From The Principal's Desk
August, 2008
It is hard to believe that a new school year is rapidly approaching. As we begin the new year I'd like to congratulate our students and staff on a very successful 2007-2008 school year. Hogansville Elementary made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the sixth year in a row. This makes six years in which we have made significant progress in our student achievement scores and our attendance. With this accomplishment comes the distinction of being recognized as a Title I Distinguished School, a distinction we have now enjoyed for the last four years.
Our goals this year essentially remain the same as the last few years. We want to produce the very best students for middle school that we can; students that are ready academically, socially, mentally and physically to accept the challenges that the middle school will provide. Ultimately, we want our children to graduate, go to college and/or participate in some other learning that further prepares them for the workplace. As you will see on the CRCT Progress Charts, our students continue to do well in reading and our 5th grade students showed incredible progress on their writing test. You will also note that our math scores were not that good in 3rd-5th grade. The math curriculum changed last year and was definitely more difficult for our students. A few years ago we saw the same outcome when the reading curriculum changed. However, we now have 88% of our students passing the CRCT reading test in grades 1-5. I have no doubt that we will see the same positive outcome in math shortly. We have already been looking at the results to see what needs to focus on and what we need to do to meet the students' needs. This year our main focus areas will be reading comprehension, math and writing.
As always we are deeply committed to providing all students an environment in which they can feel safe, supported, challenged and successful. If you have any ideas to share that will help us achieve this, please share them with us or our PTO. We want to hear your concerns and are open to your suggestions. We are counting on you to help us help your child enjoy school and achieve success.
You have much to be proud of at Hogansville Elementary...students that enjoy learning, teachers committed to your students, a safe learning environment, and high academic and personal standards for students, adequate yearly progress for six straight years and recognition as a Title I Distinguished School for the past four years. The learning bar has been raised high and the challenge is to continue preparing, working, and striving for excellence. With good preparation and good old fashioned hard work I am confident that your child will succeed this year. So, what are you waiting for? Come catch the W.A.V.E. and join us as we begin another exciting year!
In your service,
Bret Bryant, Principal
Work Ethic Attitude Vision Excellence