a school district’s effectiveness.

“We have a good system, and we do good things in the public schools,” she said. “If we weren’t doing our job, we wouldn’t have students graduating, and we wouldn’t have them doing the things they are doing that make them successful. The majority of our students go on — they are not failing in life.”

Board members are now starting each meeting with a “moment for mission” discussion, during which board members and school district employees share stories on how the district is meeting its mission statement: “Providing exceptional learning experiences in a safe and healthy environment that prepares every student to achieve success.”

Board members Christine Carder commended Madison Elementary School reading specialists Melanie Riddle and Cathy Whorton for conducting a reading tutorial program at Wheeling Park High School last week.

Board member Sarah Koegler spoke of the yoga and meditation sessions being conducted for fourth-graders at Steenrod Elementary School. Teachers are to report back in a few months as to what effect the class is having on student behavior.

And Communications Coordinator Gabe Wells told of the scene outside Bridge Street Middle School last week when students there lined both sides of the street to show their support for teacher Stephanie O’Donnell, who rode past as she returned home from breast cancer surgery.

At the end of the school board meeting, members discussed goals for district, focusing on how many there should be, how they should be monitored and who should be involved in proposing the goals.

Board member Shane Mallett said he would like to hear the ideas of not just new Superintendent Kim Miller, but the largely new administrative staff.

During the meeting, Steenrod Elementary School was honored for being selected as a “school of excellence” by the West Virginia Department of Education.

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