New year holds plenty of promise for Bartlesville Public Schools

(Published Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007 in Examiner-Enterprise)

The new year has arrived, and with it comes plenty of promise for the Bartlesville Public School District .

In 2007, we plan to continue improving our test scores as well as our gifted and talented program. Our teachers will continue to train and hone their craft in order to provide our students with the best possible instruction.

Also, we'll open our arms to the new students and their families who are arriving in town, eager to prove to them that in Bartlesville , we're intent on offering a first-class education.

As always, it's a good time to be a Bruin.

As part of a top-rate education, we aim to provide our students with the best facilities in which to learn. To that end, we have added several new facilities to the Bartlesville High School campus in recent years, including the Fine Arts Center , the Science Wing and the BHS Fieldhouse, which was unveiled on Dec. 3. A 2,200-seat facility, the BHS Fieldhouse can play host to sporting events such as basketball and volleyball as well as special occasions like graduation and prom night.

The improvements to the Bartlesville High School campus – which also included additional athletic fields, a new parking area, an environmental lab, and heating, air and ventilation work – were made possible by the generosity of the community, which passed a $30.5 million bond issue in May of 2001. A media center and connecting link should be completed toward the beginning of the 2007-08 school year.

In 2007, we hope to further upgrade our facilities through another bond proposal, expected to be $29 million over six years. If passed, the money raised would go toward renovation work on three elementary schools – Wayside, Woodrow Wilson and Ranch Heights – as well as the Bartlesville Mid-High School . Other areas which would see benefits would be technology, transportation, fine arts, athletics and curriculum materials.

Our teachers are quite adept at getting the best out of our students. As evidence of this fact are our Academic Performance Index test scores. Since API testing was initially implemented in 2002, the Bartlesville Public Schools' district score has increased every year. API scores are based primarily on state test scores in math and reading as well as overall school attendance, and the best possible score is a 1,500. Our district API score in 2006 was 1,327, which far surpassed the state average of 1,180.

With the new year dawning, we expect continued gains with regards to our test scores in the API as well as other areas.

The past year saw four more of our instructors earn National Board Certified Teacher status. The quartet included Debbie French (first-grade teacher, Richard Kane Elementary School ), Susie Mattke (sixth-grade teacher, Central Middle School ), Stephanie Harris (special education teacher, Jane Phillips Elementary School ) and Julia Quinn (sixth-grade teacher, Madison Middle School ). Each teacher will receive a $5,000 stipend from the state in recognition of their achievement. The Bartlesville Public School District now boasts 27 National Board Certified Teachers.

Within the BPS, we boast a fine gifted and talented program. But as is the case in all areas, we strive for improvement. We recently created a Gifted and Talented Task Force, which is examining the program and offering recommendations. The task force, which began its work in September, is comprised of parents, classroom teachers, gifted and talented teachers, building administrators, central office administrators and school board members.

Through the work of the task force, we eventually hope to have a gifted and talented program which can serve as a model throughout Oklahoma .