C.W. Shipley Elementary School in Jefferson County, Evans Elementary School in Jackson County and Culloden Elementary School in Cabell County were three of the 300 schools recognized as Blue Ribbon Schools nationwide.
Three West Virginia schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.
C.W. Shipley Elementary School in Jefferson County, Evans Elementary School in Jackson County and Culloden Elementary School in Cabell County were three of the 300 schools recognized nationwide.
They join a group of 9,000 schools distinguished since the program was created in 1982.
The honors are given out based either on a school’s high-performing academics or by closing specific achievement gaps. All three West Virginia schools were recognized on the basis of their academics.
The program’s website says these schools have some of the “highest achieving students (the top 15 percent) in English and mathematics, measured by state assessments.”
The announcement was made by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who also visited WVU Wednesday to discuss mental health issues with students.
Cardona said in a statement that the schools recognized had gone “above and beyond to keep students healthy and safe” while the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic while “meeting their academic, social, emotional and mental health needs.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona came to Morgantown Wednesday morning. He stopped at West Virginia University as part of the weeklong Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona came to Morgantown Wednesday morning. He stopped at West Virginia University as part of the weeklong Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour.
“I really want to hear from you directly,” Cardona said. “I feel very strongly that if we’re going to improve education across the country, we have to listen to those we serve, and you are the students we serve.”
Cardona sat down with student leaders at the university to discuss the importance of students’ mental health and how schools should be reimagined as they reopen after COVID-19. He emphasized asking the students questions and hearing their feedback.
“We really pushed the American Rescue Plan dollars to be used for the mental health support of our students,” he said. “One of the things that I’m really impressed with here is that there’s a student advisory board. I’m pretty open about the fact that I believe across our country, our students are moving quicker in this than our systems.”
Shortly after the event, the U.S. Department of Education announced nearly $6 million for West Virginia to address youth mental health issues. The announced funds, part of the $2 billion bipartisan Safer Communities Act, will go towards creating healthier learning environments for K-12 students, including through increased school-based mental health support.
At WVU, Cardona emphasized the need for further investment at all levels, specifically in technology like telehealth to meet modern students where they are.
“The acknowledgment and the resources put toward mental health support through telehealth, like that’s critical,” he said. “Students are more likely to access or reach out through their phones now, and this university understands that and embraces that as an opportunity.”
Cardona said that for things to be better for future students, good mental health support must also extend to educators.
“I talk a lot about giving teachers better working conditions, and competitive salaries,” he said. “But the working condition means that when you’re going to work, you’re at your best, you have the support that you need for your students.”
Pareera Uqaily, vice president of the WVU Student Government Association, was one of the student leaders that sat down with Cardona.
“I think this was a great conversation, because we’re able to highlight our perspectives as students that sometimes even administrators aren’t able to do,” Uqaily said. “Especially just being the cohort that’s been through COVID. Obviously, things look so different.”
WVU Student Government Association President Chloe Hernandez said she was humbled by the opportunity to collaborate with Cardona, as well as her fellow student leaders on the issue of mental health.
“I definitely think it does help kind of highlight and dismantle the stigma, especially in a state with so many different backgrounds and different students who come from all these different places,” Hernandez said. “It’s really important to kind of recognize the resources on campus and improve on the accessibility.”
Cardona’s Bus Tour continued on to Pittsburgh from Morgantown, and will take him across Pennsylvania and into New Jersey to finish out the week.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos heard from principals, teachers, custodial staff, a band director, students and parents – all from Jefferson County Schools – who shared positive feedback on the district’s approach to fall 2020.
DeVos came to Kearneysville on Thursday to attend the in-person event and highlight the success the district has experienced since resuming school Sept. 8.
“It’s the unanimous commitment that I heard from those surrounding the table here, to doing what’s right for students, and to doing what it takes,” DeVos said. “And the tremendous collaboration that has taken place to ensure that kids could be back in school, in-person learning.”
Shortly after schools in West Virginia were closed in March, the Jefferson County School district began working to create a safe, in-person schooling environment for the fall, while at the same time polishing a virtual school model that syncs up with in-person learners.
County education officials ramped up cleaning efforts, and served more than 300,000 meals to students in the spring and summer. They held Zoom meetings throughout the summer with the community to collect feedback. They also got more devices like laptops and tablets into the hands of teachers and students, and even offered training for teachers in self-care.
Shepherdstown Middle School teacher and coach Kevin Holmes said despite his health problems and his doctor advising him not to return to in-person work, he feels safe after seeing the efforts to keep schools clean.
“[I have] high blood pressure, asthma, sleep apnea, diabetes. I’m probably at the top of list as the health risk in Jefferson County Schools,” Holmes said. “But when I came in … the floors were spotless, you could probably eat off of them, and all the supplies – we have magic wands to clean our keyboards. There’s no reason for me not to come back.”
Holmes argued his place was in the school – that he needed to be there for his kids.
Liz McCormick
/
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Shepherdstown Middle School teacher and coach Kevin Holmes said despite his health problems and his doctor advising him not to return to in-person work, he feels safe after seeing the efforts to keep schools in Jefferson County clean.
Jefferson County Superintendent of Schools Bondy Shay Gibson pointed out that many of the efforts her district has made to make school safer will be here to stay post-COVID.
“Even when there’s no more COVID, we don’t go back to how we were,” Gibson said. “That’s not how life works. So, a lot of the lessons that we’ve learned now, they’ve been hard lessons, but they’re getting us ready, I think, for a pretty amazing future.”
About half of students throughout Jefferson County are attending school virtually, according to officials. The West Virginia Department of Education reports, however, that statewide, the majority of learners opted to attend in person.
West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch was also at the event. He said Jefferson County’s reopening plan is a great model and noted that it was Jefferson County that stepped up first with a reopening plan. He also said it was the first one he presented to the state Board of Education. He reiterated a message, though, that in-person schooling is key to successful learning.
“I’ve been critical since March and throughout the summer of remote learning, and I will continue to be critical of remote learning,” Burch said. “It is not what’s best for children. It is not how we all learn. We must take care of our children. Remote learning in the state of West Virginia did not and is not working.”
Despite this criticism of remote learning, Burch did acknowledge that more needs to be done to ensure virtual schooling is accessible to those who need it in the state. He mentioned that he appreciates the Kids Connect Initiative, which created more than 1,000 WiFi hotspots throughout the state to help K-12 and higher education students, but said it’s not enough.
“Until every child in the state of West Virginia has access to high-quality internet, and every teacher, then we have not equalized the playing field for all,” Burch said.
Liz McCormick
/
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
(left to right) West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Bondy Shay Gibson in Kearneysville, W.Va. on Oct. 1, 2020.
DeVos echoed the importance of expanding access to virtual learning.
“This pandemic has revealed the benefits that technology can bring in new and unique ways,” DeVos said. “And I think that a lot of teachers and education leaders are also acknowledging and realizing that technology can be used effectively, in ways that we can really look forward to using it going forward, in ways that had not heretofore been considered.”
All West Virginia schools are required by the governor to offer in-person, virtual, and hybrid learning. Whether a county can offer in-person schooling is determined weekly by a color-coded map that offers updates on COVID-19 infection rates.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Monday that teachers are walking off the job too often and that protests about pay and school conditions should be done on “adult time” so students aren’t hurt.
DeVos made the comments in Baltimore while speaking at a conference for education journalists.
Teachers from West Virginia to California have walked out of classrooms in recent months to protest working conditions and call for better benefits. Many have demanded changes including higher pay, smaller class sizes and more classroom funding.
When asked if she supports teachers who have gone on strike, DeVos said she thinks “great teachers need to be well paid,” but that issues should be resolved without disrupting school instruction.
“I think it’s important that adults have adult disagreements on adult time, and that they not ultimately hurt kids in the process,” DeVos said. “I think too often they’re doing so by walking out of classrooms and having arguments in the way that they are.”
DeVos, who has often been at odds with major teachers unions, took a dig at Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. That union has been highly critical of DeVos.
“Great teachers perhaps should be making at least half as much as what Randi Weingarten does at a half million dollars a year,” DeVos said.
Weingarten responded quickly, saying she would be “delighted if Betsy wants to get all teachers close to $200,000 — they deserve that — and so much more.” The union leader said, “We could do this if Betsy worked with us to revoke tax cuts for rich people. She won’t even have to give up the summer homes and the yachts.”
Educators in Oregon could be the latest to go on strike, with tens of thousands expected to walk out Wednesday in protest of class sizes and education funding. It would follow a string of recent strikes in Los Angeles, Denver and Oakland, California, along with statewide walkouts in West Virginia and Oklahoma.
DeVos’ speech was her first appearance at the annual Education Writers Association national seminar, a regular stopover for her predecessors. In prepared remarks, she discussed her aversion to the public spotlight and said she prefers to keep the focus on students.
“The simple truth is I never imagined I’d be a focus of your coverage. I don’t enjoy the publicity that comes with my position. I don’t love being up on stage nor any kind of platform. I am an introvert,” she said. Education, she said, “is not about Betsy DeVos nor about any other individual. It’s about students.”
DeVos said she has reached out to Democrats seeking support for her latest school choice proposal, a federal tax credit to support scholarships sending students to private schools, apprenticeships or other education options. Her past school choice proposals have faced opposition from many Democrats and some Republicans.
She acknowledged that it’s a tough task, saying that “change for many people is hard.”
“This is something that Congress ultimately has to either embrace or not. I acknowledge that it’s a process, not an event.”
Facing questions from journalists, DeVos defended her department’s efforts to revoke Obama-era rules guiding schools on a range of topics, including protections for transgender students and rules meant to help students who are defrauded by for-profit colleges.
DeVos said the Obama-era rules were an overreach and offered protection only “on paper.”
When asked whether she would stay in her post if President Donald Trump is reelected in 2020, DeVos answered with a quip.
“I’m not sure my husband would be OK with that,” she said.
The U.S. secretary of education has called West Virginia’s early learning program a good model for the country.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. praised the state for its commitment to early education during an event at the West Virginia Department of Education’s headquarters on Thursday.
King lauded West Virginia’s pre-K participation rate and the state’s focus on transitions from pre-K to kindergarten.
West Virginia public schools currently offer free pre-K to all 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds with special needs.
King used his visit to announce the U.S. Department of Education’s new guidance that explains how states can use federal dollars, under the Every Student Succeeds Act, for early learning.
