Some 1770 students to report to classes Friday

Washington-Wilkes Primary School Principal Dr. Rosemary Caddell welcomes some of the new and returning students who will start a new school year Friday. Students include (front, l-r) Ta'Dyria Grant, Haileigh Slaton, Dixon Caddell, and Ravene Cosby; (back) Miles Davis, Erin McAvoy.

With a mission statement this year of "Excellence without Exception," teachers and administrators at Wilkes County schools will open their doors to more than 1,770 students this Friday, August 3.

Students and parents attended open houses at the four county schools Wednesday and Thursday this week, meeting their teachers, visiting classrooms, getting supply lists, and hearing details on dress codes and school rules.

"Welcome to all students and parents," said Superintendent Joyce Williams. "We're looking forward to a good school year. We had a lot of success last year - all our schools made AYP, they're all named Distinguished Schools, and we're going to build on that success."

Another success effort ongoing from last year, she said, was that all the system's administrators have been, or are being, trained through the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement. "This will sharpen our skills on how to use data to assess our progress, to assess strengths and weaknesses, and to make instructional decisions based on data."

The addition of two new graduation coaches this year is expected to improve the already-improving graduation rate, she said. Dot Jordan will be the high school's graduation coach, and Amethyst Wynn is the new graduation coach at the critical middle school level.

"They have already started identifying at-risk students and identifying the barriers and challenges that these students are facing," Williams said. "They're working to make sure students take advantage of the opportunities available to them to keep them focused on school."

Another new effort will be the introduction of data rooms in each school, so that each parent and member of the public can see the school's historic academic progress. "This is our effort to be accountable to our students and our community," she said. "The public will be able to come in an assess the progress of our students, or in some cases the lack of progress."

Williams says that the focus on academic achievement goes throughout the system. "One of my efforts is to make sure everyone in the school system is focused on the academic achievement of our students, from the bus drivers to custodians to system-level employees. Whatever our jobs are, their purpose is the academic achievement of our students. Whatever it takes, we'll do it."

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