T.Y. Fleming Elementary School in Minter City has applied to be designated a "Blue Ribbon School" under the No Child Left Behind program.
Winners will be announced in September. Those schools may send representatives to Washington, D.C., to participate in a national recognition ceremony.
T.Y. Fleming is one of four Mississippi schools to be nominated for the "Blue Ribbon" designation.
The program honors public and private schools in two categories. The first includes those in which at least 40 percent of the students come from disadvantaged backgrounds and dramatic improvement has been recorded in state reading and math tests. The second group includes schools, regardless of demographics, ranking in the top 10 percent in the state on state tests.
T.Y. Fleming qualified in both categories. "I think that speaks well for the effort that the school board, school administrators, the faculty, staff and students are enjoying in the Leflore County School District," Superintendent Cedell Pulley told the county school board Monday.
Out of more than 100,000 public and private schools in the nation, fewer than 300 are named Blue Ribbon Schools each year.
Pulley also reported on the staff development meeting held earlier Monday, including educators from the Greenwood and Leflore County districts. This was the first time the two districts had come together for such a meeting.
Lorraine Monroe, founder of the Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute and founding principal of the Frederick Douglass Academy in New York, was scheduled to speak. She could not attend because of the heavy snow in New York, but those attending did watch a film about her principles.
Also, Valerie Troiani, director of assessment and accountability for PREPS (Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools) Inc. at Mississippi State University, discussed testing. Troiani has trained school personnel in many areas related to testing and assessment.
"She did a fantastic job, I think, with the short notice that she had," Pulley said.
The two districts could hold more joint sessions on professional development and other issues in the future, Pulley said.
Also Monday:
- Pulley announced that Phil Bryant, state auditor, had sent the district a certificate for its "commitment to maintaining high standards of financial reporting," based on the audit for the year ending June 30, 2004. The auditor reported the district in compliance with no "material findings, weaknesses in internal controls or exceptions."
- Willie Jean Hall, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and professional development, said the district has applied for a $225,0000 Enhancing Education Through Technology (E2T2) federal grant. The grant would fund added equipment as well as two facilitators to work with teachers in improving the use of technology in instruction. It would be used for Amanda Elzy Elementary, grades 4-6; Amanda Elzy High, grades 7-8; and East Elementary, grades 4-8. If the district makes it through the first round of candidates, representatives will be interviewed in March. Winners of the grant will be notified in April. This would be the fourth E2T2 grant the district has received.
nHall also told the board that the district has applied for a $15,000 grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, to benefit the family literacy program REACH (Restructuring Education for Adults and Children through Home-school Partnerships). The goal is to teach adults basic education, early childhood education, parenting and parent-child intervention. The overall budget for the project is $92,514.45.
