2013 December Advocate

Up from the basement
It didn’t take long for educators in two Kentucky schools to recover from the shock of devastating state test results last year. After swinging into action – in some cases using similar strategies – they found themselves at the top of the pack of the most improved schools this year.

Academic growth no longer blocked
There is no area of school operations that can’t be mined for its potential to improve student achievement. For Ballard County’s high school, that area was class scheduling. And early indications are that ditching block scheduling for traditional class periods is paying off.

Career connections
Six academies within Kenton County Schools are acting as a pipeline to supply employees for high-demand occupations in northern Kentucky. The unique program that links schools, business and industry, and higher education has become KSBA’s latest PEAK Award winner.

The new demographic
Not all grandparents can spoil their grandkids and then take them home to their parents. For an increasing number of Kentucky grandparents, those grandkids are permanent fixtures and they need help and support from school systems.

A new road to progress
The school district in isolated, low-income Owsley County has a host of socioeconomic factors working against it – and its students. But Owsley County Schools is taking full advantage of what may be the area’s greatest asset: high-speed Internet access.