Valdosta City Schools

IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!

• New Vision, Mission, Beliefs, and Strategic Goals for Valdosta City Schools • New technology in our schools with over 300 Promethean Boards installed in the last 2 years • New facilities—WGN opened a new PK-5 school this past year and we renovated the old SL Mason media center into a Teaching and Learning Training Center • New Assistant Superintendent, Alvin Hudson, and new Director of Special Education, Laura Lucas • Last but not least, New coaching staff for the Wildcats • Enrollment is the highest it has been in 10 years, with over 7500 students enrolled in Valdosta City Schools • Excellence continues with 3 schools being named Title I Schools of Distinction • CRCT Reading scores are on the rise o All students improved 4% in Grade 3 o 6% in Grades 5 and 8 o Students with Disabilities improved 20% in Grade 3, 9% in Grade 5, and an incredible 30% in Grade 8 • CRCT ELA scores show gains o All students improved 7% in Grades 1 and 6 o SWD improved 24% in Grade 5, 18% in Grade 6, and 21% in Grade 8 • Math scores have improved exponentially o All students improved 5% in Grades 1 and 2 o Grade 3 improved 6% o Grades 4, 5, and 6 improved an amazing 10% in each grade o The largest gains go to Grade 8—scores improved 11% in one year! • Math scores for Students with Disabilities are even more impressive o Gains on CRCT Math were noted in almost every grade  Scores improved 6% in Grades 2 & 3  Grade 4 improved 13%  Grade 5 scores resulted in a 24% increase  Grade 6 improved 5%  Grade 8 CRCT Math scores improved 9% • Achievement gap for Students with Disabilities continues to narrow o CRCT Reading – decreased the achievement gap by half in Grades 3 and 8 o CRCT ELA – closing the achievement gap in Grades 4, 5, 7, and 8 o CRCT Math – narrowed the achievement gap in Grade 5 by 12 points • Increases in writing scores were astounding--Grade 8 Writing Assessment scores improved 16 points across the district • Increases on the Georgia High School Writing Test resulted in system-wide gains of 6% • Increases in Highly Qualified status for teachers is at 98.2% and 100% for paraprofessionals • Increases in co-taught classrooms continued in 2010, with 117 classrooms K-12 • Growing Valdosta Early College Academy to include Grades 6, 7, and 8 next school year—targeting almost 100 students at-risk of dropping out or not attending college • Growing Pinevale Learning Center from an alternative school program to a fully functioning school to better meet the needs of our students • AP Enrollment is on the rise—for the 2010-11 school year, over 370 students are scheduled for at least one of the 12 AP classes being offered at VHS—this is an increase of 87% more students than last year • International Baccalaureate Programme has 232 students enrolled in pre-IB and IB classes for the 2010-11 school year • Graduation rate for Valdosta City Schools has increased 20% since 2003 – Seventy-two percent of all students graduated in May 2010 • Graduation rate for SWD improved 12% over last year • Achievement gap between minority and white students for Graduation Rate has been cut in half over the last 3 years from 34 to 16 points • GLISI training for 25 system and school leaders over the past 2 years and Rising Stars for new and aspiring leaders http://www.gocats.org/