001I put it on before the deep blue that that leass Will. and we'll turn it over to you N. >> All right. Well, we're glad to have you guys here with us tonight. We've had a very busy, productive year to this point and uh so we had a lot of things to put together and Miss um Chun who started our digital media class this year has just taken leadership. You all saw the the video that we were able to do at Wayne at the meeting there. Uh so I went to her and I said, "Can you put together like a compilation of things from the year and she said, "I got it." And she's got it. She did a great job. Uh, so we're going to share that with you and then we'll talk about
002some of the data. Um, so I will with that being said, I'm probably going to turn this light off so you can see it a little better, but people see a building on the river. lock it. We are back to you. We have to stay here for a week because the internet is our name. >> It's not the internet. Welcome to the 2026 from prek8 ascent. This is our blueprint for excellence. To understand our journey, you have to understand where we stand. We are nestled in the southern end of Wayne County, West Virginia, a rural coield community where the mountains meet the river and where tradition and school pride runs deep. Here at Turn Creek Academy, but that had no limitation for us. It's our registry. That means every teacher has every student's same family
003story and every child's potential. One of the challenges that we face is a matter of demographics. We are graduating larger classes into high school than we are welcoming into kindergarten. For example, in the 2023 2024 school year, we've sent 35 students on the high school while only 17 new students. >> Sorry. challenges that we face is a matter of demographics. We are graduating larger classes into high school than we are welcoming into kindergarten. For example, in the 2023 2024 school year, we sent 35 students onto high school while only 17 new students entered our doors at the kindergarten level. While that gap narrowed significantly last year, the cumulative effect over the past five years has led to our current enrollment of 199 students. In this corner of the state, the school is more than just
004a place of learning. It is the hub of the community. With 199 Mountaineers, we are small enough to be personal, but through our united mission, we are large enough to lead the state in academic growth and innovation. That's the internet. I'm sorry. This system transforms our building into a cohesive community where the traditional walls between grades disappear. Our older mountaineers naturally step into roles as mentors, guiding the younger students and modeling the leadership we expect from every mountaineer. Every action match point is positive behavior. >> The video just cut down. It's the internet in here. I think >> anyways, it is mentioned by the fact that our school is actually in the top 30% of elementary schools in English language arts. We are actually outperforming the district and state in multiple grades. This chart displays
005the summitive data over the last few years and the data from the benchmark 2. We have yielded proficiency scores above the 50% margin in both reading and math since 2024. The benchmark 2 scores is a good indicator that that trend will continue. Our seventh and eighth graders continue to lead the county and the third through the fifth grade benchmark shows exponential growth. We saw a need in science from our previous summit of assessment and we met it head on with targeted instruction and hands-on activities in the elementary as well as science labs and focused instruction in the middle school. According to the benchmark 2, as you can see, we have already surpassed our scores in science. We are expecting great results from the summit of assessment at the end of the year. In early elementary
006we are tracking proficiency. Many of our students are making these goals now. We are making sure they are proficient by third grade. Growth isn't just about what happens in the grade book. It's about being present and prepared. While we are always striving for perfection, our attended status shows we are moving in the right direction, currently standing at 93.43%. Most importantly, we have successfully lowered our chronic absenteeism rate to 20.10% a significant improvement over the last 5 years. While our discipline data shows a slight increase with 171 total writeups thus far this year, we view this as an opportunity for precision. We are using this data to focus on specific individuals and classes, creating tailored behavior goals to meet them where they are. This targeted approach powered by our PBIS system and the RCA system allows
007us to use rewards and incentives to shift the culture toward the positive. We aren't just managing behavior. We are taking responsibility to volunteer means getting your hands dirty. We have added PGE programs here at CH to help student. Our middle construction program helps students learn precision and then in our engineering program believe that failure is just a drag. Our agriculture program is where our heritage meets our future. It's more than just planting seeds. It's about the sustainability and the science of biology and action. Through this program, we're learning more than the start. We learn about self-reliance in the heart of the next year. isn't just our class. It's our math and science instruction. Our digital media class, which is a slash about this season from Sorry, >> I didn't turn on do not disturb. That
008was mine. >> Rewind that a little bit. I don't know. Skipped. Let me see >> up there. Yeah, that's good. from the family table and the jobs. Being united doesn't just make a house or school chair. It's a promise we make to one another. The promise is that we don't let no one fall behind just because they're facing a hard time. We provide safe space because we understand the truth. You can't feel responsible if you don't feel safe. If you can't do that call, you call your pet chrome. Our backpack program and hygiene stations are what we call our silent props. They're tucked away in restrooms and locker rooms so that if a student needs hygiene or feminine products, they can take them with no questions asked and with their dignity still intact. This is
009our cold child initiative. Through the Bob Lester coats for kids program, we ensure every mountaineer is filled from the winter cold. Our private shadow room offers a fresh start for students who might not have that luxury at home. And through their partnership with Children's Incorporated, individual sponsorships provide the specific clothing and educational tools that bridge the gap between getting by and getting ahead. We are in the business of breaking down barriers, whether those barriers are hunger, hygiene, or lack of resources. We clear the past so students can simply just show up. When we remove the weight of the world on student shoulders, it happens. Our special education department is the core of our mission. But as our school and our students grow, mission become more complex. Sometimes United means recognizing when the team needs more.
010So we're asking for more aids and instructors help maintain our high standards. To ensure that every student can thrive and not just survive, we need to make sure that adults supporting them have the capacity to give their best every single day. We have the data that proves our students can succeed. Now, we need the staff to ensure the success is sustainable for every child in every classroom. When we invest in more hands, we aren't just filling a position. We are fulfilling a promise. We are ensuring that the heart of this building never speaks of need. >> A United doesn't just excel in a chair at a desk. We leave from the court, the field, the track, and the stage. From precision of of archery and robotics to the leadership debate club, we build a culture
011at open ball. Our sports roster is full and our middle school participation rate is 65% of our students participate in at least one sport. If we include extracurricular activities, 83% participate. That's not just a number. It means eight out of 10 students here belong to something bigger than themselves. I know you teaching them, >> but grants must be durable. Our schoolwide sustainability plan is our promise that these opportunities for today. We are building a foundation of funding, coaching, and community support to ensure that these programs last for the mountaineers of tomorrow. We know that no one reaches the summit alone. Our community is the wind in our sales. We owe a huge thank you to many of the community partners who help us throughout the year. Starting points of crumb has been a strong supporter
012of our mission. They have hosted family community events focused on nutrition and literacy. They have held canning and gardening classes, family literacy painting nights, and offer take-home STEM activities for the family. When an emergency hits or a student needs the extra incentive to keep pushing, Bill and Addy Lens at the Dunlow Community Center are the first to answer the call. Their weekly after school and summer programs are a lifeline for many of our students. The West County Community Service Organization is a massive supporter. They provide the very materials that makes many of our project-based learning activities possible. They also provide incentive for end of the year testing. We have many partners in our community who help with projects and support our cause throughout the year. The modern woodsman helped us be able to obtain our
013new playground. Coffee Market, Silver Creek Church, the Hope Puppeteers, Ken Acres, June, the list could go on and on. Thank you for believing that we are worth the investment. Our plan is evolving and making shape with our new sports facilities and like where our youngest learners have the same space to grow physically and mentally. The last few years we met we envision classroom on the river. This outdoor multi-purpose space will serve as an outdoor classroom, hands-on science lab, recreation area, and a quiet retreat for reading and art. Students will take pride and ownership by building projects through our building construction, art, and agriculture programs. With support from the board of education, the community, and school partners, we can make this vision a reality. >> For members, community members, parents, teachers, and staff. Our story is
014on our record. We have a fivestar family because we refuse to let any barriers stay in our way. >> We have a secret. >> We have been recognized by the West Virginia Board of Education as an exemplary practice school 103 in Hall State. We are procreate. We invite you to join our thank you, Miss Chun, for putting that together for us. We appreciate it. She does a really good job. Um, and I apologize for the technical difficulties, but you know, that's part of public school. That just happens sometimes. Um, just a few things to touch back to. Um, the playground. We mentioned the playground. Uh, thank you for the fencing around that. It looks wonderful. We have a swing purchased sitting out back. Um, and we had we were going to get Tulsa's building construction
015to put it up and I it's just it hasn't happened to this point. So, I may be reaching out to u Matt to see if they can help us. It's literally three holes and we'd have a swing. It's been sitting for a month. That will conclude um all the purchases for the playground. That would be finished. And that's a long-term project. You've heard us talking about that for years. I'd like to get that one finished. Um so, going back and just hitting the highlights of the questions uh that you mentioned, you saw that our attendance has improved quite drastically. Actually, our goal is 93%. That's what we put before the kids. and we're at 90 I think it's 93.43 or something like that with our chronic absences going down. Uh the question was how are
016we achieving that and the the way that we're achieving that is through our reward program. Um we've done a reward program for years but one of the things that we looked at as a staff is that we were saying you know um excused absences you know that if you could go on the reward program with no unexcused absences. Well, we had kids that were still missing hordes of days and they would walk in with doctor's excuses or parent notes or whatever. And we said, "No, we're raising the bar." Um because a lost day of instruction is a lost day of instruction. It doesn't matter if you have a piece of paper to justify it or not. So, we raised the bar and we said, "No more than um a couple of days of absence." And
017so, when we first announced that, parents went crazy and they're like, "But my kid was sick." And I understand that. But what we did is we thought, you know, couple of days, if you've got a stomach virus, that gives you time to get over it. You're back out at school. If you have missed more than that, then you need to be in class instruction rather than doing a reward trip for that month. And once you're caught up, you know, you can participate the following month. It pushed our parents, our kids talk about it. I mean, our parents will say, you know, I scheduled my kids orthodontist appointment for 11:00 in the day. And the child will say, no, I can't miss a whole day of school. you've got to rearrange that or you've got to
018reschedule it for a day off. And so our children are pushing their parents to get them to school and it's helped our attendance. So we're real proud of that. Um we did talk about our enrollment numbers. Um we're looking forward to the consolidation. Not that we, you know, I'm I'm very sorry that that has happened for our schools that are being lost, but um we look forward to those new students and we want to welcome them and make them feel at home here. And um so we're we're looking forward to all the transition programs that come with that um and gaining those students as uh classmates as um students of our school. Um proficiency rates, you've seen our data. The one thing that I have to mention is I don't know if you could see
019it in the quick blur that went up, but our benchmark scores for eighth grade English, our eighth grade English kids are in the 80s. What was it? 81%. Um, that's one of the highest English scores that I ever remember in our school. Um, so there are places that, you know, we're we're moving all over the place, but that one was particularly notable. And so I'm very proud of of all the work that our teachers have done with that. Um, discipline rates. We mentioned that our discipline rates are up a little bit, but if you think about it, um, we lost our mental health person this year. And so, we have been bidding that position for some time trying to get it refilled with our title one money. Well, we finally got that filled. I think
020in January, I really attribute some of the discipline issues to that because in this school, um, one of the things I hear me say all the time is, you know, punishment doesn't change kids. Teaching, instruction, support, that changes kids. And that's a practice that we have here. If we have a child that's getting multiple office referrals, we immediately go to support and we look at our inschool mental health and we look at, you know, do they realize what they're doing. So we're using instruction and we're using support to help curb that and we haven't had that this year. So I really think that's been part of it. Um at this point that position has been rifted, but I'm hoping that we'll, you know, with the funds that we have we'll be able to add that
021back next year. Um let's see. Um the supports needed. If you talk about things that we need, one of the things that I would definitely uh say is a a huge need in my estimation are special education. Uh you heard us mention it in the video, but right now we are down to three special ed positions. And um we have kids in the 1% program on the elementary side that will be moving to the middle school side. Now, those numbers, those classes are not generally large. Uh, you're talking about, you know, sometimes four or five kids, but you can't combine the two because of age appropriateness. Now, we already have Miss Allen here who has um the middle school, the entire middle school special education department has rested on her shoulders this year, and she's
022done a fabulous job with them. She is one of the most outstanding special education teachers that I've ever met. Our whole staff is we we have wonderful special ed teachers. there is no way that she can carry the entire weight with those 1% children coming over next year. We have to look at that position. And um I do have the numbers and things. I sent those to you, Mr. Alexander, in an email a while back. I'm not sure that that was under consideration, but that that's a we have to have that for our school to do what we need to do. We have to have that uh position. Um or our middle school is just not going to function the way that it should. And you know, again, Miss Allen has carried the entire weight
023of that whole department on her shoulders this year. And we've tried to supplement. She hasn't even had an instructional aid. We've been pulling gened teachers who have, you know, an open period to support like in um her resource classes and things because she hasn't even had an aid. All of the aids have been in the 1% classroom, the elementary school because there are some really high-end behaviors there. and just a function. We've had to put that support there. Um so we we definitely need you to look at and I would appreciate your time in looking at that. >> How many% students do you have right now? >> Um in that end of the school I think we have I want to say there's five in that classroom. But you have um another one coming from
024Dunlow. We that's what we were told. We have a 1enter coming from Dunlow and we have two that are fifth grade. there that will be coming up. So, we have no less than three coming over. Um, and we're talking about students that have have to be changed and I mean they have a very high level of support need. >> Yeah. So, and I have I have it on paper. It's just got student names on it and I didn't want to throw it up on a screen and I can show that to you. >> Um, but it it's just because of age appropriateness. you can't keep them combined because you're looking at sixth graders in classes with first graders. Um >> I question your need. >> Yeah, I understand. Thank you. Um and we talked about
025facility improvements. We are um hoping to finish with the swing set and get the playground finished. You saw the AI version. That's Miss Chung's version of an outdoor classroom. And that's we're looking at the space behind the school. I I think it's very doable. The rock wall is already there and we were talking about building construction, maybe being able to do some of our benches and um then our VOAG department doing some of the landscaping and the flowers for it. So, I think it's very doable. Um we'll probably have to have some um some of the paving stones and things. Uh but we have talked for years about doing an outdoor classroom to get the kids out. If you talk about health and wellness, one of the things that it says is 30 minutes of
026sunlight a day improves children's health. Um, so we would like to use some of our outdoor space for that. But, um, we're we're working really hard in the climb. You know, I think people are starting to notice we've had a couple of opportunities with the state this year and it at the end I said we have to put that in there. We're really not supposed to talk about it yet because we're not recognized until April. Um, but we're just really excited about it because it's it's been a climb. You know, we've we've put quite a bit of work into it the last few years. The most phenomenal teaching staff here that you could ever ask for. These these folks work day and night and they're seeing not just the kids educational needs, but they're making
027sure that they have, you know, lunch and coats and all of the things that kids need to be successful. And I just am really proud to work with the staff that we have here. You can't can't beat them anywhere. Um, and I just feel like we're making good progress. I'm really proud of all the things that, you know, we've been able to accomplish and I appreciate the support you all have given us. Uh, Mr. Alexander and I took a trip to Fairmont last week and I I guess somebody said I was sucking up. I don't know. I didn't feel like I was, but one of the questions was um about educational leadership and I said that, you know, Mr. Alexander has done an excellent job I feel like for our school as an educational leader.
028He gives us um you know quality information as principles and then if I have a need I can always go to him. He's been very responsive and so I I do appreciate all the work that you've done because you've been in this with us. I mean this battle that we've been in trying to get everybody where we wanted them to be. I've called him and I've said I've got this need for you know the football field or whatever and he's been very helpful with that and I do appreciate that. >> Um appreciate all of you. >> Well >> I know Okay. >> But we do appreciate all of you and and all of the support that you give us. Um because you know, we have a goal here to educate children and um you know,
029we're going to keep keep working toward that, aren't we, guys? So, thank you for the support that you all have given us. And do you have any questions? >> How many do you actually have enrollment now? >> We have 199 students. We've got one that's supposed to have been here today to enroll because of that. This was a child that was on homeschool that has let us the parent has called and said that she intends to enroll. I think the weather kept them out today. Um so about 200 when all said and done >> has homeschooled in Ky. >> We've lost a few kids. I mean it hasn't been a huge number but we've lost a few kids to homeschool. I don't think it's it's nearly as high as some of the other schools in
030the county. Um but we have lost a few. >> Yeah, >> Miss Nome mentioned that we were in Fairmont last week. The uh state held a training for principles across the state of West Virginia and trying to improve academic performance in the state and uh the state had reached out to me and asked about Nona coming up and presenting. So she appeared on a panel with three other principles I think it was. um from some of the highest achieving schools in this state and she represented Wayne County very well. I'm a little bit biased, but I thought you were the best. And um the uh a few other stats I want to mention, she did show the recognition from the Department of Education. I brought that up in the board meeting, but I told them
031I'm not allowed to tell them until April >> because it's not allowed to hit the media until they put it in the meeting. But um the school is going to be recognized for our comments here. Um I was looking again at some data and um not the folks don't know this but um two years ago uh this school was number one in the state of West Virginia >> for the performance of low socioeconomic students. Yes. >> The highest academic achievement here. >> Um last year uh that number was at number four. in the state of West Virginia. >> Um the grades six through eight uh ranks in the top 10 in middle schools in the state of West Virginia in overall academic performance and the elementary grades have made tremendous strides uh since when the
032fir the school first opened and are now in the conversation for one of the better elementary grade level schools in the in the district. So what we see here is an extreme focus on everybody's part and what you see is instructional leadership from everybody from every classroom from every person involved. Non has done a tremendous job. The state recognizes it. So they're going to use her to get that message out to other principles. And the school this school is is one of the best in the state. When I say one of the best in the state, I'm talking if you name the top 10 schools in the state at any level, they're going to be in the discussion. So, we are extremely proud of the school and all the hard work from the people here.
033>> That's that's it. When you mention my name, listen, I I work in an office. These folks are the ones that are working with our kids daily and that's where the credit goes because it our staff is just phenomenal. One of the things that we talked about when you're a prek8, and I love the preK8 configuration. If you're thinking about that for other schools in the county, I highly recommend it because the thing is we get to raise babies. We take them in as preK students. We get to teach them the essential 55 and all the things that we want them to know as well-rounded human beings. So, it's really a a a great model, I think. Um but um I lost my train of thought there. I got sidetracked. Um but um I I
034really like that configuration for teaching students. Our teachers do a wonderful job with it. And you had mentioned in the notes too and I think I skipped that. You talked about collaboration and that's you and I had talked about that in you know like our our blueprint that we mentioned. Um collaboration here is huge. That's one of the the biggest things that's gotten us where where we are. Um you've got Miss Gerald and Miss Jude and what they've done with our math program. I mean, we're we're talking CSI just a handful of years ago and um they've moved us to the top of the county with the things that they're doing together and it's both of them. They are both phenomenal teachers and they're both working hard and so that collaborative effort on their part
035and we modeled that in the elementary school with the addition of that intervention position for third grade. We've been able to move um our elementary school into a similar situation and our scores are coming up there. We've got um Miss Allen, although you know her plate is full, but we did maintain one period a day of co-e because it's been very valuable. The the teamwork that she and Miss Doss have done with ELA is phenomenal. But if you look at our ELA scores from third grade all the way through 8th, it you just you won't see that. And the thing is, we talk about, you know, fighting fires. In leadership, you're always fighting fires. And with that many grades, we've got 10 grades under one roof. if we ran over here and we put our
036math scores go up, but what happens to the English? So, we had to find a way to evenly focus on all, you know, science and math and and English and everybody, our prek kids. How do we do that? And so, we've put our our blueprint and our sustainability plan in place so that we can provide support and focus for everybody. Um, you have our intervention folks. These girls do a wonderful job with intervention. They're working with babies. We had I got to tell you this story. We had a little boy that came in the back door the first day of school and he came down the hallway and the duty folks were like, "Is he prek?" And I said, "I I haven't seen him before. I don't know." And so we go and we start
037talking to him and we said, "Baby, what's your name?" And he said, "Chunky." And I said, "Yeah, but what's your real name?" chunky but he was two weeks in before he knew that his name was Calvin. And so Miss Murphy pulled him immediately and started working with him and um he he just didn't have, you know, a lot of those skills coming into kindergarten and and intervention jumped in there and the next thing you know he's doing just amazingly well. Yeah. He has a name now and it's not chunky but >> he's green now. >> Yeah, he's green. So, so you see what what that does and that's, you know, that's all part of our collaborative piece. Um, we've got Miss Gracie with us tonight. Her mother is a veteran teacher in the county and
038she's been doing her her student teaching with that class with kindergarten and she is >> I I she's a rising star. Keep your eye on her. You're going to see her doing great things. She was a great student here and I I look forward to seeing what she accomplishes. as the rest of us old folks are getting ready to go out to pasture. It's great to know that we've got folks like her coming coming up. Um but we we appreciate you guys tonight. Get you something to eat before you head down the road. And um if there's any questions that you have, I have a lot of data here in front of me. I'd be glad to answer anything that you have, but we appreciate you coming up. >> All I can say is I
039appreciate all your hard work. >> Thank you. >> Will tell you when we go to many different places, what do I tell everybody? We have the best teachers in the state >> and I truly believe that. >> Absolutely. >> And you all are an example. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry. For sure. >> Yeah. Please pass along our appreciation to the rest of the set. >> I told them I said if you want to hear, you know, hear people talk about your work, you need to show up tonight. So the invitation was there, was it? They missed it. >> I think it was the weather though, honestly. I think a lot of folks were a little hesitant about driving home later in the weather. So, >> but this was just an uplifting meeting. Great. This
040is really nice. >> We're in that coach. >> We hear good things that they're on the rise, too. So, you might be pleasantly surprised both. Yeah, >> we have a lot of investment in that school. >> We have our kids down there are traveling down there. So, we're we're very invested in their success as well. >> Thank you all very much. Okay, Mark and Randy, I'll call you back when we get the call. >> I'm very visual. I have to see the picture. >> How's your daughter doing? >> She's doing good. She's down at the state tournament. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah, they were they were playing right after Wayne's game. >> Yeah, she's down there. >> She She should be on the way home. >> So, special education classroom. We don't get