By Stephen Smoot
On Nov. 8, North Fork Elementary School gave back to the community through its annual celebration of United States military veterans.
Last week, the Pendleton County Board of Education traveled to Circleville to hear more about the schools’ accomplishments and needs.
Faculty, staff, board members, central office staff, and Charles Hedrick, superintendent, sat down together prior to the meeting to eat a meal of lasagna, salad, breadsticks, and home crafted desserts.
“Welcome back to the North Fork,” Lisa Roberson, NFES Principal, stated when the presentation started, then added, “We are excited!”
She started by discussing the new staff in place, then described the special students’ events for education, outreach, and/or as rewards for a job well done. One saw students learning from Dark Skies experts who explained how the eastern mountains of West Virginia have some of the best night sky viewing in the Eastern United States. Roberson said of it that “the kids were really excited and had lots of questions and enthusiasm.”
Next, Roberson discussed a trip to Experience Learning’s Spruce Knob center.
The school held “literacy night” for students in pre-kindergarten through second grades. Students and families came and ate dinner, learned about setting routines for school days, played literacy related games, and more. Roberson praised the “great turnout” and said the older grades would have one in the fall that focuses some on test taking strategies.
Educational fun also included the October “Annual Pumpkin Drop” where older students try to engineer ways to protect pumpkins when tossed off the roof of the building. Roberson explained that while no pumpkins survived the drop, many students had ideas on how to accomplish the goal and wanted to try again next year in middle school.
Community engagement took the form of events such as the veterans’ ceremony and also a Grandparents Day event where 90 families came together to “sit and visit and ask lots of questions.” With grandparents statewide shouldering more of the role of directly raising children, many schools are prioritizing their involvement.
Another community engagement event, Fall Fest, also served as an important fundraiser that helps to defer the costs of special events, trips, and other school needs. Trunk or Treat, organized by Community In Schools, came about because some students’ caretakers were unable to take them on traditional trick or treat. Roberson gave a long list of community businesses, organizations, and individuals whose support was vital in putting on such events.
NFES worked in a number of ways to motivate students toward better attendance. On early release days, for example, to head off the temptation to skip shorter period of class, NFES holds “Club Days.” In addition to normal instructional time, students can pick activities clubs in which to participate. These include parachute games and other outdoor fun, cooking doughnuts, and more.
“We get them a little wired, a little excited, then they go home,” Roberson joked. Throughout her presentation, she returned to the joy of seeing smiles on student faces.
Through CIS, NFES has taken a more hands-on approach to addressing chronic absenteeism, a declared focus of all Pendleton County schools this year. The CIS workers and also Roberson herself make regular calls to households to inquire about any help they can offer. She stated that “some families have been really receptive.” One of the payoffs came on Oct 18 when every student registered at NFES attended school and, as a result, got a surprise ice cream sundae party. “You need to be here every day,” Roberson shared that she said to the students, going on to say “you don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Commenting on the next topic of discussion, Roberson stated that “behavior was . . . phenomenal in the first nine weeks.” Students received the reward of a field trip to Moorefield to see the movie “Wild Robot,” based on a popular children’s book.
In academics, NFES also had good news to share about their progress so far this school year.
At the opening of the year, NFES had a goal of 55 percent or better of students between second and sixth grades testing at or above 50 percent on benchmark testing by the end of the school year. So far, the numbers have increased from 45 percent to 60 percent with Roberson reporting “they are loving to read.”
Math has also shown progress. The school set a goal of 56 percent of students between first and sixth grade hitting 50 percent or above on their benchmark testing by the end of the year. The school elevated its percentage from 41 percent to 49 percent with expectations that it will meet or exceed the goal by the close of the year.
The school administration, local school improvement council, and faculty senate then shared with the board and superintendent their needs and “wish list.”
Roberson started off by discussing staffing needs, sharing that “we continue to see more and more students who need one on one attention. Everyone here is trying so hard.” Although she said that faculty and staff maintain an “all hands on deck” mentality, that they need more specialists who can work with students who have these sorts of challenges.
Brandon Ours, who also serves as a law enforcement officer, led the Local School Improvement Council discussion. His presentation focused on school safety needs, including clear signage to identify the public and staff entrances to the school, window clings to block public views of the interior of the school in the “man trap” area, and drop down curtains for classroom doors to block views in from the hallway.
Ours also stated that the wooden tables in the playground area needed repair or replacement.
He then updated the board on current projects, including designer letters in front of the school spelling out NFES, stage curtains, rewrapping gym mats in school colors, and continuing to repair the ball field.
The state of the playground served as another topic of conversation, with a number of pieces of “outdated and broken” play equipment. Ours also inquired about the bounds of the property for a proposed walking trail that could surround the school.
Ours concluded by saying that they have a number of ideas, but “sometimes we’re just waiting on a blessing from you guys to get these things rolling.”
After the Parent Teacher Student Organization representative discussed a partnership with the Pendleton County Farm Bureau to bring a mobile agriculture lab to campus, Becky Heavner, faculty senate representative, rose to speak.
She reiterated many of the goals and concerns already expressed, then shared that they would like to see an interventionist for upper grades and a smaller floor scrubber for the custodian’s convenience.
