Core Notes

Dear TCS Families,

It's only the start of summer, but things haven't slowed down in the Tuscaloosa City Schools as Summer Learning began last week and we are also busy making preparations for the 2024-25 school year.

Below you will find some important reminders and news about things going on from around the Tuscaloosa City Schools. From Oakdale Elementary being named a 2024 National School of Character to Summer Learning kicking off and our TCS literacy bus being unveiled this week, there are a lot of exciting things happening in TCS. Read below to learn more.

Mike Daria

TCS Superintendent

There are a record number of students participating in the TCS Summer Learning Academy this month, with 3,790 enrolled.

In 2017, the Tuscaloosa City Schools committed to summer learning and began transitioning away from “summer school.” In the last seven years, the program has grown by 1,163% and is currently 100% free, with free breakfast and lunch and bus transportation provided to participants, thanks to federal and local funding. The TCS Summer Learning Academy includes 17 programs on 15 TCS campuses, serving students from all 21 schools this year.

The program is having a real, positive impact on students by helping prevent summer learning loss that can often happen over summer break, while also giving families a quality summer care option at no cost. In the most recent available data, students who attend at least ¾ of the TCS summer learning program have a 73% chance of showing no summer learning loss over the summer.

"This program is having a profound impact on our students, because it is keeping our students engaged and learning in the summer, helping close learning gaps and prevent learning loss," said Superintendent Dr. Mike Daria. "This is not standard 'summer school' that many people think of, but an environment where kids want to be, where they get to explore fun topics with hands-on learning."

Last year, the TCS Summer Learning program won a national award, the prestigious 2023 New York Life Foundation’s Excellence in Summer Learning Awards. Presented by the National Summer Learning Association, the honor recognizes the top summer programs that support creative youth education experience and students’ social-emotional learning and well-being.

The TCS Summer Learning program will continue and even expand in the future if a proposed referendum to support the Tuscaloosa City Schools is passed by voters this September. If the vote fails, however, it is a program that will drastically be reduced due to a lack of funding, Daria said. To learn more about the tax referendum, click here: Referendum - Tuscaloosa City School District (tuscaloosacityschools.com)

"This is a nationally recognized program that is making a difference, and we want to continue this as so many families depend on it," Daria said. "However, ultimately, it depends on future funding."

Keonta Melton, the current assistant principal at Skyland Elementary School, has been named the new principal of the school for the 2024-25 school year. The Tuscaloosa City Board of Education voted on the hire May 28. Melton said she is honored to be named to the principal position.

""I am honored and thrilled to continue serving at Skyland Elementary," Melton said. "Having served as the assistant principal, I've witnessed firsthand the dedication of our staff, the enthusiasm of our students, and the unwavering support of our parents. My vision is to foster a nurturing environment where every child feels valued, inspired, and equipped to excel academically and personally. Together with our incredible team, I am committed to ensuring that remains a place where every child's potential is realized and celebrated."

Oakdale Elementary has been named a 2024 National School of Character, becoming the fifth school in the Tuscaloosa City Schools to receive the national designation.

The award recognizes schools that demonstrate a dedicated focus on character development and have formed a positive and powerful school culture.

“This is a great honor. We are ecstatic,” said Dr. Lucille Prewitt, principal of Oakdale. “To be a State School of Character was awesome, but the national award means we really worked hard and people are recognizing it.”

To be named a National School of Character, a school must demonstrate a proactive approach to principles such as school culture and climate, social and emotional learning and student engagement.

Each award recipient must also have a set of “core values” that guide and unite the school community. Oakdale’s core values are self-control, optimism, accountability and respect. Students recite these values each morning and are expected to understand and demonstrate them daily.

Prewitt said she has seen a major change in students’ behavior in recent years due to Oakdale’s emphasis on character education. “In the past, we had a lot of conflict and kids didn’t know how to resolve it. They now know how to resolve conflict, and if they know something isn’t the Oakdale way, they don’t do it.” she said.

Oakdale’s character education is also making an impact outside of the school’s walls. “I see a difference even in the home,” Prewitt said. “Parents tell me that students talk about conflict resolution and use those skills at home too.”

Character.org, the organization that recognizes schools across the U.S. with the honor, named 73 schools nationwide as 2024 National Schools of Character. Four of those schools, including Oakdale, are in Alabama. The other Alabama schools include Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, Cornerstone Schools of Alabama High School in Birmingham, and Northside Middle School in Tuscaloosa County.

“There is an ethic of care at these schools,” said Lori Soifer, who directs the Schools of Character program for Character.org. “Working together with students, parents and community members, these schools are creating stronger communities focused on character.”

Do you have a high schooler at Central, Northridge or Bryant? Are they interested in visiting colleges this summer?

If so, sign up for one of our FREE college tours this month, available through a 21st Century grant. Students are visiting the University of South Alabama on Thursday this week, followed by Alabama State, Mississippi State, Jacksonville State and the University of West Alabama in the coming weeks! Email Travis Moore at Tmoore@tusc.k12.al.us for more information or to sign up.

A new mobile "literacy bus" will soon be serving the City of Tuscaloosa and its school children--and will be revealed for the first time at the "Live at the Plaza" concert this Friday, June 7.

The "literacy bus" is a former school bus that has been transformed to feature a wide selection of children's books, comfortable areas for sitting, free wifi and also tablets that children can use to read electronic books or play learning games. Any child can board the bus, and parents and guardians are encouraged to visit the bus with their child and to take the time to read with them.

Children will also be able to receive a free book from the literacy bus to take home with them and keep, an effort that is paid for by a community literacy grant that TCS received.

"We are really excited about this bus, to provide resources for families in the community as well as every school in the Tuscaloosa City Schools," said Terri Byrts, director of student literacy for the Tuscaloosa City Schools. "It's very important that all children are reading, and for them to see reading or literacy as a task, but a skill and that they love to read, because we know that reading takes our children further."

The bus, which is paid for through a literacy grant, will visit community events and have scheduled stops across Tuscaloosa and will be available for use by organizations such as the United Way.

"This is about community outreach," said TCS Superintendent Dr. Mike Daria. "It's not just about our TCS students, but it's the Tuscaloosa community at large."

The Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy has been trying to fill a vacant teacher position for its electrical classes for almost a year, with no luck. However, thanks to a new partnership with Skilled Trades of West Alabama, TCTA will have a certified electrician to teach the class in the 2024-25 schools year.

The Tuscaloosa Board of Education approved the partnership during their meeting June 4.

Skilled Trades will help provide an instructor for the class for two hours a day, four days a week, said Mark White, program director for Skilled Trades of West Alabama.

"TCTA was about to lose its electrical program because it hadn't had an instructor in a while," White said. "But the class is so important, because we need more tradesmen in the workforce, not fewer. We are hoping this will revive the electrical program at TCTA and transform the class into a career pathway instead of just an elective."

One reason that the teacher position has been vacant is because electricians, on average, make much more than teachers, and it is difficult finding a certified electrician to accept a teacher's salary.

The partnership with Skilled Trades helps fill two needs- the need for a teacher for students who want to learn skills needed to become an electrician, as well as a training pipeline for future electricians. If a student starts taking a level one electrical class their sophomore year in high school and completes the level three by the time they graduate, they can get an apprenticeship and only need 2,000 hours of on-the-job training before they can take the test to become a state-licensed electrician.

"Our goal is pathway to employment," White said. "For every 100 tradesmen that retire or leave the trade, whether that is electricians or plumbing or construction, there's only 40 new tradesmen that come in behind them. There's just not enough. We are trying to build that pipeline that leads to careers."

Did you know that the Tuscaloosa City Schools is providing free meals from now until July 3? Students 18 and under can go to any of the listed locations for breakfast from 7:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., part of a federally-funded feeding program through the Alabama Department of Education.

In the last two years, the Tuscaloosa City Schools has seen tremendous growth in reading among third graders—an increase of approximately 15 percent reading on grade level as a district.

“We are ecstatic about our growth in reading and the success of our students,” said Dr. James Pope, deputy superintendent of the Tuscaloosa City Schools. “These outcomes are giving us exactly what we need to help us know that we are on the right path to be an ‘A’ school district.”

According to the 2024 ACAP test scores, 90% of third graders in the Tuscaloosa City Schools benchmarked on the ACAP, which means they tested on or above grade level in reading--on par with the state average for 2024. In comparison, in 2022, only 75 percent of TCS third graders were on target, meaning a growth of 15 percent in two years.

Two elementary schools, Rock Quarry Elementary and Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools Elementary, had 100% reading proficiency this year.

One example growth in reading is at Central Elementary, which only had 53% of its third graders reading on grade level in 2022. Due to some of the intensive work the teachers have done there, the school was highlighted as an exemplary "Spotlight Reading School" by the Alabama Department of Education in 2023. This year, 80% of Central's third graders are reading on target, an increase of 27% in only two years.

Significant growth in reading was also seen at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary, where in 2022, 60 percent of the third graders were reading on grade level. On this year’s ACAP test, that percentage went up to 89 percent, an increase of 29% in two years.

“The outcomes we’ve seen and the reflection of the data points to how dedicated and passionate our teachers are and the work that they’ve done is impeccable,” said Pope. “We have the right teachers in the classrooms doing the right job. That was evident based on these results.”

What made the difference was the intense focus on improving reading as a district, including individualized plans for schools, monitoring lesson plans and student attendance, increasing support to schools based on needs, including reading coaches and interventionists to help pull struggling learners up to where they need to be.

The improvement is especially important, considering the Alabama Literacy Act, passed in 2019, requires third graders to be reading on grade level. If they are not reading on grade level before August 2024, they could be retained.

While it is the goal of TCS to have every student reading on grade level, of the 10 percent who did not benchmark on ACAP, the majority of them will not be retained due to special exemptions, such as if they receive special education services or speak English as a second language, Byrts said. Students who did not benchmark in reading are also participating in the TCS summer learning program, where they will have the opportunity to retake the ACAP this summer and not be retained. So, TCS expects very, very few, if any, of this year’s third graders to be retained due to their reading scores.

Central Elementary School student Estefani Velasquez says her school is preparing her for the future!

Calling all TCS families! 📣

Registration for the 2024-25 school year is underway! Make sure to find your "infosnap" codes and complete your child's registration via PowerSchool. Secure your child’s spot early to ensure a seamless transition!

Register now and let the excitement for the new school year begin! 🍏✨

BSN Sports has set up online "swag stores" for our schools where any student, faculty or parent can buy school branded gear. This was a desire that was expressed by students during the Superintendent's student advisory meetings at the high schools last school year.

The "swag" on these sites include a variety of price points, brands, and are in men's, women's and children's sizes, plus they have cups and other items as well. On the main page, they also have gear per sport.

There is also branded gear for the elementary and middle schools, too! To see the middle school and elementary options, on the desktop website, once you have clicked on the type of item to browse, you can go to the sidebar where it says "campus" and then select feeder school, where the items will pop up with other school names. Select the school that you want.

Each feeder zone will receive 10% back of all purchases in the form of a store credit/rebate that can be used for future branded purchases by the school(s). So, support your school and show school pride!

Northridge feeder zone store: NORTHRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL JAGUARS - TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Sideline Store - BSN Sports

Central feeder zone store: CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FALCONS - TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Sideline Store - BSN Sports

Bryant feeder zone store: PAUL W BRYANT HIGH SCHOOL STAMPEDE - COTTONDALE, Alabama - Sideline Store - BSN Sports

It is important to remember that if you or your child see or hear something concerning, please report it to your school's principal. It can be the first step to saving a situation from becoming dangerous. Again, "See Something, Say Something!"