The Yazoo City Municipal School District has been awarded more than $1.8 million that will provide additional resources for Woolfolk Middle School to substantially raise the achievement of students in their lowest-performing schools.
“Teachers and administrators across the Yazoo City Municipal School District work hard every day to make sure that our boys and girls receive a quality education, but they need adequate resources to succeed in this mission,” said Dr. Darron Edwards, Superintendent of the Yazoo City Municipal School District.
Woolfolk was one of nine schools across the state to be awarded the School Improvement Grant from the Mississippi Department of Education during the June State Board Meeting.
“This support will maintain the great momentum we gathered last year as we were able to see gains in the learning outcomes of students and the strategic financial decisions that we were able to make to improve the operations of the district,” Edwards added.
School Improvement Grants are provided to increase student achievement and teacher/principal effectiveness in the persistently lowest-achieving Title I or Title I-eligible schools.
“We are very pleased that the Mississippi Department of Education is making this investment in the future of Woolfolk,” said Torrey A. Hampton, Principal of Woolfolk Middle School.
School Improvement Grants (SIGs), authorized under section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), are grants to state educational agencies (SEAs) that SEAs use to make competitive subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to use the funds to improve learning outcomes for students.
“By helping schools that are hard-pressed for resources, this funding will also help to build Yazoo City’s next generation of leaders,” Hampton added.
This four-year award begins immediately, with the first year serving as a planning/pre-implementation year. The grant also allows for one year of capacity building to transition from the grant and to sustain the lessons learned so that the school can continue to improve student achievement as a daily, common practice.
“The announcement of this award was a great day for the boys and girls in the Yazoo City Municipal School District, but more importantly it was a great day for the city, as it gives us the opportunity to strengthen educational outcomes which will affect every aspect of continued growth for our city,” Edwards added.
