Education Edition - 1736 Magazine, Fall 2019

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COVER STORY continued from 22 year – 75.1% during the 2018-2019 school year compared to 77.7% for the previous year – the district relies heavily on contributions from the business community and nonprofit agencies to fill the educational – and often basic needs – voids many students face at home. These “wrap-around services,” as the district calls them, range from grant programs that fund educational programs and equipment to partnerships with nonprofit agencies that provide tutoring services as well as food, clothing and school supplies. Literacy tutoring is a primary focus at Lamar-Milledge, where just over 15% of students are reading at grade level. A three-year, $600,000 literacy grant from the the Community Foundation for the CSRA helps fund 12 partner organizations, such as Communities in Schools, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the CSRA, neighborhood churches and Augusta University, to place tutors in classrooms. The volunteers serve as an adjunct to students with deficiencies during “intervention blocks.” “So if I’m a teacher with 20 students, I can have a tutor that pulls five and another that pulls five so I can focus on just 10,” Roulhac said. “Some tutors are students at Augusta University. Some are retired teachers. Some are volunteers with different backgrounds.” Lamar-Milledge’s new hydroponics garden lab, which helps students learn about basic science theories by germinating and growing herbs and vegetables in 12 hydroponic towers, was funded by a grant from Savannah River Remediation, the Savannah River Site’s liquid waste contractor. The project culminates with growing the ingredients to make salsa, which is served at a year-end “chips and salsa” party for students and parents. The most visible example of community assistance in the school district is the recently opened Success Center on the Butler High School campus, which offers families throughout the district a food and clothes pantry, mental health and tutoring services, school supplies and even washers and dryers for student laundry. The school system pays utilities at the building, which formerly housed Butler’s Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (or “CTAE”) programs, but nearly all services and furnishings were donated by community partners such as RPM-Textron student-employee Jermaine Brinson, above, and DezQuainqua Greene, below, assemble golf cart parts at the RPM campus on Mike Padgett Highway, which helps at-risk students stay in school while earning money building components and sub-assemblies. Golden Harvest Food Bank, United Way of the CSRA, Weinberger’s Furniture and TBonz Steakhouse. “Those wrap-around services are very important,” Bradshaw said. “Bottom line: All children are born and they all can learn at the same level. Even tough there can be obstacles, our goal as educators is to provide them with those opportunities. As we encounter their challenges, then we posture ourselves with alleviating some of those challenges.” WORK READINESS While Richmond County schools and its community partners help students overcome skills deficiencies and social barriers at lower grade levels, the system is plunging headlong into “work-readiness” programs to prepare high schools students for careers right after graduation, from manufacturing to cybersecurity. The system’s multiple pathways closely resemble the technical college model, where the focus is on job-specific skills needed by employers. “Ten years ago, the work-readiness component wasn’t there,” District Spokeswoman Melanie Lumpkin said. “It was more about get them a diploma and get them out of high school.” The Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Business Education Advisory Council, whose members represent many industries, was instrumental in bolstering the school system’s existing CTAE programs to produce work-ready graduates to fill open positions at employers throughout the region. COVER STORY continues on 28 24 | 1736magazine.com 1117_T_13_AM____.indd 24 10/25/2019 11:54:48 AM
Richmond County Schools: By The Numbers Schools A.R. Johnson Academy of Richmond County Davidson Fine Arts Josey High School Laney High School Performance Learning Center 4-year cohort graduation rates 100 ACT Composite 30 80 25 60 20 15 40 10 20 5 0 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 0 N/A 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 SAT Reading 600 500 400 300 SAT Math 600 500 400 200 300 100 0 2016-2017 N/A 2017-2018 N/A 2018-2019 200 Note: In 2005, SAT testing changed from 2 800-score tests (total out of 1600) to 3 800-score tests (total out of 2400). SAT testing changed back to 1600 total in the 2016-2017 school year. This report includes some students who took the old SAT as well as those who took the new SAT. Their scores have been concorded to the new SAT scale score. The total number of students in Richmond County who had their scores concorded to the new SAT scale was minimal. 100 0 2016-2017 N/A 2017-2018 N/A 2018-2019 SAT Composite, 2018-2019 Georgia milestones Percent of students scoring proficient and above, 2018-2019 Not applicable A. R. Johnson Academy of Richmond County Davidson Fine Arts Josey High School Laney High School 343 1,121 969 1,181 917 8th 3rd grade 5th grade grade 9th grade US School ELA Math ELA Math ELA Algebra I Literature History Economics Lamar-Milledge Elem. 12.30% 23.00% 22.90% 5.30% W.S. Hornsby K-3 7.50% 16.10% Murphey M.S. 8.10% 0% W.S. Hornsby 4-8 10.40% 8.70% 17.00% 3.40% Academy of Richmond County 1.30% 43.10% 27.80% 26.90% Lucy C. Laney H.S. 5.20% 42.00% 12.30% 22.50% T.W. Josey H.S. 3.80% 18.80% 2.40% 9.20% AR Johnson Magnet School 72.40% 30.60% 92.50% 60.50% 88.10% Davidson Magnet School 95.40% 73.80% 99.10% 83.80% 63.50% C.T. Walker Traditional Magnet School 78.10% 80.20% 77.20% 71.30% 68.00% 38.00% Source: Richmond County School System N/A: School had too few test-takers or did not exist at the time GATEHOUSE MEDIA 1117_T_25_AM____.indd 25 10/25/2019 6:13:07 PM
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BRIEFINGBy DAMON CLINE HITS & MISSE
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Education Edition - 1736 Magazine, Fall 2019

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