By Betsy Finklea
Gordon Elementary School principal Shawn Johnson, accompanied by Assistant Principal Famon Whitfield III, spoke at the Dillon District Two School Board meeting recently.
Johnson said they had come a long way and done a great deal of work in a short period of time.
They needed to find the weaknesses. He said one thing they found was that the reading levels of the children need to be improved. He said they have some work to do.
Johnson said every single child was assessed to get an accurate determination of their reading level. Johnson said they have implemented “Balanced Literacy” to move the students where they need to be.
He stated that overall their math is pretty good.
Another thing they looked at was the overall structure of the school. He said he ha been talking to the teachers about the idea of self-contained classes at the 4th and 5th grade levels. He said they lose time changing classes.
Johnson said their goal is to move as many children as they can to grade level so when they get the state PASS test they can understand the test.
The grade level of a book can be determined by visiting www.scholastic.com.
After Johnson’s remarks, it was noted that Dillon High School will not have block scheduling next year and will to back to seven periods. The school has had block scheduling about 15 years.