THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996             TAG: 9608290401
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   58 lines

NICHOLS: NORFOLK SCHOOLS ARE IMPROVING, BUT MORE IS NEEDED

Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. praises teachers for the ``fabulous job'' they did last school year: Test scores and attendance were up, and dropouts and discipline violations were down.

But in his ``state of the schools'' address, airing on local cable access Channel 47 beginning today, Nichols calls for a ``transformation,'' asking teachers to ``add great value to our city's children.''

Nichols said the school system has ``improved incrementally in a world that is changing exponentially.''

Acknowledging the challenges teachers face to meet the needs of the city's urban students - more than 60 percent come from families below the federal poverty line, he said - Nichols drew an analogy to athletes who overcame obstacles to compete in the recent Olympic games.

He evoked British statesman Winston Churchill and American inventor George Washington Carver as models.

``I think we really have to transform ourselves and what we do so that we can help children meet the challenges of tomorrow,'' Nichols said. ``You're going to have to believe in your kids, you're going to have to believe in your own abilities.''

In his 20-minute speech, Nichols explained the district's new reading initiative, including plans to retain third-graders not reading at grade level by the end of the year.

``We're going to have to maintain our standards,'' Nichols said. ``We're going to have to say, `Listen, if you're not an independent reader, you need more time.' We can't just pass them on.''

The reading initiative is linked to the School Board's No. 1 goal, Nichols said, ensuring ``extraordinary academic achievement'' for all students through an ``intense focus'' on reading and writing.

``Everything you do in the schools should be done with the promotion of literacy in mind,'' Nichols said. ``We've got to develop intervention strategies and use them early to prevent failure.''

Nichols said another key goal is to create opportunities for parents and other community members to volunteer their time to help students become proficient readers. Also, he said, the goal is to make every school ``an inviting place, where students are well-behaved (and) teachers are energetic and nurturing.''

Nichols gave teachers a pat on the back for past accomplishments, including encouraging kids to take more rigorous courses and improving reading and math scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, a national standardized test. He also said one gun was found on school grounds, a marked improvement compared to the 31 guns confiscated five years ago.

``That makes our schools some of the safest places that these students can go, anyplace in the community,'' Nichols said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

``Everything you do in the schools should be done with the promotion

of literacy in mind,'' schools Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr.

said.

KEYWORDS: NORFOLK PUBLIC SCHOOLS READING by CNB