Cullman City Primary School recently changed to a set of higher standards, and those standards are paying off with the school’s students.

In a data presentation given to the Cullman City School Board Tuesday night, Cullman City Primary School Principal Tricia Culpepper spoke about some of the benchmarks that the school is using to make sure students are learning what they need to learn in their early grades.

Kindergarten and first grade use the DIBELS, or Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, assessment as one of the indicators to measure the students’ progress.

Last year, the school made a shift to a stricter set of standards, so the numbers have not been as high as previous years, but the new standards are better for determining the students’ readiness, Culpepper said.

“We just made that shift in December of last year because we knew it was going to be better for our students, but we also knew it wasn’t going to look as good,” she said.

In the spring of 2018, around 90 percent of the students would have met the former standards, while the new standards saw 62-68 percent of the students meet the benchmarks. Those results meant that teachers worked more with students individually and in small groups, and that work helped those students when they came back to school this year, Culpepper said.

“All that work we did in the winter and the spring carried over into the fall,” she said. “It’s a higher goal, but we’re really using those to help look at our instruction.”

The benchmarks have changed, and the style of instruction is also seeing some changes.

Culpepper said the school had already been using small groups to aid in reading instruction, and this year, teachers also began separating their students into groups for more specialized math lessons as well.

“It’s just been phenomenal to see that,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of improvement.”

To further help the school’s math instruction, teachers will also soon begin using the DIBELS benchmarks for math instruction to make sure students are reaching the right benchmarks to prepare them for their future educations.

“There’s a lot of good things happening at the primary school,” she said.

In other business, the board:

Approved September 2018 payroll of $2,101,155.19, invoices paid of $826,647.47, and financial statements.

Approved Head Start Expenditures Report for September, 2018

Approved Head Start Health/Nutrition/Disabilities/Enrollment Report for September, 2018

Gave permission for Cullman Middle School FFA Chapter to travel to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. on Oct. 23-27 to be recognized as a Gold Chapter earning 3-Star Honors

Gave permission for West Elementary School to salvage the following old box TVs: Magnavox, two Sanyo TVs

Gave permission for Cullman High School to surplus a 20” Nobles Speedshine 2000HD Floor Machine

Gave permission for Cullman High School to surplus a 20” Storm Deluxe Floor Machine

Adopted a resolution designating October 2018 as “Dyslexia Awareness Month”

Approved of Change Order # 1 from Porter Roofing, Inc. for deck replacement at West Elementary School

Approved of Change Order #2 from Porter Roofing, Inc. for edge detail wood blocking & bent plate at West Elementary School

Proposed approval of Board Policy 3.20 Uniform Guidance for Federal Programs. This item will be sent out to Policy Review Committee and brought back for consideration

Approved the Cullman City Schools LEA Consolidated Plan 2018-2019

Approved the Cullman City Schools Foster Care Plan 2018-2019

Approved the Cullman City Schools EL Plan and Guide 2018-2019

Gave permission for Cullman High School to surplus McDougal Littell “Modern World History Patterns of Interaction”

Gave permission for Cullman High School to surplus 30 copies of “The Science of Agriculture”

Gave permission for Cullman High School to surplus 30 copies of “Exploring Agriscience”

Gave permission for Cullman High School to surplus 30 copies of “Agriscience: Fundamentals” Gave permission to contract with Lauren Hathcock to provide special education services beyond 3:15 p.m. on an as-needed basis (Curriculum/Instruction Funds)

Gave permission to contract with Karla Rodriquez to provide translation services for CCPS in the form of newsletters, letters, and other written documentation (Curriculum/Instruction Funds)

Gave permission to contract with Lindsey Howard to serve as a mentor for teachers pursuing their National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification beginning Aug.1

Gave permission to provide a stipend of $1,500 to Sharon Wilson for administrative assistance to the Cullman City Schools Foundation beginning January 2018 through December 2018 (Funded by CCS Foundation)

Approved the following personnel considerations:

Retirements:

Patrick Riley, CNP worker at Cullman High School, effective Jan. 1, 2019

Vicki Waldrep, Physical Education instructional assistant at CCPS, effective Jan. 1, 2019

Resignation:

Whitney Carden, Speech Language Pathologist at West Elementary School, effective Nov. 2, 2018

Leaves of Absence:

Amber Campbell, physical education teacher at East Elementary requesting Catastrophic Sick Leave beginning Aug. 29, 2018 (approximately five weeks)

Melony Edwards, third grade teacher at West Elementary requesting Family and Medical Leave from Sept. 25 to Jan. 2, 2019

Savannah Wood, Library Media at East Elementary requesting Family and Medical Leave from Jan. 22, 2019 – March 31, 2019

Correction of Employment- Years of Experience:

Amber Nicole Heptinstall, third grade teacher at East Elementary School

Employments:

Amy Johnson, secretary/bookkeeper at Cullman City Primary School, effective Oct. 15

Meaghan Britton, temporary third grade teacher at West Elementary (to fill a leave of absence) from Oct. 10 to Dec. 19

Paula Harbison, itinerate substitute nurse, effective Oct. 17

Kelly Lambert, itinerate substitute nurse, effective Oct. 17

Leigha Lentini, itinerate substitute nurse, effective Oct. 17

Cullman City Primary School EDP Aides

Jenna Lambert and Vanessa Cabrerra – Pay increase from $7.25 per hour to $7.50 per hour, effective Aug. 7

Supplement Resignations:

Beth Collins, East Elementary School Math Team co–sponsor, effective Oct. 1

Lafonda Sherrill, East Elementary School Math Team co-sponsor, effective Oct. 1

Cory Goble, Varsity Tennis assistant, effective Oct. 15

Supplements:

Briana Bauer, $500 supplement to coordinate East Elementary School Veterans Day Program (Local School Funds)

Biakely Burns, $500 supplement to coordinate East Elementary School Veterans Day Program (Local School Funds)

Tyler Hanes can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 138.