My focus in today's column is Phillips Elementary School. Phillips School is the district's largest elementary school with approximately 400 children. Principal Steve Arnold provides building leadership for more than 45 teachers and staff members.
Academics are everywhere!
The district placed one and a half intervention tutors at Phillips in January that have been working with at-risk students to prepare them for the Ohio Achievement Assessments scheduled for April and May. In addition, fifth-grade math teacher Barry Warden is working with students on Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school begins, to help them be prepared for the upcoming state tests.
Phillips teachers and staff have been earnestly working on their school improvement plan by attending training sessions on a variety of topics such as power indicators, formative assessment, differentiated instruction, co-teaching, school climate and more. Volunteers who attend the training, bring what they have learned back to Phillips and share this information and learning with the rest of the staff. The waiver days each month have been dedicated to presenting this information. In addition, many of the Phillips staff has attended our weekly book study group which is currently studying Ruby Payne's book "The Under-Resourced Learner."
Extra-curricular provide a place to flourish for many students!
The Phillips School choir, led by music instructor J.D. Benson, will perform for the Washington County Retired Teachers Association at their monthly luncheon meeting on April 13. The choir is also scheduled to perform at the April Board of Education meeting to be held on April 25 at Phillips School. The annual PTO Basket Bingo fundraiser will be held the evening of April 1 in the school gymnasium. The new Phillips School playground equipment has been purchased and we are awaiting warm weather to begin construction.
Bullying Awareness Program organized and presented to students in grades three through five. The program focused on:
1. Learning that bullies come in all shapes and sizes and can be either boys or girls.
2. Understanding that not all bullies see their behavior as bullying.
3. Becoming aware of the different ways bullying may take place.
4. Examining their own behavior to discover whether it might be considered bullying.
5. Identifying certain kinds of words or action as bullying.
6. Deciding to ask themselves before they act, "Would I like it if someone did this to me?"
The Phillips staff welcomes community members into the building to see firsthand the great things that happen each day. Phillips is one of four district elementary buildings providing a positive learning environment for the children of families living in Marietta.
I can be contacted at ma_bthomas@seovec.org with questions or comments.
Bruce Thomas is the superintendent of Marietta City Schools.
