10-31-12 —     Starting November 7, the school day will be extended for Monticello  High School students, following action taken by the Monticello  Independent Board of Education on Tuesday, October 23.

    Roger Keith, middle/ high school principal, proposed a schedule  change to the board which will extend the school day by 20 minutes  for high school students only. He added that there is a three-fold  purpose to adding the extra time to each school day.

    The first reason is to focus on the RTI (Response to Intervention)  for Remediation and Enrichment, which is required by law, noted  Keith. The second reason for the extended school day is to allow for  advisor/advisee time every two weeks. This will allow faculty members  

to spend one-on-one time with each student and offer guidance on an  individual basis. Finally, increased student achievement is the third  reason for the schedule change.

    The board approved the schedule change, which means that beginning  November 7 the school day will be from 7:45 a.m. to 3:05 p.m. for  high school students only.

    As the school faculty strives to enhance student achievement, Keith  had some good news for board members. He noted that Monticello School  is required to turn in quarterly reports and they receive feedback  from those reports. Keith stated that each school  involved is rated  

in seven different categories, and the highest score in each category  is Level 4. According to Keith, Monticello scored a Level 3 in each  of the categories, making them one of the highest ranked schools  participating.

    In other action, the board recognized Gregory Chaney, who updated  board members on the MISAGA (Monticello Independent Secondary  Alternative Graduation Academy) program. Chaney talked about the most  recent student to graduate from the MISAGA program, noting that there  

are four more students in the program who are on track to graduate  with a high school diploma this year. Chaney added that, including  the students enrolled in the program this year, there are over a  dozen students who will have a high school diploma who probably would  not have received one otherwise.

    Chaney pointed out that the MISAGA program has helped the graduation  rate and that the program strives to decrease the number of barriers  students have to so they can graduate and receive a diploma.

    In other news, the board:

    • was informed that the release date for state test scores is now  set for November 2.

    • approved PSD F-10-6 salary schedule for the 2012-13 school year.