LAUREL HILL — Laurel Hill School Principal Lee Martello said she’s been anxiously perusing Department of Education reports each day this week waiting for school grades to be announced.
This morning the good news came in: Laurel Hill jumped from a D to an A school in just a year.
“I interrupted classes and made a school-wide announcement,” Martello said.
At first teachers and students peeked into the hallways from their classrooms. Then the celebration erupted.
“It was like New Year’s Eve,” Martello said. “People were in the halls cheering and high-fiving.”
SUPPORT FOR HARD WORK
The state’s school grading system is based on points accumulated in reading, math, science and writing. Laurel Hill needed to raise its writing grades in particular following the 2012-13 D grade, Martello said.
The year before the school dropped from a B to a C.
Martello credited the dramatic improvement to an all-around effort by Okaloosa School District personnel as well as her faculty, staff and students.
“I think it is the result of hard work and the support from the district, and the teachers taking that support and running with it,” Martello said.
She also credited School Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson’s centralized budgeting process.
“It put resources into schools that couldn’t afford them,” Martello said. “We were able to take those resources and use them.”
‘TIRED OF THE STIGMA’
Math teacher Daniel Smith said his students were among those cheering the news.
“I was interested to see how excited the kids were about the announcement,” he said. “They were as excited as the teachers.”
“They got tired of the stigma” that comes with a low grade, phys ed and computer science teacher Rodney Smith said.
Retiring school resource officer Dep. Joe McLaughlin said he “was a little bit down” as he faced his last day after an 18-year career at the school until Martello’s announcement.
“That news just perked me up,” he said.
McLaughlin said as part of “a big family up here,” last year’s D grade hit everyone at the school very hard.
“That really kinda took the wind out of my sails,” McLaughlin said. “I take that kind of personally. Then this news comes this morning and everybody’s smiling. This school is the backbone of this community and this A shows how hard everybody’s worked.”
SWEET CELEBRATION
Jackson, who is from Laurel Hill, said she was nearly deafened when Martello called and held up the phone so the superintendent could hear the celebrations in Laurel Hill School’s hallways.
“My goodness gracious! I could not be more excited for a group of people,” Jackson said. “It is just incredible. I knew they were working hard, but I could just not believe the sheer increase. This is a direct result of their work. That’s when celebrations are the sweetest.”
While educators have been working hard, Jackson also credited the Hoboes themselves for accepting the challenge of improving their school.
“Those kids have been working hard too, bless their hearts,” she said. “Those teachers have gone above and beyond, and they made sure the kids worked just as hard as they did.
“I am so proud of all of them, I can just hardly stand it. I just think it’s great news,” Jackson said.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill School celebrates increase from D to A school