Principal says parents’ action helped score ‘Blue Ribbon’ honors

By Emily Richmond

Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 | 2 a.m.

At Gray Elementary School, Principal Carl Johnson wanted to encourage more parental involvement.

So he leaned on his teachers.

“I told my staff, ‘You can’t come to me and complain about a kid’s behavior if you haven’t already called the parents,’ ” Johnson said. “That has to be the first step.”

Johnson even requires teachers to maintain logbooks detailing contact with parents.

As a result, parents are more connected to their children’s learning, and that has contributed to better academic performance, said Johnson, who took over as Gray’s principal 4 1/2 years ago.

Last week Gray was named a “Blue Ribbon” school, the highest designation given by the U.S. Education Department.

Gray shares the honor with just 263 public schools and 50 private schools nationwide. To be eligible, a campus must score in the top 10 percent statewide on standardized tests, and have at least 40 percent of its at-risk students show significant improvement. At Gray, nearly half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which defines them as “at risk.”

Gray’s success is based on a combination of dedicated teachers and staff, and a student body that takes learning seriously, Johnson said.

What’s difficult for Johnson is the likelihood of losing three of his teachers next month because student enrollment is below projections. Friday was the official “count day” used by the Nevada Education Department to determine per-pupil funding levels for each campus. After count day, the district typically reshuffles teachers among campuses that have more — or fewer — students than expected.

As of this week Gray had 522 students, including 20 who showed up after Labor Day.

“Those 20 students probably saved one of our teachers (from being transferred),” Johnson said.

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Higher education has become more affordable for tens of thousands of Southern Nevada students, thanks to new legislation that expands and reforms the federal college loan system.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will increase federal funding for higher ed loans and “will help Nevada’s students and dislocated workers obtain the education and training they need to compete in the workforce, and it will do so in a fiscally responsible way,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who supported the legislation.

Also as a result of the bill, Nevada’s K-12 public schools will share $25 million over the next two years for campus modernization, renovation and repair. The legislation also includes an amendment by Titus for a new advisory council, which will report to the U.S. education secretary and recommend ways to make public schools more “green.”

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who also supported the legislation, noted that it will shift new federal student loans to a new program where the money comes directly from the government, rather than from outside lenders subsidized by taxpayer dollars. The shift will ensure students can get low interest rates no matter what’s happening in the market, Berkley said.

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Students from nine Clark County high schools will learn the finer points of philanthropy and community service through a new Public Education Foundation program that launches this week.

The “We R Community” program “empowers students and provides them with valuable real world experience by taking them through the grant-making process from start to finish,” said Judi Steele, the foundation’s president.

The high school students will review grant proposals from local nonprofit groups, award them a total of $20,000 that has been contributed by local businesses, and volunteer with community organizations.

The kickoff will be Wednesday with a workshop for students and teachers at the corporate office of NV Energy, one of the initiative’s lead sponsors.

This is the second year of the program, which was tested at four campuses during the 2008-09 academic year. The grant recipients chosen by the students included Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, Boys Town Nevada and campus-based drug prevention initiatives at local high schools.