The Clarksdale Municipal School District received an F in its most recent accountability grade from the Mississippi Department of Education, but there are still success stories within the system.
Kirkpatrick Health & Medical Science Magnet Elementary School received an A accountability grade for the first time ever from the MDE for the 2017-18 academic year.
Kirkpatrick principal SuzAnne Walton has been in her position for 11 years and seen a steady climb in performance. The school’s grade was a B for 2016-17 and a C the year before.
Walton said the key to success was total teamwork from the MDE, literacy coaches in the building including Jennifer Lee from MDE, low-turnover ratio with teachers and high expectations.
“We work hard to make this a family atmosphere,” Walton said. “I am always trying to encourage the group.
“We have the group meet app on our telephones. When something is going on with one, we always back them up with prayers or thoughts. We send out continuous messages. When someone is in need, we have a group that will go in and help. One way or another, we get the job done.”
Leigh Frazier, a 10-year reading teacher, agreed.
“The key to success here is teamwork on our teachers’ part, as well as our students giving it their best effort,” she said. “One thing we expect from our children is their very best. They live up to our expectations.
“Another thing we’ve done is we recognize where the students are low and we work with them extra to help them build up their confidence and their skill levels to where they need to be.”
Frazier said there are interventions during the morning schedule where teachers work with students for 30 minutes in areas they need improvement, along with after-school tutoring.
Walton said she also builds a good environment by letting teachers take care of personal matters when they need to during the day when possible.
“One of the things that we do with students, I start from the very first day of school, I meet with everyone. I tell them always that we are number one and that we’re at the top and need to keep it there,” she said.
“I encourage those kids so the kids know from the very beginning, physiologically, they are the top students. Whether they are or not, we try to boost that social emotional part of their brain into thinking they are top-notch students. Then, we just continue to work with them all year long.”
There is Classworks in the reading and math lab and Istation in the classroom.
There were struggles for the school to get to where it is, as it was rated an F a few years back when the MDE changed its grading criteria.
“It shows that everything we’re doing is working and paying off,” said Walton of now being an A school “The students have bought in. The parents have bought in. The teachers have bought in. It’s like a machine with well-oiled parts. Everything is flowing together.”
Current fourth-graders in Mary Hinshaw’s homeroom all were upbeat about the school.
“Our teachers are hard-working,” said three-year student Katelyn James. “Our principal is hard-working and, most of all, the students, they listen and that’s why we are the grade we are in this school.”
James said she enjoys participating in the “centers” activities for grades. Students are divided into groups and do social studies, health and writing activities. When they finish, they use either Istation, read a book or read a book and take a test. Her favorite is to read a book and take a test.
James said Hinshaw, a math and science teacher, likes to get work finished, but also understands when students forget things. She said Walton is funny, nice and cares about her school. She also likes PE instructor Matt Cummins, who helps the students with exercises such as jumping jacks and schedules activities such as dodge ball.
“I think we’re all pretty sad we have to leave,” James said.
Kamryn Newson, a six-year Kirkpatrick student, felt students have been up to the challenge to succeed: “You have to pay attention and do your work and participate.”.
Newson’s favorite time in school is when she gets to read chapters from a book and answer questions. One of her favorite books is “Stone Fox” by John Reynolds Gardiner.
“Ms. Hinshaw, she likes us to explain the answers that we give,” Newson said. “She doesn’t just give us a problem to solve. She just works it out with us.”
Newson said counselor Latasha Thomas helps make Kirkpatrick a better place by putting a stop to bullying.
“I’ve enjoyed how we do programs,” said five-year student Anwan Word. “It’s fun things here. Today, we had fire station workers that came over here to talk about how if it’s a fire, how to get out of the house and stuff like that.”
Word said he learned to cover his face with his hands, find the nearest place and get out.
“I also like Ms. Frazier because her class is fun,” he said. “My favorite part about it is the reading. My favorite subject in school is reading. That’s why I like Ms. Frazier’s class.
In a joint statement, James, Newson and Word said, “We’re glad to be at this school. It’s an A school and the best elementary school in the district.”
Zoey Elizabeth Ratliff, a fourth-grader from 2017-18, was one of the “bright stars” to attend Kirkpatrick. She said the faculty is welcoming and loving and everyone is treated like an individual.
“I was totally speechless when I found out Kirkpatrick, my school, was rated an ‘A,’” she said. “I am so happy and grateful that our school is being recognized for the hard work we put in to earn an A. The fourth-grade class of 2017-18 was a very special class. Our teachers always told us that and now we believe it.
“I feel that we deserve to be an A school because we put forth a great amount of hard work to get it done. Our teachers, Ms. Frazier and Ms. Hinshaw, work just as hard and were always encouraging us. They believed in us! We believed in us! We did it and we deserve this recognition.”
Ratliff’s classmate MacKenzie Newson said education opens the door to many opportunities and Kirkpatrick provided a good foundation with the nice and helpful teachers. She said listening and paying attention paid off and was key in Kirkpatrick becoming an ‘A’ school.
“When I was in the third grade, we worked hard to help our school do well on the state test and that hard work paid off because we became a ‘B,’” Newson said. “Our goal for the next year was to keep moving so that we would become an ‘A’ school. Our teachers made sure that we continued to grow and it paid off.”
When I found out that Kirkpatrick was an ‘A’ rated school, I was so happy for them.”
Kirkpatrick will hold its celebration for being an A school at 8:30 a.m. Friday with a parade following at 10 a.m.
