DAPHNE, Ala.— SEEDS—Supporting Educational Enrichment in Daphne’s Schools—board members, school officials from the six participating schools, interested parents and others gathered at Daphne High’s Trojan Hall Tuesday to discuss the state of Daphne schools.

Presentations on progress the schools are making and challenges the schools are facing were given by representatives of the six schools, including Jan Palmer, Daphne Elementary principal; Tommie Conaway, Daphne East Elementary principal; Dana Horst, W.J. Carroll Intermediate principal; Lisa McDuff, Christ the King Catholic counselor; Dr. Jeanne Fox, Daphne Middle assistant principal; and Don Blanchard, Daphne High principal.

One focal point was how board members, educators and parents can work together to help each Daphne child succeed.

Attendees gathered in focus groups to brainstorm ideas of meeting this challenge.

Some of their responses included: motivate community members, parents and students to do their part; institute work force development and vocational training for non-college bound students; focus on math; mentoring; and pre-kindegarten education.

Schools’ progress

Palmer highlighted Daphne Elementary’s involvement in the Alabama Reading Initiative launched in 1998.

“It’s all kindergartners to third grade,” Palmer said.

The initiative is a 90-minute reading block where students sharpen their reading skills. Teachers train for it over the summer, along with five days of training during the school year.

“I feel like because of the (initiative) and the focus the teachers have had in the classroom, our students scored 98 percent proficiency,” Palmer said, referring to the students’ high marks on standardized reading tests.

Conaway championed Daphne East’s professional learning communities, which include shared learning, collaboration and results among teachers.

“The teachers work collaboratively together,” Conaway said. “We’re excited about the PLC in Baldwin County.”

Blanchard conveyed the importance of professional learning communities at Daphne High.

He feels the teachers’ collaborative efforts have greatly impacted the rise in students’ test scores and decrease in failures.

“The number of failures at the end of the quarter compared to last year has dramatically decreased,” Blanchard said.

Fox talked about Daphne Middle’s common assessments, which allow for teachers to work together in reaching a student who may be having trouble with their studies.

She also shared about ‘Trojan Times’—a remedial intervention program that targets underperforming students—and ‘Homework Cafe,’ where certain tables are designated during lunch as work tables and students can receive one-on-one tutoring from teachers while they eat.

Horst remarked about the benefits of being in a new facility—W.J. Carroll, the former Daphne Elementary South, opened its new school in August—and how the environment can positively impact the students’ productivity.

A new school provides space, which increases morale, Horst said.

“A nice environment that is conducive to learning is a plus,” she said.

McDuff discussed Christ the King’s new language lab, which includes an interactive system and a Promethean board, which resembles a chalkboard-sized computer screen and enhances the teacher’s lesson plan by allowing for electronic materials to be accessed and included in the discussion.

“Our kids love it,” McDuff said. “It makes the children so excited.”

Schools’ challenges

“Our challenge is the learning level that students are coming to us with,” Palmer said. “It’s more difficult when children are not getting the learning they need before kindergarten.”

Palmer suggested the creation of a preschool program that would prepare children for kindergarten.

"We have a little interview that we do with kidnergarten students coming into kindergarten at pre-registration and it's looking at the alphabet, some of the numbers they already know… directional terms… those kind of things.. it's looking at colors… those kind of things make it a little more easy for the child to be successful in kindergarten if some of these things are already known prior to coming to the kindergarten," Palmer said.

Conaway said the biggest challenge at Daphne East is overcrowded classrooms.

“The teachers are doing an excellent job but it’s difficult to work with so many students in each classroom,” she said.

“We could use volunteers to handle the large numbers of students in the upper grades. We were averaging 33 students in a class but now it’s down to 29 or 30.”

Horst cited the discrepancy between the state’s reading and math scores and said more needs to be done to level both.

“We have started to push math more, but we need the funds,” Horst said. “Alabama is still spending a lot more on reading.”

Fox said the biggest challenge is the transitioning of students from fifth to sixth grade and then from middle school to high school.

“A lot of the time, students have no focus on their academics,” Fox said, referring to the many distractions middle-schoolers have, ranging from cellular phones and mp3 players to hormones.

Blanchard said the biggest challenge facing the high school is the effect of the No Child Left Behind Act on the students’ and teachers’ performances. The No Child Left Behind Act provides funding to schools based on students’ test scores and annual yearly progress.

“The basic message is if you’re (the student) not getting it, it’s the school’s fault,” Blanchard said.

“It’s nice to have parents and educators who will come out after a full day of work who will engage in this level of conversation to help ensure that all of our children are successful,” Ramona Hill, assistant provost of graduate and continuing studies at Spring Hill College and the evening’s moderator, said.

The SEEDS board will meet again in January to further examine the schools’ progress and how they are handling the challenges discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.