Education

Shelby County Public Schools continues to advance in a working toward a district-wide accreditation through the AdvancED process.

During Thursday’s regular meeting, the school board approved the participation in the process, and Superintendent James Neihof presented the board with a copy of the district’s self assessment, which was sent to AdvancED to begin the process.

The board first heard of the process during a February meeting at which board chair Doug Butler questioned the process.

The good news that school officials relayed at Thursday night’s school board meeting is that MAP scores for spring 2013 show that the majority of students are maintaining or showing improvement in reading and math from last school year.

The not-so-good news is that improvement is not substantial enough,said Deputy Superintendent Lisa Smith, who presented MAP scores to the board for a comparison of scores for the school year, and a look at they differ from last year’s.

Shelby County Public Schools named two near leaders for the coming school year.

Brenda King, since 2009 the county’s director of special education, will be the principal of the new Northside Early Childhood Center that  is scheduled to open in January 2014.

And Ayanna Peake, a native of Louisville with an extensive background in psychology, will served as the Reading and Math Proficiency Coordinator (affectionately known as RAMP).

The Shelby County Board of Education got a little more than it may have expected in a report from students in the Accelerated Academy during its meeting Thursday.

Six students, ranging from sophomores to juniors and from both high schools, dutifully answered questions about the program posed by Superintendent James Neihof.

All reported that they enjoyed the program, the rigor and even the zero hour class that begins before other students even arrive in the morning.

However, one student, Steven Chappo, provided a little more.