By Katelin Carroll
Staff Reporter 

Lewis County Schools designated as "Exemplary" for 2021-2022

LCMS named a Reward School

 

September 15, 2022

This graph shows the weighted criteria and percentages.

Lewis County Schools are on the up and up! The Tennessee Department of Education announced this year's school designations earned for each school district's performance and improvement for the 2021-2022 school year. Out of a total 92 school districts statewide, Lewis County Schools were designated Exemplary. Out of 427 schools statewide, Lewis County Middle School was deemed a Reward School!

"Of course, I wasn't here for the previous academic year but I can say that the dedication I've seen from our teachers and staff is amazing," said Lewis County Director of Schools Dr. Tracy McAbee. "I'm so proud of their success and to be a part of this school system."

The Department of Education designates all school districts in the state into five possible categories: Exemplary, Advancing, Satisfactory, Marginal and In Need of Improvement. The designations are determined by six measurable performance indicators, which are three grade success rates from third to twelfth grades, graduation rates, chronic absenteeism scores and English Language scores.


Similarly, individual schools are recognized as Reward Schools based off of four designated criteria such as TCAP assessments and their growth over time, chronic absenteeism and the English Language Proficiency Assessment.

Newly hired Lewis County Middle School Principal Adam Clark said he was incredibly proud of his teachers and staff, "I inherited a great school system. All the teachers and staff members work very hard to have good relationships with the students and to have good test scores. We owe a lot to our instructional coaches, Amanda Pennington and Tara Tiller, who work with our teachers to make sure their needs are met."

LCMS Assistant Principal Renee Thompson, who worked alongside previous Principal Brandi Feichtinger, teachers and staff members during the 2021-2022 academic year, said the teachers, staff and instructional coaches all worked together as a team to achieve their success.

"We all work very well together. If anyone needs help, then there are people who will come alongside them," said Thompson. "Last year we really became data driven and the teachers adapted their strategies according to the data and their students' needs."

Thompson explained that their largest focus area was on different literary strategies such as working in different vocabulary across all subjects, even into math classes. They also adopted an IXL and Reading Counts program.

"With the Reading Counts program, we partnered with local businesses to provide additional incentives for kids to read," said Thompson.

The incentives were given out based on prize levels of how much the kids read during a given time frame. Some of the prizes were things like bookmarks and gift certificates to local businesses. Mrs. Thompson said that the student council even donated a Chromebook for the student who read the most during the school year. The school ended up partnering with the student council to match the offer, giving the first and second place winners a Chromebook.

"We're so proud of our teachers, instructional coaches, staff and our students for all the hard work they've put in," said Mrs. Thompson.

 

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