DeKalb West Named “Reward School” by State Department of Education

September 19, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb West School has earned the distinction of being a “Reward School” for high levels of performance and or improvement under Tennessee’s school accountability system.

The Tennessee Department of Education last week announced the schools and district designations for 2021-22.

“The Reward school status for DeKalb West School is a credit to the students as well as the faculty and staff for the work they have done. They have met and gone above the standards the state has set forth. They have worked hard and done a really good job,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

Schools are recognized as a Reward school when they demonstrate high levels of performance and/or improvement by meeting their annual measurable objectives across performance indicators and student groups, and the Reward school distinction places significant emphasis on improvement from the prior school year. From the 2020-21 TCAP administration, a significant number of schools saw improvement and increased participation in this year’s assessments to qualify for the distinction.

Northside Elementary School was identified by the state department as a Focus or “Targeted Support and Improvement” School, a designation for schools with overall accountability scores in the bottom five percent statewide for the performance of a given student group.

“To make improvements at Northside Elementary and across the district, basically what we have to do, and we have already started this process, is look at our test data and the areas of concern and then put in place a plan to meet the needs,” said Director Cripps. “We all have to be on a consistent plan district-wide because needs will not just go away when students leave Northside and transfer over to the middle school and later the high school so we must have a universal plan in place,” Cripps continued.

“It is a constant adjustment. We use data from where kids test three times a year to see where they are progressing and where we need to give additional support. We have All Core tutoring that we will start in schools to give math and literacy support. We have a team in place as part of the (textbook selection) committee to choose the right instructional materials and they will be trained to make sure that the materials selected will meet our needs. Other professional development will also be part of the plan for our teachers so that we can better support our students to get them to the level where they need to be,” added Director Cripps.

The DeKalb County School District as a whole earned “Satisfactory” status. Districts designated as Satisfactory received an overall score equal to or greater than 1.1 but less than 2.1.

Each year, schools are eligible for four types of designation by the Tennessee Department of Education based on their overall performance across indicators that are considered essential to student success, including how the school 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.

Based on their performance and or demonstration of improvement on the same set of school benchmarks, Districts can earn Exemplary, Advancing, Marginal, or In Need of Improvement designations by the state.

Director Cripps said he believes the state should take other test data into consideration before making school and district designations for the year and not just base them on one TCAP test taken by students on one day.

“It shouldn’t be on one test done over the course of a school year. If you are going to judge somebody (student) do it more than just one time because everybody has a bad day. We don’t know what goes on the night before (a test) in a kid’s life. If we could get some flexibility that would be great. I think it’s unfair to our teachers and our students to put them in a box based on one day of testing,” said Director Cripps.

September 18, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

How would you like to have a member of the Addams family join your family?

Meet Pugsley! The WJLE/DeKalb Animal Shelter featured “Pet of the Week”

Pugsley is part of the Addams family litter of kittens at the shelter and they all need a good home

“We call Pugsley our shoulder cat,” said shelter director Emmaly Bennett. “This baby wants to ride on your shoulder or be in your lap anytime you’re holding him. He is super sweet. He is part of the Addams family litter and there are many more cute babies in that litter that need a home as well. Pugsley is about three months old. He will be neutered and up to date on vaccinations, de- wormed, micro-chipped, and have flea prevention before adoption. His adoption fee is only $40,” added Bennett.

“Visit our website at https://www.dekalbanimalsheltertn.com/ to see his picture, fill out an adoption application for Pugsley and we will call you to come in and meet him,” said Bennett.

The shelter is open Monday-Friday from 8 to 4 and Saturday from 8 to 12.

Meanwhile the third annual Hogs for Dogs and Cats Too Poker Run will be Saturday, September 24 sponsored by the Friends of the DeKalb Animal Shelter. The rain date is October 1.

The day’s events will start at the DeKalb Animal Shelter at 186 Transfer Station Road, Smithville. The ride begins at 9 a.m. with registration and an Open House of the Shelter. Kick Stands up at 10 a.m. There will also be a pet adoption event September 21-28 during which all cats at the shelter can be adopted for $40 each or $80 each for dogs.

“You can bring your motorcycle, car, truck, van or whatever you want to ride in. The cost is $20 per registered rider which includes a $5.00 food discount voucher for lunch at Twisted Oaks. The ride ends at around 12 noon at Twisted Oaks and a silent auction will be held there from 12 noon until 2 p.m. and we will have T-shirt sales,” said Friends of spokesperson Cathy Bader.

“We will serve breakfast sandwiches and coffee while you take a tour of the shelter and see the adoptable animals. This will bring more people out to the shelter to see how we operate. If you have never been to the shelter this will be a great opportunity to come by,” said Shelter Director Emmaly Bennett.

The event is open to all!

All proceeds will go to the Friends of the DeKalb Animal Shelter, a non-profit organization.

September 18, 2022
By: Bill Conger

The DeKalb West School Bulldogs were left off their chain so to speak on Friday (September 16). Students laced up their running shoes for the “Run for the Dogs” school fundraiser.

“Our “Run for the Dogs” event was amazing!” PTO President Shelly Barnes said. “The students were excited, the staff was supportive, families volunteered and were helpful, and the weather was perfect. With any event, it takes all hands on deck for a successful outcome. We are grateful that everyone involved stepped up to make this event a huge success. The event exceeded our expectations.”

The last fun run was held in 2019 due to pandemic restrictions the previous two years, and Barnes says people were excited for the event’s return.

“Parental involvement was spectacular,” Barnes says. “It was fun seeing families cheer their student on or run together. Parental involvement is key in building an effective parent teacher organization. We are thankful that we have families engaged at our school and are willing to show up and show out for our students.”

Students were given lanyards with tally cards to keep up with the number of laps they run.

“Students are motivated to achieve a personal goal. At the end of the event, students receive a small prize and an ice pop. The students that raise the most money in each grade band, and the student with the most money raised overall wins a grand prize.

The grand prize winner was second grader Sydney Turner. In the PreK-1st division the top fundraiser was Maddox Walter, in 2nd-3rd—Eden Donnell, Rebekah Goss in 4th-6th, and Timothy Goss, 7th-8th.

“Run for the Dogs” was sponsored by Liberty State Bank, Prichard’s Foods, and Luke Prichard Excavating.

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