It is hard to believe, but the end of the school year is upon us. Just yesterday, we were welcoming our students and teachers to begin a new school year full of hope, goals, and a renewed spirit. This school year, we have devoted tremendous amounts of time, energy, and effort into increasing our students' academic achievement. We've learned two things from previous school years: first, we've learned that the key to supporting our students' growth is to increase the amount of time that they practice grade level skills, and we've also learned that the materials that we use with our students matters. Because of these two factors, we increased the amount of time that our students spend with new and prerequisite material. We provided pull-out tutorials for students in their areas of weakness as well as their areas of strength. We used time that students would normally spend in electives to provide them with extra support in reading and mathematics. We are also hosting Saturday School at all of our sites with tested areas; our Saturday School sessions, in which we provide breakfast, lunch, and transportation, have been an amazing success. We have had three to over four hundred students each Saturday, and we are truly pleased with our results. Additionally, we have provided practice packets for students during Spring Break and the month of April. For our Saturday School sessions, pull-out tutorials, and practice packets, we've been using research-based materials to ensure that our students are exposed to quality grade-level content that is standardized across the district.

Now, it's time to see if all of our hard work has paid off. Our Mississippi Assessment Program (MAP) officially kicks off on April 20th with our 3rd grade ELA assessment. This is one of our most important assessments, as it determines whether or not students can move on to 4th grade. Our elementary principals have hosted informational sessions at their schools to inform parents about this critical assessment. May 2nd -12th, our 3rd-8th grade students will take important assessments in ELA, mathematics, and science in grades 5th and 8th. Our high school students will take assessments in Algebra I, Biology I, US History, and English II. Parents, it is especially important that you encourage your children to do their best on the assessments. In addition to determining if students have met grade level standards, the results of our state assessments help us determine course placement for students, and the results determine the ratings for our schools and district. We ask that you assist us by stressing the importance of the tests, encouraging your children to complete their homework packets, and ensuring that they get plenty of rest before the tests.