Cape Girardeau school principals tell board academic-success programs working

Three programs aimed at diminishing academic failure in the Cape Girardeau School District are posting varying degrees of success, according to principals.

The administrators offered evaluations on the programs at Monday's Cape Girardeau School Board meeting,

Carla Fee, principal at the Cape Girardeau Alternative Education Center and at-risk coordinator for the district, graded the school "excellent," with dropout rates declining even as attendance rates remain considerably lower than the districtwide average.

"We continue to struggle with that and we are working on incentives to keep them in school," Fee saud.

Last year, the center's attendance rate declined to 85.3 percent, down from 88.4 percent the year before. The district's attendance rate was 94.4 percent in the 2009-2010 school year. The center, which serves an average of 120 students in the full-day program and another 25 to 30 in its after-school credit recovery initiative, has seen its number of graduates increase marginally, from 12 percent in 2007-2008 to 14 percent last year. Meanwhile, dropouts have declined from 12 percent to 6 percent over the same period. Currently, 87 percent of the school's student population is reading below grade level, but Fee said reading scores have seen significant improvement. The administrator rates the alternative education center performance as excellent.

Roy Merideth, principal of Central Junior High School, said the school's Academic Course Enhancement program, designed to support at-risk students, rates an average mark so far. In its second year, ACE has cut down on the number of failed classes by targeting help to struggling students. Among the program's other objectives, a College Access grant connects students with university representatives, an effort that, Merideth said, keeps the at-risk student's eye on the educational prize.

"It builds the mindset that you can go to college, you can succeed," the principal said. But a decline in state funding forced the district to cut a full-time teaching position and constricted funding sources for special programs.

Central High School principal Mike Cowan gave the school's Preparing for Academic Success program an excellent grade. The program, designed to support incoming freshman in making a smooth academic and social transition to high school, has reduced incidence of failure and is keeping a higher number of students on track to graduate, Cowan said.

mkittle@semissourian.com

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