Last year, our district’s KSA scores improved drastically across the board. GRC, however, improved their overall score by 18.6 points.
“We did a lot of intentional work with our professional learning communities,” Assistant Principal Mrs. Diana Cline said. “It’s department meetings, and we did a lot of work in regards to creating a structure that was more centered around student achievement.”
An 18-point incline takes a lot of teacher and student determination, as well as many helping hands. This year, our school has brought on new staff and implemented IXL, an online learning platform designed to target a student’s specific learning needs.
“We hired a math interventionist to push into math classes to help students that are struggling, and then there’s also the dual component of that with IXL,” Mrs. Cline said. “All students in grades nine, tenth, and eleventh are taking the IXL diagnostic. After they take that diagnostic, it puts them in an action plan based on what they score.”
It’s important for our students to have confidence and drive. In order to instill these qualities, our teachers need to be equipped with helpful feedback and encouragement.
“We plan to continue pushing students to do their best and showing them that good things come when they try their hardest,” Assistant Principal Dr. Chelsey Highley said. “Our teachers are All1n! By our teachers being All1n, our students are also taking this initiative and performing well.”
Test preparation involves a lot of hidden work, as well. Instructional Specialist Mrs. Ruthann Sharrock plays a significant role in our students’ academic performance.
“I oversee and organize all testing in the building and make sure that the testing environment is conducive to their best performance,” Mrs. Sharrock said. “I monitor and maintain GRC’s Post-Secondary data. This includes academic/assessment scores, CTE (career technical education) EOPs, and Industry Certifications. I also keep track of the graduation rate. All of these are parts of the accountability scores for a high school. Student test scores play the biggest part.”
A green status is amazing, but it’s not the end goal for GRC, with a blue status being the highest a school can achieve.
“It shows that we are making steady, consistent progress,” Superintendent Mr. Dustin Howard said. “I’m fairly ecstatic because it demonstrates not only our staff’s tremendous hard work, but our students showcasing everything that they’re learning here in Clark County. It’s a reflection of who we are as people because whether it counts or not, I want our students to understand. I want them to be not transactional leaders, but transformational leaders.”
Mr. Howard encourages students to continue the hard work and outstanding efforts.
“We’re not just winning basketball championships, FBLA, ROTC, or FFA, we are winning with our minds, too,” he said. “Go Cards!”
