JOHN COFFELTEditor

This is part one of a two-part series spotlighting the four Coffee County Schools that recently earned the Rewards school designation from the state.

“I am extremely proud of the work that is done throughout Coffee County Schools,” Director of Schools Dr. Charles Lawson said. “Our people are driven to provide opportunities for the young people in our care, and I am pleased that these four schools have been recognized by the state for their work. This is public recognition and celebration that educators do not receive often enough.”

Reward schools in the county were Deerfield Elementary, New Union Elementary Raider Academy and North Coffee Elementary.

North Coffee Elementary School Principal Adam Clark said that having four schools in the district that are reward schools, and three being elementary schools, speaks to the hard work that’s going on.

“Our elementary school teachers do a good job of setting the foundation for the kids as they get older,” he said.

Clark explained that reward schools are based on TCAP testing in second through fifth grades for exceptional growth and achievement.

This is the second consecutive year that North Coffee has received the designation.

Clark attributes the success to the teachers.

“We have some of the most phenomenal teachers, and not just in the tested grades,” Clark said. “We have exceptional teachers throughout from PreK to fifth grade.”

The staff also worked on incentivizing the testing. Clark said “you can put a test in front of a kid, but what is (their) incentive to do well? What is this going to do for me in my life?”

Assistant Principal Bobbi Gilley and school Counselor Elizabeth Price have worked to get the students to work hard.

“We’re not just teaching to a test,” Gilley said. “We’re teaching the whole child and building background knowledge where they can walk into a test to hopefully score well on it.”

She commended the teachers who dedicate hours, late into the night preparing for the next day. It’s not just the teachers whose names are on the line teaching the grades being tested, those are crucial, but also those who lay the foundations of education that allow the older grades to build on it.

Another part of good testing is teaching the students how to test.

Clark said, We want them to give their best effort. We want them to make sure they are using all the resources that they can possibly find — going back into the text and find text evidence to make sure it supports the answer they’re choosing.”

Gilley and Clark said that North Coffee is more than just a school. It’s a family of students, parents, teachers and the community.

Raider Academy Principal Angela Sellars said the school has achieved high marks with the state since 2014.

“We’ve been a level five for eight of those years, a level four for one, then back to level five,” she said, referring to the state’s five-point scale that compares test scores.

Sellars said that the school has been working towards getting the rewards school designation for a while.

“We really focus on the entire student, socially, emotionally and academically,” Sellars said.

A counselor provides one-on-one and small groups with students, presents the video Freshman 411 that gives orientation to rising eighth graders to give life skills to help them academically.

Raider Academy is fully inclusive. Students with IEPs (a written document detailing a education plan for those who receive special education and related services) are in classes with general education students.

Sellars said that that section of the school’s scoring was exceptionally high this year, which led to the school receiving the rewards designation.

The school participates in a weekly backpack program, under Michelle Vaugh, that supplies those with economic hardships with food and supplies.

“That seems to be another piece of the puzzle,” she said. “If you don’t get the appropriate nutrition and clothing, it’s hard to focus on academics.”

That along with the school’s general story that provides supplies that they can’t get at home provides support for students to be successful.

During homeroom students with absences can get credit recovery. After school there is a tutoring program to support those who have fallen behind.

Across the state, 400 schools, spanning 98 districts, received the Reward school designation; 12 districts received the Exemplary district designation; and seven districts received the In Need of Improvement designation. The complete list of district and school designations is available on the department‘s accountability webpage.

“I am excited to highlight the Reward Schools and Exemplary Districts across the state for their commitment to ensuring students are growing and learning every day,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “These annual designations are a testament to the hard work our educators and school and district leaders provide to students each and every day across the state.”

Each year, schools and districts are eligible for designations based on their overall performance across indicators that are essential to student success, including how they prepared students to be proficient (achievement), accelerated student learning (growth), encouraged students to attend school regularly (chronically out of school), prepared students for postsecondary success (graduation rate and Ready Graduate), and supported English learners acquiring language skills.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.