Determining the finish line
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of articles marking the 50th Anniversary of Hartselle City Schools.
In November, 1975, the Hartselle Enquirer reported on the efforts of “a com munity committee made up of 68 citizens” in completing the “first half of a two-part program designed to evaluate and establish goals for the City of Hartselle school system” in order to determine “the direction in the establishment of goals for the schools of Hartselle and a basis for what we need to do to meet these goals.” The committee worked in two groups a primary group and a secondary group to “rank in numerical order 18 separate goals.” The top goal in the primary group was “develop skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.” Behind that goal came “develop pride in work and a feeling of self-worth” and then “develop good character and self-respect” followed by “gain a general education.” Fifty years later, our goals are more similar than different despite numerous changes in the state and federal governance of schools.
All elementary schools in Alabama operate under the very specific regulations of the state’s Literacy Act and under the implementation guidance of the state-operated Alabama Reading Initiative.
But with or without a state law or agency, Hartselle’s citizens who weighed-in on its 2024 Strategic Plan revision addressed the importance of nurturing “effective communicators” who are “empathetic listeners” and who have been educated using efficiently and effectively managed classroom supports.
Under the umbrella of the Strategic Plan, Hartselle’s elementary schools develop yearly Continuous Improvement Plans (CIPs) which lay out specific literacy and math goals with achievement benchmarks that are broken down by grade level and, very often, by specific skill. The students’ and schools’ achievement of these goals is measured in two or three different ways. It sounds complicated. But that’s only because it is.
Barkley Bridge Elementary School has out-performed most schools across the state for several years now. Principal Laura Lamb, who served as the Barkley Bridge reading coach before moving to her current position, is a firm believer in the power of reading. “The greatest impact educators can make regarding a student’s success academically, socially, and financially is teaching them how to read. Teachers are being trained in the science of reading, and we are able to change the future for our students.” Pride in work, carrying a feeling of self-worth and self-respect, developing good character these qualities also continue to be priori-tized in Hartselle’s schools. All of Hartselle’s elementary schools seek to develop these qualities through lessons in character development.
Hartselle Intermediate School has taken its investment in these qualities a step further by adopting the tenets of the Hope Institute and being named a National School of Character by the Character.org organization. HIS Principal Earon Sheats describes the commitment.
“Hartselle Intermediate School stakeholders, faculty, and staff have rallied to create a ‘greenhouse’ in which to inspire and prepare all of our students for learning, leadership, and life through the development of core values. Integrity, hard work, kindness, respect, responsibility and service to others are the traits that make up the common language that is the foundation of all we do. We are proactive and intentional in our implementation and recognize the generational impact of teaching character.” 50 years of community growth that is generational impact, indeed.
