Berryville board approves change in grading system for middle school

Berryville Middle School has joined the elementary and intermediate schools, going to a standards-based grading system and doing away with traditional letter grades.

The board of education approved the change at its regular monthly meeting held Sept. 22.

“It goes away from the traditional A, B, C, D, F to a 1 through 5 system,” superintendent Owen Powell said, adding that “A 1 would be that the student is not understanding the standard, and then level 5 would be the student is exceeding the knowledge of the standard.

“So, it’s a numbered system instead of a lettered system, and it helps reflect really more about what the student knows with the standard.”

Many districts across the state are using the system for younger-grade students, Powell said.

“Our elementary and intermediate students have already been doing it, and teachers really like it,” he said. “Parents are getting to like it. They’re learning about it and getting to like it more. It’s a change of mindset, a little bit, going from a letter grade to a numbered system, but it really does reflect more about what the student is learning by standards.”

The new grading system is currently in place.

OTHER APPROVALS

The board approved the purchase of a new Bluebird bus at a cost of $161,862, Powell said.

“They told me if we ordered now we could have it by possibly December, the latest January,” he said. “I was a little bit surprised with that. It was a good surprise that we can get it sooner than what I really thought. Ordering it now, I figured we’d have it by the start of next school year, but we’ll have it mid-year this year, so that’s a good thing.”

The Bluebird-style buses are flat-nose, a preference of the district, Powell said.

“To us, they’re just a little safer,” he said. “The visibility is better and the turning radius is better on them. They’re usually a couple thousand dollars more than a long-nose bus, but we like them, our drivers like them, and we feel like they’re a little bit safer.”

The board also approved a change to the district’s six-year master plan, with the addition of a new HVAC system to Bobcat Arena added to the list, Powell said.

“That’s a big one,” he said. “When you go to replacing units like that, you get into $300,000 to $400,000. Thankfully, that’s going to be put on the list, and hopefully we’ll get some partnership help with that.”

The board also approved increasing the pay of district interpreters from $15 to $25 “to try to be more competitive” with other districts, Powell said.

The Berryville High School graduation ceremonies for the spring were also approved by the district and will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 17.