Charles City schools shift focus on new approach, refocus on improving SOL scores and accreditation

Even by her own admission, Charles City Superintendent of Schools Dalphine Joppy confessed that recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic has set the school system back a few steps. But with a focus on high-intensive tutoring and taking a new approach, Joppy expects scores to take an upward tick this year.

The process for the new approach started at Charles City’s School Board Sept. 19 regular meeting. At that meeting, Joppy told the school board that the elementary school will be fully accredited for the FY2023-24 year, while the high school would be accredited with conditions.

“We have work to do,” she told board members. “We know we faced a lot of obstacles but this year we more tools and resources in place.”

At the elementary school, improvements have been made in academic achievement in English and mathematics, as well as the gap in English is near the standards. Improvements need to be made in the Gap in Math and academic achievement in science. Chronic absenteeism at the elementary level is nearing the standard.

At the high school level, academic achievement in English and the gap in English is near the standard. A focus in academic achievement in science and mathematics are currently below standard, which Joppy said they are working to address through the use of specialists and high-intensive tutoring. The graduation and completion index, along with the dropout rate, is above the standard at the high school, but chronic absenteeism is below the standard.

SOL scores for Charles City Public Schools were released, with the school system improving in nine categories across the division. Among the top improvements include a 17 percent increase in the category of reading in seventh grade, and a 16 percent increase in grade four mathematics.

Charles City’s highest scoring areas were End of Course reading, with a 78 percent passing rate, and Civics and Economics, with a 68 percent rate. Virginia Studies was the subject matter that had the highest advanced pass rate of 11 percent.

During a Oct. 3 sit down interview, Joppy spoke about key areas of focus she and her instructional team will make the center of intention to return both schools to full accreditation and also improve SOL scores.

“One of the things we want to do is to make students feel capable, connected, and know that we’re available,” Joppy said. “This year, our division has increased in personnel and enrollment.”

In particular, the superintendent said that the addition of an assistant principal at the elementary school was vital to the first key personnel change. Last year, Charles City had one district-wide assistant principal that was split between both schools.

“Having an assistant principal has enabled us to have a consistent impact in supporting curriculum being taught in our system,” Joppy commented. “We have been able to manage student activities better and it shows how one small personnel change has impacted things.”

One thing that has benefited the Charles City school system was the ability to essentially be fully staffed. According to Joppy, many new teachers have experience and are helping the novice teachers. But in the end, she knows that it is about making sure they provide the best education for students.

“We want to support the whole child,” she said. “The support we give them is academic and beyond academics. We want to make places where they are capable of excelling, feel connected, but most importantly, feel cared for.

“The prolonged isolation due to COVID-19 didn’t just impact them academically, but also affected their mental health,” Joppy continued. “Our specialists and counselors continue to support our students and we are doing small things such as having a session called ‘Morning Meetings’ that set the tone at the elementary school.”

Addressing accreditation at the high school starts with attendance, which the school division leader saying they have launched the “Attendance Matters” campaign.
“Research shows that being at school regularly decreases chronic absenteeism and drop out rates,” she said. “And for our high school students it’s just not about being at school, but it’s about getting to class on time. The bell-to-bell attendance is important, and we have a focus on that.”

As the year continues, Joppy hopes more classroom interaction in a variety of ways will be a motivating factor to get kids to enjoy learning again.

“Remote learning was not the best for our students,” she added. “We know our students learn better in the school space. When we can do more performance-based and hands-on activities and lessons, our kids tend to engage and engage with others.

“The goal for all our students is to show growth,” Joppy said as she began wrapping up the interview. “Even those who are performing well can continue to improve. We can’t just do remediation; we have to do acceleration [teach on grade-level while also tiering back to gaps to improve them]. We want all students to meet and surpass the benchmark, but we want all kids to show growth.”

Joppy concluded by thanking the community, something she says that Charles City County does that makes the tasks at hand easier.