Pam Dudding
Contributing writer
Running a successful school takes a collective effort of teachers, staff and the administrative team. At the same time, being a successful school takes on even more perseverance for students to reach their full potential.
Craig County Public Schools seem to have those kind of people working for it.
Certain individuals are filled throughout Craig County Public Schools.
McCleary Elementary was recently selected to receive the 2020 Board of Education’s Continuous Improvement Award through the Exemplar School Recognition Program.
McCleary received this award for being accredited in the 2019-2020 academic year and significantly improving academic and school quality indicators for each of the past three years.
Superintendent Jeanette Warwick and Samuel Foster presented Principal Gerri VanDyke with a certificate at the February monthly school board meeting.
“We are very proud of Mrs. VanDyke’s leadership and of the hard work of your staff. Congratulations!” Warwick said. “I would like to acknowledge the dedication of the principal and staff for their focus on student achievement. We continue to strive to provide the best educational experience for our students.”
The award is based on performance and practice during previous years for items that were “significantly improved academically.”
Continued VanDyke, “Schools recognized for continuous improvement were rated ‘Accredited’ or ‘Accredited with Conditions’ for 2019-2020 and met at least one of the following four criteria based on performance during 2018-2019:
- A 10-point increase in the combined rate in reading and math and the pass rate in science
- A 10-point increase in the combined rate in reading and math for two or more student groups across three years
- A decrease in the chronic absenteeism rate for three years
The “school quality indicators” are: academics (math and English), chronic absenteeism, dropout rate, graduation and completion index.
“In receiving this award, I felt very proud of all the hard work that my staff and students put in year after year, week after week, and day after day,” VanDyke said. “I am very proud of all the staff at McCleary. Craig County is a very tight-knit community and I appreciate all the support from my staff, parents, community members, administration and school board.”
