Alva Review-Courier -

In a very informative meeting Monday, Alva Board of Education members hired a new high school band teacher, heard about programs at Longfellow School, and learned about the new school report cards just released by the state.

The new band teacher is Adam Stuart, currently teaching at Hennessey. His contract is for the 2019-2020 school year. Accompanying him to the meeting were Cara and Nick Bradt. Superintendent Tim Argo told Cara, "I want to thank you for stepping in and stepping up." She took over the band program when the previous instructor resigned.

Three teachers have submitted resignation letters. They are Bruce Dollar, Alva High social studies; Karolyn Cole, fourth grade teacher at Lincoln; and Lydia Scalise, third grade teacher at Longfellow.

State Report Cards

The new state report cards were released on Thursday. They may be viewed at http://oklaschools.com. Argo said he considers the new system to be fairer than the old A-F system. "The state worked really hard to be fair," he said but it is more complicated to understand. He said there are 19 pages of frequently asked questions.

Schools are assessed using metrics in academic achievement, academic growth, chronic absenteeism, graduation, postsecondary opportunities and English language proficiency. Principals and a teacher added information about the various areas.

Alva High Principal Les Potter said graduation rate is based on a four year cohort. Students who begin their freshman year together are a cohort. Even though a student moves away, he or she is still counted as part of that cohort. Potter said they discovered the transfers were not being tracked in AHS records, and they lost some points for not tracking the students who left. So AHS received an F in graduation rate. Board member Shane Hansen asked if those who dropped out but earned a GED were tracked as graduates. "That's a dropout for us," replied Potter.

Sherrye Lovelace discussed the English language learners. The Alva district has 62 students who qualify in five different languages. She said students are tested in the spring, and the district receives points based on how much they grow in English. They are tracked for four years after beginning the program. If a school site has fewer than ten students, they are not graded on this category.

Washington Principal Shane Feely reported on grades for each of the schools. Washington Elementary was not given a grade. He said the only metric graded was on absenteeism with maybe 20 kids who exceeded the 18 absences criteria.

Longfellow Elementary also had no overall grade. They received an A in academic achievement and a B in chronic absenteeism. Board member Tiffany Slater asked if all absences are counted. Feely said they must count all absences, even excused ones, even if they know a student is in the hospital. Those on school field trips are not counted absent.

Lincoln Elementary School had a C overall. They also received a B in absenteeism. The school was not graded on English language learners as they have fewer that ten.

Alva Middle School received an overall grade of C. AMS also had less than ten students in the English language learners.

Alva High School earned an overall B average.

Feely also went over a list titled "Where do we go from here?" It listed four points:

• Continue to provide meaningful professional development to improve instruction with students.

• Continue with the process of identifying ELL students and work with staff to develop language skills.

• Expand and encourage postsecondary opportunities for Alva Public School students.

• Emphasize blended learning and virtual education as an alternative to traditional classroom.

He also posted a chart developed at the beginning of August and assessed progress made on the many items listed.

A video of the entire meeting including the state report card discussion may be seen at AlvaReviewCourier.com.

Principals Contracts Renewed

Board members voted to renew all school principal contracts for the next school year including Les Potter, Alva High School; Stephanie Marteney, Alva Middle School; Madison Williams, Lincoln Elementary; Alysson Tucker, Longfellow Elementary; and Shane Feely, Washington Elementary.

Spotlight on Longfellow School

Principal Tucker described several programs at Longfellow School. Each week several students are selected as students of the week. They are featured on a bulletin board for that week with their choice of a photo or drawing and information in the format of a news article. The students also receive congratulatory notes to take home to parents.

Every two weeks on a Thursday, Tucker hosts a manners table. Students who have been nominated for their good manners eat lunch at a special table. It is decked out with a tablecloth, napkins, and even chargers for their plates. They sit and talk about their day and have fun. Sundaes are served for dessert with a choice of toppings.

The school participates in PBIS (positive behavior interventions and support) with the Gotcha awards for students noticed doing something positive. The awards are entered in a drawing for some fun privileges. These have included ride-alongs with the school police officer or the fire department, ice cream with Mrs. Tucker, and dress the teacher of your choice. She said one particular teacher had been singled out several times for this privilege. His recent costume for the day was Wonder Woman.

Marione Martin

Parker Bays explains her literacy display to the Alva School Board Monday. Her Lego creation is based on Harry Potter books.

Students also participated in a literacy fair held in conjunction with parent-teacher conference time. In the fall, the third graders made exhibits. For the spring conferences, second graders prepared displays. Tucker showed pictures of several examples and said, "Parker Bays knocked it out of the park." She introduced Bays who showed off her carefully detailed Lego creation based on the Harry Potter books. Bays explained the different buildings and action figures to the delight of board members.

Extra Duty Schedule Change

Argo told the board that Alva had enough girls interested in golf to add a coach to the extra duty schedule. Mendi White, who has 12 years of experience in golf, was added as the head golf coach for the girls team.

The meeting closed with an executive session for the ongoing evaluation of the superintendent.