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-Press Release, Vance County Schools

The performance of the Vance County Public Schools ticked up last year in several areas and revealed areas needing continued focus on the state’s annual School Performance Grade accountability measurements. This year more schools met or exceeded expectations for student gains and more schools earned grades of C or better than in previous years. VCS also posted the highest graduation rate in the history of the district.

At the end of our first year with our newly consolidated schools, while improvements were made at both schools, these data reveal mixed reviews. Vance County High School, while improving its biology scores by 26 points from 23% in 2018 to 49.4% in 2019, earned a school performance grade of D, missing improving their overall grade to a C, by less than one percentage point.

Additionally, Vance County Middle School, while making tremendous progress including increases in grade level proficiency by 6.2 points in reading from 30% in 2018 to 36.2% in 2019; 12 points in math, from 13.9% in 2018 to 26.4% in 2019 and 20.5 points in science from 34% in 2018 to 54.7% in 2019, earned a school performance grade of F. This was extremely disappointing, as they missed earning the next letter grade of D, by less than .04 of a percent.

The district also had several other bright spots in the report – 9 of 15 schools (60%) earned a letter grade of C or better.

Two schools – STEM Early High Middle School and Vance County Early College High School – earned the School Performance Grade of A.

Seven schools – Aycock, Carver, Clarke, Dabney, LB Yancey, Pinkston, and Zeb Vance – earned the School Performance Grade of C.

Four schools – EM Rollins, EO Young, New Hope and VCHS – earned the School Performance Grade of D and one school – VCMS earned the School Performance Grade of F.

8 of 15 schools (54%) met or exceeded growth – VCECHS, STEM-EH, Aycock, Carver, Dabney, EO Young, New Hope, and Pinkston Street.

Additionally, we are extremely proud of our STEM Early High Middle School and Vance County Early College students who posted perfect scores of 100% on the 8^th grade science end-of-grade test and the Biology end-of-course exam.

We are also pleased to report that our 2018-2019 graduation rate is 86.7%, compared to the states graduation rate of 86.4.  This represents an increase of four-points over last year’s four-year graduation rate and a 21.8 point increase in six years.  This is the highest graduation rate in the district’s history and the first time VCS has ever surpassed the state average.

Superintendent, Dr. Anthony Jackson said, “This is a tremendous accomplishment and credit must be given to our entire team. We have worked diligently to implement strategies over the last few years to address the graduation rate and we are pleased to see a return on these efforts.”

Six years ago, Vance County Schools’ posted a graduation rate of 64.9% – the lowest in the state. “The graduation rate this year is a huge jump and we certainly are proud of that,” said Jackson. “The high school diploma gives our students options after graduation to pursue higher education, enlist in the military or to join the workforce prepared to be successful. We will not be satisfied until all of our students graduate on time, the stakes are too high to accept otherwise.”

The district is already working to address areas of deficit, train staff and implement new structures to support students. The district invites the community to its annual State of OUR Schools address on Wednesday, September 25, 2019, at 6 p.m. at Vance County High School to hear both our challenges and accomplishments as well as our plans for continuous improvement.

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-Information courtesy Vance County Schools

Vance County Schools will hold Open House sessions for schools on the traditional calendar on Thursday, August 22, 2019.

Vance County Middle School’s Open House will be held from 3 until 7 p.m.; all other traditional schools will be held from 2 until 7 p.m.

All students who attend Vance County Middle School, AdVance Academy, STEM Early High School and all Vance County elementary schools except E.M. Rollins will begin school on Monday, August 26, 2019.

All parents and students are invited to attend open house events.

Note:

E.M. Rollins Elementary School, Vance County Early College and Vance County High School began school on Monday, August 5, 2019.

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-Press Release, Vance County Schools

The following administrative changes have been announced for the 2019-2020 school year.

Mrs. Letitia Fields – Principal, New Hope Elementary School

Mrs. Fields was born and raised in Henderson, North Carolina. Mrs. Fields has served as a Special Education teacher and a Social Studies and Writing teacher. Her most recent assignment was Assistant Principal at Zeb Vance Elementary School.

Mrs. Field attended New Hope and grew up in the Townsville community.

Mrs. Fields will begin as Principal at New Hope on July 17, 2019.

Ms. Michelle Fiscus – Public Information Officer

Ms. Fiscus brings a distinguished background in marketing and television network reporting to us.

Most recently she has served as the Public Information Officer in the Franklin County Public Schools and at Louisburg College.

We are excited about having her join us. Ms.Fiscus will begin working in the district on August 1, 2019.

 

Mrs. Gail Powers – Director of Career and Technical Education and Secondary Education

Mrs. Powers currently serves as the Executive Director of CTE in Halifax County and has previously served as an elementary, middle and high school principal in Nash-Rocky Mount and Randolph Counties.

We were extremely fortunate to find a professional with her unique set of skills and background experiences to join us. We anticipate her starting work with us on or about August 1, 2019.