Superintendent Lewis Brooks stands with Mt Laurel administration Abbie Akers (assistant principal, left) and Tina Neighbors (principal, right) at a celebration for receiving a 99 on the state report card. Photo courtesy of Shelby County Schools.
With district report card scores up from a B+ to an A, Shelby County Schools Superintendent Lewis Brooks shared his excitement during the Jan. 25 Shelby County Schools Board of Education meeting.
“We had a celebration with our principals [the day before the meeting] for their efforts to lead our school district with an A on the state report card,” he said. “We are thrilled to earn an A. Last year, we fell slightly short with an 89.21 (B+), so I’m grateful to all our employees that work so tirelessly to do great things in our school district and for our children.”
Brooks also shared that Mt Laurel Elementary recently earned the legislative school performance recognition from the Alabama State Department of Education for the second year in a row with a 99 on the state report card.
“Mt Laurel is a top 25 school in the state of Alabama,” Brooks said. “There are 1,479 public schools in the state and Mt Laurel is ranked number 18. They’ll be recognized at the state board meeting on Feb. 8.”
January 2024 is school board appreciation month and Brooks thanked each of the board members for their dedication, support and for setting a standard of excellence for our school district. He presented certificates from the school board association to President David Bobo and members Peg Hill, Amber Polk and Jimmy Bice. Brian Boatman was not in attendance at the meeting.
Secondary School Coordinator April Brand gave an update on the dual enrollment health class that started this school year in an effort to provide students the opportunity to earn a College and Career Readiness (CCR) indicator very early in their high school career.
“Shelby County Schools has partnered with the University of Montevallo one semester under our belt and 430 students across the district successfully completed the course and earned a CCR,” Brand said. “We’ve already started the second semester and we have 457 more 10th graders enrolled in this dual enrollment course. We are excited about partnership and what it means for our kids and hope to grow it in the future.”
She added students have been able to make campus visits to UM that included a tour of the facilities, a meeting with the admission department and a lunch on campus. All seven of the high schools participating in the program have or will take part in the tour before the end of January.
The board unanimously approved the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school year calendars. The 2024-25 school year will begin on Thursday, Aug. 8. Students will have a four day weekend at the end of the first as Oct. 14-15 are set aside for professional development days. After being out on Veterans Day (Nov. 11), Thanksgiving break will be Nov. 25-29. For Christmas break, there will be an early dismissal on Dec. 20 and students will return on Jan. 7.
Also during the meeting:
- Tracy Barker was named as the assistant principal of Linda Nolan Learning Center. She is in her 12th year in education and currently the program area specialist for special education. Prior to coming to Shelby county, she worked as a special education teacher for 11 years at Mountain Brook and Vestavia City Schools.
- Yearly renewal bids were approved for commercial flooring, ceiling tile, paint services, fire extinguishers/service and fencing.
- During the architect and construction report, Barbar Snyder gave an update on work at several schools, including three in the 280 Living coverage area:
- At Chelsea Park Elementary, crews are finishing up exterior brick and the roof panels will be installed next on the eight classroom addition. All the mechanical, electrical and plumbing are working inside the building. For the new gym, the exterior walls on both ends of the building are nearing completion.
- SCS employees completed cabinets and reading nooks in the OMES media center.
- A new bus awning was recently completed at the front of Chelsea Middle School.
The next school board meeting will be Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. at the Shelby County Instructional Services Center in Alabaster.
