THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9408310113
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
The school district paid tribute to its stars Monday at the annual employee convocation.
The assemblies are held to rally the troops and recognize top-performing schools and educators from the previous year. Highland-Biltmore Elementary was this year's big winner.
Highland-Biltmore had the highest overall rating in the district, Superintendent Richard Trumble said before presenting principal Charles H. Bowens III with the $5,000 award.
The money must be used to pay for things such as school-improvement team activities, staff development projects or classroom materials. Bowens was assigned to Highland-Biltmore last year.
Schools primarily were rated on how well their performance had improved on the Outcome Accountability Project - the state's report card for judging school districts and individual schools on such things as student attendance, mastery of basic skills, standardized test scores and the percentage of overage fourth-graders.
Had the district decided to hire a private company to run some of its schools, three of those recognized Monday would have been among the ones targeted: Highland-Biltmore, John Tyler Elementary and Cradock Middle School.
The three schools were recognized because their performance on OAP measurements had improved by 15 points or better.
District administrators recognized Highland-Biltmore's staff because it pushes students to excel despite socioeconomic barriers. Highland-Biltmore's students are some of the city's most disadvantaged.
During the past school year, Highland-Biltmore improved its performance on OAP measurements by more than 30 points, making it one of the most-improved schools, Trumble said.
Other winners:
Most-improved School Award; William E. Waters Middle School; $5,000; principal Michael Spencer has since been assigned to Hunt-Mapp Middle School.
Most-improved Special Center Award; The Diagnostic, Adjustive and Corrective Center for Learning; $1,000; principal Sharon Warren.
Portsmouth Teacher of the Year: Vicki B. Thompson, a fourth-grade teacher at James Hurst Elementary; $1,000 prize. by CNB