Contributions Joseph McCain

The Winston County Journal

Providing students with the knowledge they need and with goals to attain will help move the Louisville Municipal School District into the future.

Dr. Nola Bryant, director of Instruction and Curriculum with the LMSD, recently gave an update of plans for moving the district forward and its goals to achieve Level 5 status schools.

Bryant, who holds a doctorate from Mississippi State University, explained the district's goals, the methods it uses, and the plans it has in place to help attain those goals.

"We aim to prepare our products (students) with the best knowledge and goals," said Bryant. "I call them (the students) products because they will produce the future, and that is based on their education."

"We are a data-driven district. We examine all the information to help plan for the future and make our district better," Bryant continued. "I am a product of this district and proud to say that."

Bryant said LMSD believes all students can learn, and provides them with a rigorous curriculum to encourage the learning process.

"We provide the knowledge, a basic of learning, and proper instruction so that each student may achieve success," Bryant explained.

Bryant outlined how the district followed the "No Child Left Behind" provisions and how the district's strategic plan met and improved on serving all children in the district.

"We believe we are on the right track," Bryant said.

"We are performing well on statewide tests. Our curriculum is based on tested benchmarks."

During a recent review by the LMSD Board of Trustees of the district schools’ subject area test scores for the period of 2001-2006, marked improvement was apparent in every subject area.

The district had shown improvement each year in its rankings among the other school districts and compared to the state average across the board from English to biology, moving up anywhere from 22-73 slots, depending on the subject matter.

The district has steadily moved up in the rankings compared to the other school districts while almost all the school districts have improved test scoring and increased the state average.

"We have made a lot of progress," said LMSD Superintendent Harry Kemp. "But we have a long way to go."

There are seven schools in the Louisville Municipal School District: Fair Elementary, Louisville Elementary, Eiland Middle, Louisville High School, Nanih Waiya Attendance Center, Noxapater Attendance Center and the Winston-Louisville Vocational Center.

All of the district's schools have met statewide accreditation standards, with Nanih Waiya at Level 4 and all other schools holding a Level 3 rating.

"Students are learning at the levels to make them successful, but we will continue to improve," Bryant said, explaining that Level 3 schools are consideredsuccessful schools.

"We are happy without success, but aspire to Level 5, which is the best," Bryant continued. "We hope to have several of the schools gain Level 4 next year."

Bryant pointed out that, while the district is diverse with the type of schools under its charge, all are aiming for the same goal.

"We are providing the students with the tools to be successful," Bryant noted. "We want to grow that success."

One of the resources that will help grow that success is the Louisville Municipal School Family Center, located on the Louisville High School campus. Gifted classes, special education classes, tutors and alternative school for some disruptive students provide additional resources for students.

Gifted classes help "those aspiring to be the next Einstein" to tap their potential by offering additional activities and challenges beyond regular school work, Bryant explained. Special education works with students having problems to develop individualized plans of instruction to help them work through any issues and move the students forward in their school work.

Bryant outlined how tutoring is offered in many areas for students who need a little help. She said many of the tutors are retired teachers who can work with the students one-on-one to help them grasp key concepts and catch up on their lessons.

The alternative school, Bryant noted, is in its first year as part of the district and appears to help students transition back into the regular classroomafter facing disciplinary actions and time in the more-structured alternative school.

With dropout rates a high concern across the state, Bryant noted that the school district planned to match state goals.

The Mississippi Board of Education recently approved the establishment of the State Dropout Prevention Plan 2007-2019, which seeks to increase the graduation rate to 85 percent by 2018-2019, reduce the state dropout rate by 50 percent by 2011-2012 and reduce the statewide truancy rate by 50 percent by 2011-2012.

LMSD has also implemented a GED program to help some students who don’t get through to graduation.

"The GED program was set up to help the students who struggle with areas of schooling and could not complete high school," Bryant said.

Bryant also pointed out how the vocational center - through its Allied Health program, cooperative education with businesses and other programs - is preparing a more skilled workforce.

"We are in many cases preparing students for direct entry into the workforce, or further positions in life," Bryant said.

The vocational center provides services and opportunities for all the students in the county, including Winston Academy and Grace Christian School.

Providing students with a good education is the key to future success not just for the students, but also for the community as a whole.

"We have to give the community what it needs in education for it to have any chance to grow in the future," Bryant said.

"We also need input from that community," she continued. "We need to know, besides improving state test scores, which areas need more focus. We need to know from our stakeholders what they see as important.