Cookies connected a community of Watson Chapel School District parents with officials Monday for Superintendent Keith McGee’s Cookies ‘n’ Conversation inside the high school auditorium.
A small crowd met for an early dessert of assorted cookies in the foyer to share their praises and concerns for the district, which kicked off its Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System testing schedule with ninth grade writing and 10th grade math. Students in grades 3, 4, 6 and 8 began Tuesday with reading, while fifth graders won’t begin until April 28.
For dinnertime, Cookies ‘n’ Conversation was the district’s creative take on community involvement, a question on which McGee posed to the parents: “What ways do you see yourself being actively involved?”
“Being here is the first step,” said Traci Holland, the district’s curriculum director.
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Some parents asked what the district is doing to help teachers remain on staff. One of them suggested professional development would help them grow and identify the needs of students who are not performing up to standards academically or behaviorally.
“We want to create culture and climate,” McGee said. “We want it to be safe, positive and have high accountability for expectations. We’re also trying to create stipends.”
McGee has put heavy emphasis on reading skills for grades K-2, as students who do not meet reading standards by third grade in the 2025-26 school year will not be promoted to fourth grade. That policy and the ATLAS are among the highlights of the 2023 Arkansas LEARNS Act.
“If they cannot read, they cannot do anything,” McGee said.
This year’s legislation produced Act 122, also known as the Bell to Bell, No Cell Act. The law, which goes into effect for 2025-26, bans smartphones and other electronic devices from public school classrooms in Arkansas in an effort to enhance student engagement and mental health, but it drew concern from at least one Watson Chapel parent.
“If my kid needs to reach me, how do I get a notice from the school that there is an emergency?” the parent asked. McGee said in response the district would consider allowing a student in an emergency to step outside of school and unlock the device from a pouch provided by the school to reach his or her parents.
McGee’s push for each campus is to better its most recent state report card marks from Ds and Fs. The state Board of Education is awaiting recommendations of new calculations for rating each school’s academic performance based on ATLAS.
Meanwhile, parents saw from McGee how much Watson Chapel students had grown in their ATLAS interim tests. One example was in math for grades 3-10, in which four students scored in Level 4, or demonstrated advanced understanding, following the spring interim in March — an increase from zero after the November interim. The number of students scoring in Level 3, or showing proficient understanding, improved from 42 to 58; the number of those scoring in Level 2, or showing basic understanding, went from 176 to 222; and the number of those scoring in Level 1, or showing limited understanding, dropped from 666 to 620.
PERTUSSIS CASE
The district reported a case of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, on its high school campus Tuesday morning.
“At this time, we are actively monitoring the situation, operating and taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and families,” McGee said in an open letter on the district’s website. “The district administration is working closely with the Arkansas Department of Health to assess the situation and implement appropriate health and safety protocols. This collaboration allows us to make informed decisions guided by public health expertise.”
McGee said the district would continue to provide timely updates as more information becomes available. He encourages the public to use “healthy habits” including frequent handwashing, staying home when not feeling well and following the guidance of health care professionals.