Highland County School Board Appoints Title One Parent Advisory Team

Monterey, Va – The Highland County School Board approved the Title 1 parental involvement policy at its meeting last Tuesday evening. Teresa Blum, Mary Dowdy, Debbie Hodges, Tammy Linaburg, Karla Obaugh and Brittany Riggle were appointed to the Title 1 advisory committee for 2010 thru 2012. They also appointed Elementary school Principal Teresa Blum, Ann Foster, Amanda Lotts, Sandy Northedge, Sara Ervin, Becky Stump, Anne Adams and Greta Sandburg to the gifted and talented advisory committee for the same period.

High School Principal Kelly Wilmore reported preliminary Standards of Learning or SOL scores for grades 6-11 to the board. Reading was 100%, math 96%, science 94%, and social studies 96%. Elementary School Principal Teresa Blum reported to the board that SOL scores for third, fourth and fifth graders were higher this year compared to last year. Third graders scored 93% in reading, and 100% in math, science and social studies. Fourth graders scored 83% in reading, 94% in math and 94% in social studies. Fifth graders scored 90% in reading, 95% in math, 95% in science, 90% in social studies and 80% in writing.

A field trip for the elementary school was approved. The fourth grade will be taking an overnight trip to Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg in April, 2011.

Eleven student members of the Highland mixed martial arts club traveled to Virginia Beach recently for the state North American Grappling Association tournament. The team placed 10th out of 58 schools attending.

A Brazilian ju-jitsu camp will be held at the school August 2-4. Mr. Wilmore is looking for donations from the community to buy martial arts clothing called Gi’s for the club members.

Family nurse practitioner Letitia Amirault presented a report to the board on Highland Medical Center’s health care programs for students. 70 % of the students are registered to receive services through school-based health care. During the 2009 to 2010 school year there were 353 student visits to the medical center, and 240 students were immunized during the school year.

Future plans include increasing well-child screenings, immunizations, fluoride treatments to prevent tooth decay and the Al-A-Teen program. The medical center will continue to provide sports physicals at low cost as long as funds and insurance policies permit.

The next Highland County School Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 2 in the High School Library.