City school system eyes new year

Published 6:04 am Saturday, December 31, 2016

Elizabethton City Schools

Elizabethton City Schools had the opportunity to reap the benefits of a busy, but successful, 2016 school year.
As the year comes to a close, Director of Schools Dr. Corey Gardenhour had the opportunity to reflect on the year and credited work put in by teachers, school officers, students, parents and residents alike on the recent strand of accomplishments.
“We had a fantastic year,” he said. “Looking back at all the different things we were able to accomplish, we opened up our new football field and band room, we saw our students receive recognition from the XQ Project, and that’s just some of what the school system was able to accomplish.
“Personally, I couldn’t be prouder of our students and our staff,” he continued. “Our teachers have proved to be great role model for our students and our students are having the opportunity to go to some of the best colleges and universities across the state. It’s been an exciting year.”
Elizabethton saw their students earn $200,000 from XQ America’s Super School Project for their “Bartleby School” project — which is leading toward the addition of two new classes and a student liaison for the city’s Board of Education — Elizabethton High School senior Cory Fitzsimmons.
According to Niche.com, Elizabethton City Schools was recently ranked No. 13 out of 119 schools in the 2017 Best School Districts in the state. The school also finished ninth in the report for Safest School Districts in Tennessee while earning a 13th ranking for districts with the best teachers in the state.
Niche utilized various forms of data for their national research, including information from the Department of Education, U.S. Census, FBI and surveys taken by 100 million individuals, including teachers, parents and residents across the county.
While looking back at a year that saw high marks, the director knows there’s only more to accomplish next year.
The state is throwing a new motion for 2017 come January 1 with a new law on the books featuring an amendment to civics testing.
According to the bill, “this amendment requires a student (in Tennessee), during the student’s high school career, to take a United States civics test prepared by the LEA and consisting of 25 to 50 questions, instead of the 100 questions the bill required (in 2016).”
The bill adds that if all students in a senior class required to take the test and receiving a diploma pass, the school will be recognized on the department of education’s website as a “United States civics all-star school” for the school year.
Gardenhour added the test is important and the school system has already done a great job with implementing the current testing but the system will begin shifting toward the new format to adhere to state law.
Helping the teachers is one of a laundry list of items on the agenda to start off the new year, Gardenhour said.
“One of our goals for the new year is to work with our teachers with all the different changes that will be going on,” he added. “We’re going to support them and help where we can to make sure they’re in a great position to teach our students.”
More focus on ACT testing is also on the horizon, Gardenhour said, while working with implementing the new Work Ethics Diploma — going into effect fall 2017 — and looking to secure funding to implement renovations needed at T.A. Dugger Junior High School.

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