School Board hears results of first ATLAS tests
The Calico Rock District School Board met last Monday during which members were presented with a recap of recently received results of ATLAS testing that was administered earlier in the year.
This year is the first for use of the ATLAS testing program, a move from the previously used ACT Aspire testing regimen. Consequently, the results of this first round of ATLAS tests will serve as a baseline against which future test scores in subsequent years will be compared.
The recap was shared by school principals who went on to advise that the ATLAS tests were based on Arkansas criteria, a feature which was not present in the ACT Aspire testing program.
District Superintendent Rick Green began by stating that the scores, “aren’t where we’d like them to be,” however there were some bright spots as well in certain areas and grades.
The results were summarized in charts which broke down the results into four levels of proficiency. Level 4 – Advanced, Level 3 – Proficient, Level 2 – Basic and Level 1 – Limited. Testing results for each grade’s proficiency was compared to the state average in the areas of Science, Math and ELA (English Language Arts).
Calico Rock students “Overall Proficiency” (combines Level 4 and Level 3 achieving students) in Science were as follows: Grade 3 – 30% vs state – 36%, Grade 4 – 31% vs state – 35%, Grade 5 – 52% vs state 35%, Grade 6 – 35% vs state 35%, Grade 7 – 32% vs state – 37%, Grade 8 – 26% vs state – 35%, and Grade 10 – 36% vs state – 37%.
In Math, Calico Rock results were as follows: Grade 3 – 55% vs state – 38%, Grade 4 – 24% vs state – 38%, Grade 5 – 28% vs state – 38%, Grade 6 – 39% vs state – 38%, Grade 7 – 42% vs state – 38%, Grade 8 – 38% vs state – 28%, Grades 9/10 (Math/Algebra I) 22% vs state 27% and Grade 11 (Math/Geometry) 0% vs state – 18%.
In ELA (English Language Arts) results were: Grade 3 – 45% vs state – 36%, Grade 4 – 31% vs state – 36%, Grade 5 – 40% vs state – 37%, Grade 6 – 31% vs state – 34%, Grade 7 – 26% vs state – 32%, Grade 8 – 22% vs state – 32%, Grade 9 – 32% vs state – 33%, and Grade 10 – 27% vs state – 33%.
A review of the results revealed that Calico Rock students’ “Overall Proficiency” was below the state average across testing subjects in a good number of grade levels, with notable bright spots such as in Grade 5 Science, Grades 3, 6, 7, 8 Math, and Grades 3,5 in ELA.
The good news at this juncture is that these results provide educators with direction by pinpointing areas where additional emphasis and effort should be placed, down to the student level, such that a remediation plan can be developed and implemented.
During his regular report, Superintendent Green first advised that the recent Veterans Day assembly had been the best he had seen in his experience at other schools as the students and community recognized the 24 veterans who were in attendance.
He also shared that he had recently met with the city in regard to plans for use of a $100,000 parks grant that had been awarded for use in Earl King Park and the baseball fields.
This year’s Harvest Supper was very well attended, with Green recognizing the FFA and all who had worked to organize the annual event. The food was great and plentiful with everyone coming away satisfied.
He concluded his report by advising the Board that school would be out from Thanksgiving November 25-29.
High school principal Anita Nordrum began her report advising current enrollment at 176 students.
Members of the Calico Rock FFA had recently traveled to the FFA National Convention where they were able to experience various informational sessions and other FFA Expo opportunities. A special thank you was extended to FNBIC for providing a meal during the trip.
Basketball season is underway. Thanks again to FNBIC for donating new signage and items for the new student section at the games. The kids are enjoying having this section as it has enhanced the game atmosphere by allowing them to be close to the cheerleaders. They say thay are “Rockin’ the Pirate ship!”
Seven high school students attended the October 26 Junior High Quiz Bowl Camp held at Cotter high school. After playing four games on the day, Lizzy McCreary’s team placed second with she and her team members receiving a $15 Amazon gift card. Gracie Hicks’ team finished third and got $10 cards. Lily Rush landed a spot on the All Tournament Team, earning her a $25 card. All in all, the students represented our school wonderfully.
The high school recently participated in Red Ribbon Week which was coordinated by SRO Jason Whitfield. Students were able to try a number of actions or activities while wearing goggles that simulated the effects of drugs or alcohol. They also got to smash up a car thank to a junker being donated by Skeeter Beene’s Towing.
Coach McCain recently took four students to compete in the state Cross Country meet held in Hot Springs. Those students included: Luis Lima, Aiden Harris, Thomas Hood and Emma Brickell.
Senior Beta’s third annual Teddy Bear Toss was a big success as they teamed up with the Mammoth Spring Senior Betas to coordinate the event. All stuffed animals will be donated for use in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox program.
The Trunk or Treat event coordinated by the Parent Group was also a big win. Many of the groups distributing candy had to leave to get more due to the high turnout. A number of high school students participated in handing out candy to the little kids.
Calico Rock will have seven students competing at Region 3 STAR Events on November 21 in Jonesboro. Two of the four exchange students will also be attending the conference. Teams will be competing in Event Management, Sports and Nutrition, Repurpose and Redesign, as well as Food Innovations.
Elementary principal Bailey Whiteaker began by reporting current enrollment at 177 students. She also mentioned how successful the Trunk or Treat event had been with a total of 19 “trunks” there to hand out candy. A big thanks to Chelsie Moss for organizing and coordinating the event.
Ms. Whiteaker too was proud of the recent Veterans Day assembly, recognizing Abbey Orf and her GT students for hosting the event. Chris Turner, the assistant principal at Guy Berry College and Career Academy in Mountain Home, gave a speech about his time in the service and the opportunities it had provided to him.
North Arkansas Electric Cooperative has continued to include the elementary school in their Sole Power Project which provides a pair of brand new tennis shoes to each 3rd Grade student. Thanks much to NAEC for their support!
On the academic side, the second 9-weeks progress reports were sent out on November 18. Grades K-3 completed their ATLAS screener testing. Students identified as below level in certain areas have started the testlets, which have proven to be very time consuming to administer. Thanks to Mrs. Stephanie King for the many hours she has spent on this process.
The school will soon be activating access codes for parents of Grade K-3 students which will enable them to see how their children did on the screener and the testlets as they are completed.
Whiteaker gave a shout out to Abbey Orf for the hard work on the Veterans Day Assembly. Also to the Pirate Nation Parent Group and Chelsie Moss for a great Trunk or Treat event.
The Calico Rock Fire Department recently brought one of their fire trucks to school and talked to the elementary students about fire safety for Fire Safety Week.
She concluded her report by reminding of the upcoming Elementary School Christmas Music Program in the auditorium on December 5 at 5:30 p.m. The kids are already working on their performances and attendees will again be able to walk the halls to view the decorated classroom doorways and vote on the best holiday decorations.
Next up was Preschool Director Abbey Orf who shared that things were going well with students continuing to learn their letters and letter sounds, as well as counting and numbers. Developmental growth such as fine motor skills, gross motor skills, social-emotional skills and special awareness are all taking place daily.
Orf shared that she had recently attended a Local Leads meeting held at the Co-Op in Melbourne. While there she learned that Calico Rock had been chosen to participate for a pilot program for the new CLASS assessment that the state will be implementing. We will soon learn more about what expectations will be observed and scored, however it has been shared that emphasis will be placed on interactions and communication between teachers and students.
Recent heavy rains had resulted in some minor flooding issues at the school with the solution being to install some sort of French drainage system along certain walls of the old structure.
Mrs. Orf, who is also the Gifted & Talented Coordinator, reported that the elementary G/T students were working on their “Shark Tank” invention or reinvention projects. Each have identified problems and created or recreated inventions to solve these problems. A presentation board is begin developed to display the different ideas for the teachers to vote on their favorite invention.
The Junior High G/T students will be holding a Hunting Gear raffle, with the hope of putting the proceeds towards their project to improve the outside area of the high school. Tickets will be on sale soon as soon as raffle items have been obtained.
The Senior High G/T are deciding what type of fundraiser they wish to hold to raise money to improve the interior with murals, flexible seating and other materials aimed to improve the visual aspects of the high school.
Moving directly into New Business, the Board next was asked to approve a student transfer for a student whose parents were moving out of the Calico Rock District however wished to continue to attend school here in Calico Rock. The Board quickly voted unanimously to approve the request.
The need to approve a 1599 disclosure for a district employee whose spouse works for Sentinel Industries was next on the agenda. Approval of a 1599 is required whenever a staff member has a familial relationship to someone working for a business or company with which the district may at some time do business. This 1599 was therefore approved by the Board.
The next item was one which Mr. Green had asked be added to the agenda at the start of the meeting and involved the possible donation of a piece of property to the district. The property involved is the currently empty GTS building across Hwy 56 from Los Locos Mexican Restaurant.
After some discussion about possible uses for the building and the downside of taking ownership, the Board agreed to authorize Mr. Green to proceed with acceptance of the generous donation from a local businessman.
The final agenda item, also added by Mr. Green was Board consideration of a proposal to invest $300,000 to $400,000 of district funds into a CD given the relatively high interest levels currently available. No action was formally voted upon, however the Board did authorize Green to gather more information on what was available and come back with a recommendation on how best to proceed.
Having no other business, the meeting was adjourned with the next meeting date scheduled for Monday, December 16 at 5:30 p.m. in the elementary school library. As always this meeting is open to the public who are encouraged to attend.
