Gibson County Special School District lands in the top

One local school district is performing at the top of their class, but what goes in to achieving those scores and how do they plan to keep them there?

The Tennessee Board of Education released the 2019 report card and Gibson County Special School District ranked seventh in the state for their overall success rate.

But how did they do it?

“Put in front of them the rigorous text and the rigorous problems as much as possible and to be prepared for that", says English teacher, Kelli Duck.

Kelli Duck teaches English at South Gibson high school, one of the nine schools in the district.

She says she is glad to see the hard work pay off.

“And so it’s just awesome to know that after all the hard work that we’ve put in like our staff in general everybody is seeing the results we have been hoping for", says Duck.

The district performed better in every subject except social studies…

But they ended the year above the state success rate by almost fifteen percent.

Teachers throughout the district prepare their students each day, but it is ultimately up to the students to study and do well on the tests.

Erica carpenter – junior

Junior at South Gibson high school, Erica Carpenter, says, “memorizing equations is kind of hard but all my math teachers in the past have been really good at study guides and practice problems to help us.”

The district says that this growth shows more than academic achievement it shows that they are preparing students for life outside of high school.

“There’s really a lot of really good programs that kind of help anyone like whatever they are interested in they can be involved in classes and learn to prepare after high school", says sophomore, Sophie Browning.

And how do they plan to stay in the top ten of the state? Duck says they are starting by looking at areas they need to improve in.

“When we get our test scores back we look at our low areas so where can we improve what can we do to improve in that area", says Duck.

The teachers and students plan to continue achieving here at South Gibson high school. In Medina, for 39 News, I’m Imani Williams.