District schools are celebrating student academic achievement in various ways. Despite challenges at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools like Chimneyrock Elementary and American Way Middle are recognizing growth in academic assessments.

iReady Improvement

Chimneyrock Elementary demonstrated outstanding progress during 2020-21 Spring iReady diagnostics. iReady is an online program for reading and math that helps educators determine a student's needs, personalize their learning, and monitor progress throughout the school year.

Chimneyrock students excelled with weekly iReady lessons and achieved a passing rate of 70% or more. iReady representatives celebrated students’ success with a pizza party.

The achievement follows a recent investment in enhancing the learning environment at the school with the installation of a reading garden in April 2021. It serves as a personal learning oasis for students and teachers outside of the classroom.

TNReady Preparedness

As SCS iZone schools prepare for TNReady, administrators are getting students motivated with ‘Olympic Academics’. Beginning with the 2021-22 Fall Common Formative Assessment (CFA), new incentives were implemented to reward those who excel. The CFA’S provide data that outline the areas students need to improve on as they work to meet TNReady Mastery standards.

Under the Olympic Academics guidelines, scholars/teachers could earn:

• Gold medal = one week out of uniform/full-day off work
• Silver medal = 3 days out of uniform/half-day off work
• Bronze medal = 1 day out of uniform/30-minute extended lunch

After American Way Middle School showed gains in the Fall CFA assessment, Principal Cedric Smith upped the momentum to offer monetary prizes for students who score mastery or on track during the Winter diagnostics period. The funds have been donated from staff and members of the community.

The upcoming Common Formative Assessment ends mid December.

Learning Opportunities/Strategies

With the support of ESSER funds, SCS is improving student outcomes across the District to help maximize academic success through the following strategies, but not limited to:

Strengthen Early and Continuing Literacy - Teachers in grades K-2 will receive yearlong foundational skills training to help improve literacy rates for students by the 3rd grade. 

Adult-to-Student Ratio - As part of our plan to reimagine education, by reducing the adult-to-student ratio from 1:25 to 1:13, we expect to give our youngest learners the strongest start possible.

Before, During, & After School Tutoring - High dosage/low ratio tutoring sessions during the school day (TN all Corps) will create high-impact learning experiences, focusing on re-teaching content, and connecting prerequisite skills to grade-level content. 

Data from each school will be used to differentiate instruction for identified students in grades K-12 who will participate in a robust, comprehensive after-school tutoring program designed to support their academic needs and remediate student learning loss. 

Professional Learning - Tiered support of professional learning will be provided to teachers, principals, and central office staff to build capacity on being a 1:1 school district.

ACT Prep - SCS continues to offer resources, tools, and programs to help students prepare for the ACT. Teachers, administrators, and counselors also participate in training sessions that show how to use ACT data to drive instruction at the school, classroom and student level.

Naviance Technology

Students have access to an innovative planning tool designed to help parents understand students’ interests, strengths, and needs, so they can individualize support to help them reach their goals. Naviance also offers unique readiness content and activities to help build knowledge and strengthen students’ competencies.