Board reviews primary school delivery targets, OKs 2016-17 calendar

The Bardstown Board of Education met Tuesday, Feb. 16. From left, board chairman Andy Stone; Superintendent Brent Holsclaw; district treasurer Tracey Rogers; board members Jennifer Shrewsberry; Jim Roby; Franklin Hibbs III and Kathy Reed.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, 11:40 p.m. — The Bardstown City Schools board of education heard details Tuesday of the Bardstown Primary School’s delivery targets and objectives for the 2015-16 school year.

Bardstown Primary School principal Michelle Ryan reviews the 2015-2016 delivery targets at Tuesday’s meeting of the Bardstown board of education.

School principal Michelle Ryan said the school’s emphasis is on reading and math in preparing its kindergarten, first and second-grade students to enter elementary school.

“We’re working on making learning fun, and we want kids to want to come to school,” she said. “That’s half the battle.”

The school is using data to drive its decisions through the use of assessments to help identify students who need help meeting educational standards, she said. Using the data, teachers work together to determine how they will re-teach those who need additional instruction.

Former Bardstown Elementary School teacher Amy Kellem has been added as a math intervention teacher at the primary school, Ryan said. Kellem works with students individually and in small groups. She also is working with teachers to help them incorporate her math intervention strategies in the classroom.

Ryan detailed how the school  has reading intervention teachers to assist those who need additional work building their reading skills.

The school is using a technique called “power teaching,” a procedure-based method that incorporates movement with the content. The movement helps students remember what they learn, and it is very popular with both students and teachers, she said.

Josh Payne, director of the high school’s youth service center, told the board about a program he has developed called “Boys to Men” aimed at at-risk youth.

BOYS TO MEN. Josh Payne, director of the high school youth service center, told the board about an mentoring program he has developed called Boys To Men. The program is designed to help students capitalize on the potential for positive growth and direct them toward successful and productive lives.

The program is geared toward junior and seniors, with emphasis on at-risk African-American males, Payne said.

The program meets monthly and covers a wide range of topics and getting youth connected to their community, including ringing bells for the Salvation Army and assisting with Habitat for Humanity. The group brings in members of the community who share their stories with students.

The skills students learn in the program all help build confidence in themselves and a positive outlook for their own future, Payne said.

SCHOOL CALENDAR. The board approved the 2016-17 school district calendar that sets the first day of school as Aug. 2, 2016. The last day of class for students is June 2, 2017. The calendar includes 10 potential snow makeup days.

Board chairman Andy Stone reviews the board meeting documents prior to the start of Tuesday’s meeting.

Fall break will be the first two weeks of October, and spring break will be the first two weeks in April.

Due to this being a presidential election year, the district schools will be closed on Election Day, Nov. 8.

In other business, the board:

— approved a School Facilities Construction Commission (SFCC) offer of assistance totaling $12,072. The money is used for payment of bonds for priority construction or renovation projects, and must be applied toward a project on the district’s facility plan.

The money is used to pay on the debt service for a project. Over a 20-year-term, the SFCC assistance would help pay construction or renovation debt totaling $241,000.

— approved closing out the Bardstown High School roofing project. The total cost of the project was $925,000

— approved compliance assurances in order to receive funding for the district’s family resource and youth service centers.

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