With all the talk about improving classroom instruction and the articles appearing in the newspapers around the state about our public school system, I feel I need to add a positive spin to the news and showcase just one of the things my school, McLaurin Elementary, is doing to gain national recognition during this time of debate on the future of public education in our town and our state.

McLaurin is home to a diverse group of 607 third- and fourth-grade students. Mrs. Alice Morrison has been the principal of our school for the past seven years. She and our assistant principal, Mrs. Daisy West, are enthusiastic advocates of promoting our motto of unity and strength.

The administrative leadership along with the high standards for student achievement that all of our teachers expect are the reason McLaurin is one of two schools in the state selected by the State Board of Education to be recognized for being a 2011 National Distinguished Title 1 School.

McLaurin received an award this past January, and the school was recognized by the National Title 1 Association at its convention in Seattle.

The award was given to McLaurin for being the school in the state of Mississippi that significantly closed achievement gaps between groups of students in a Title 1 school.

The staff at McLaurin is honored to be one of the 66 schools nationwide that received achievement awards.

It also makes every one of us at the school aware that the bar for excellence has been raised.

My co-workers and I are ready for the challenge, I am proud to be a teacher at my award-winning school and thrilled to let the public in on some more good news happening in the Natchez-Adams School District.

 

Mary Ann Downs is a math and science lab teacher at McLaurin Elementary School.