By Sue Moore
Sunset Lake Elementary school got its chance to shine when the Vicksburg School Board held its monthly meeting there. Principal Amie McCaw headed up presenters with a big thank you to her PTSO officers, school resource officer Derek Guthrie and the teachers in her building.
“Literacy on fire” is the way she characterized the goal of a three-year High Impact Leadership grant the school received in the 2017-18 school year from Western Michigan University.
Sustaining literacy connects the building’s library with the classroom, the summer reading program and the parents, she said.
The culture in the school, the leadership, the academic team and the behavior strategies were all discussed in the presentation to the board.
Alyssa Thompson, community education director, revisited the over 20 percent growth in Kids Club last year. “This is a phenomenal program,” Steve Goss proclaimed as he has two youngsters enrolled. “My son Zachery asked if he could stay another hour past his pickup time just yesterday.”
Goss, who serves as assistant superintendent for finance, reported that the district enrollment count of 2,663 students was preliminary but is about 40 above the budgeted count. “Our small predicted shortfall for this school year of $43,000 will come close to being erased with the state’s per-pupil payment expected in October.”