FAYETTEVILLE — The Lincoln School District pulled out all the stops to get more than 250 parents, students and residents out to hear its annual report with an emphasis on district achievements.
Superintendent Frank Holman praised the school for its outstanding agriculture program, athletic accomplishments, progress on student test scores, incentive-based teacher training programs and more.
All school districts are required to provide an annual report with basic information on Benchmark test scores, an update on progress in complying with the federal program No Child Left Behind, and other information about district programs and academic performance.
Many school districts simply include this report in their regular monthly school board meetings. Some hold special meetings to present the report or prepare a written report for distribution. Lincoln took it a step further this year.
Holman said board members realized last year that the annual report was being presented to the same people who attended its monthly board meetings. They decided to take steps to get the report out to more people this year.
The school provided a free meal to everyone who attended and provided free child care to make the meeting convenient for parents and to encourage greater participation. Schools officials exceeded their goal of getting more than 200 to attend.
The school also made its PowerPoint presentation of the report available in a handout and on the school's Web site. The report includes the district's accomplishments, prioritized items, goals, mission statement, master plan and more.
School Board President Earl Hunton praised the district staff for doing a great job teaching the students.
"We've got the best teachers in the state," Hunton said.
Holman praised the school's agriculture program for being recognized by FFA as the state's "outstanding agriculture program."
Three of the school's FFA teams will be representing the state this year at the national competition. Mike Norton, a 2009 graduate of Lincoln High School, was selected to serve as the president of the state FFA organization.
The senior high girls' basketball team was recognized for winning a conference co-championship and winning both the district and regional basketball tournaments. Coach Deon Burkes said in an interview that the last time the Lincoln senior girls' team won a conference championship was in 1984, when Holman coached the team.
The seventh-grade football team was recognized for its undefeated season last year.
School officials touted their academic achievements and improvements in test scores. Some of these accomplishments:
◊Student achievement scores were up in all areas except for one grade, which remained flat.
◊Middle school was designated by the state as high performing.
◊Student ACT scores for 2009 met or exceeded state average scores in all areas, including math, literacy and science.
◊Teacher Advancement Program participation in kindergarten through 12th grade, making it one of only two districts in the nation to do so.
News, Pages 3 on 09/22/2009