The mission statement of Roanoke City Schools is: "Roanoke…Together… Educating with Excellence, Challenging for Success, Inspiring Learners for Life." This statement of intent is the challenge that our staff, students and community are meeting each day and the reason we have such an outstanding system.
Throughout the system we are implementing our "Tool for Life" initiative. It is the goal of this project that every student and teacher will have access to a laptop at all times. This 1-1 environment along with the sustained professional development of our educators is making our district a model of a 21st Century school system. Our school board is dedicated to giving our teachers and students every opportunity to be successful.
Please look below as we spotlight some of the "good things" that are happening in our schools.
Knight-Enloe Elementary (grades K-3)
Dr. Kim Hendon has begun her 3rd year as the principal at Knight- Enloe. Thanks to her work and the outstanding staff at KES it is an exciting time to be a student. We are starting our 8th year with the Universal Literacy (UL) reading program. Because of the work of our staff, students, and parents in conjunction with this outstanding curriculum, our students continue to score higher than the state average on yearly assessments. For example, 92% of our students in the 3rd grade either met or exceeded the Alabama Reading & Math Test standards.
Our students have access to laptop computers and the campus is a wireless environment. In addition to the seven rolling labs we have at KES, we plan to add "I-touch" labs during the 2010-11 school year. Our staff realizes the importance of using technology as a learning tool for our students.
During the 2009-10 we implemented a music program at KES. Each grade level had a nine week music class that culminated with the students performing for the community at the beautiful auditorium on the campus at Handley High School. We will not only continue our music program, but will be looking to expand this program.
Handley Middle School (grades 4-8)
Ms. Linda Crim will begin her first year as principal at Handley Middle School (HMS) during the 2010-11 school year. Ms. Crim had been the assistant principal at Handley High School for five years. She is a respected administrator in our community and will be an asset to HMS. You will see the theme, "We Set the Standard" throughout the building. This theme is shared by the staff and students at HMS. This positive attitude is a major reason that HMS continues to perform well on state wide assessments.
HMS also continues to make great strides in implementing our "Tool for Life" initiative. Each grade level is equipped with at least one rolling computer lab that contains 30 wireless computers. We have a total of 14 wireless labs spread throughout the building. This year our students will have access to Classworks, which is research based computer software program that will give our student added assistance meeting all math and reading objectives.
In addition to academics we offer athletics, band, drama, choral and art opportunities to our students. Our choral students perform at least two shows for the community during the year. The staff at HMS is always looking for ways to showcase the talents of its students. Handley Middle School "Sets the Standard."
Handley High School (grades 9-12)
Mr. Greg Foster will take over as principal starting with the 2010-11 school year. Mr. Foster has spent the last six years as principal at Handley Middle School. Mr. Foster is known for his enthusiastic attitude and for being an administrator who always puts the needs of his students first. We are very excited about the future of HHS under the leadership of Mr. Greg Foster.
Handley High school students excel in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. The Class of 2010 earned over $1,000,000 in scholarships and 100% of the class received their diplomas. These are just two examples of academic accomplishments at HHS.
Students at HHS are offered an array of electives from which to choose such as dance, chorus, drama, art, community studies, forensics, etc. In addition to these classes that are taught by staff at HHS our students have an almost endless list of electives that can be taken through ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide).
HHS is the first school to successfully meet our "Tool for Life" objective of having a 1-1 (student-laptop) environment. The successful completion of this goal and the sustained professional development of the HHS staff are two of the reasons these are exciting times at HHS.
HHS has one of the best athletic programs in the area. During the 2009-10 school year our football team finished with a 13-1 record and advanced to the state-semi finals for the second straight year. In addition to our outstanding football season, our girls and boys varsity basketball, baseball and girl's softball team all advanced to the state playoffs. Our girl's softball team won the first area fast pitch championship in school history.
It's a Great Time to Be a Handley Tiger!!!!
Roanoke City Schools
The success of our school system would not be possible without the continual support we receive from the Roanoke community. The citizens of Roanoke take enormous pride in their schools. This pride is evident in the excellent facilities throughout the system, the support given for academic initiatives and extracurricular activities, and parental involvement at all schools. The students of Roanoke City Schools are indeed fortunate!
The items listed above are just a few of the innovative and impressive initiatives that are taking place in Roanoke City Schools. The City of Roanoke expects and demands that we provide a quality education in a safe environment. This is a challenge that all employees accept and meet each day.
If you would like more information about Roanoke City Schools, please contact me at 334-863-2628 or come by the central office located at 557 Main Street, Roanoke, Alabama.
