St. Mary Parish Superintendent Leonard Armato announced today the appointment of Ms. Claire Guarisco as Supervisor of Child Nutrition; she replaces Ms. Mary Grimm-Howard, who is retiring after 43 years of service.

The Louisiana Department of Education has announced changes to the state-wide testing:

• Testing will occur in only one phase this year. ELA and math assessments in grades 3-8 will be offered both online and on paper, with districts choosing the option that best meets their needs on a school-by-school basis. Note: In years hence, grades 5 through 8 assessments will be fully online. A decision as to which grade level(s) St. Mary will use online or paper methods is due to LDOE by early February.
• Louisiana will conduct all paper-based, grades 3 through 8 assessments in ELA, math, and science during April 25 to 29. For online testing, the ELA and math window will take place from April 18 to May 6.
• The social studies assessment in grades 3 through 8 will be an online field test with a paper form available for grades 3 and 4. The field test will be offered from May 9 to 13. 
• The following resources are being provided by the Department of Education:
• A list of allowable devices and related technology specifications for use in online testing
• Paper practice tests will be available in December
• Online practice tests will be available in January.
• The state will no longer fund the EXPLORE exam in grades 8 and 9.

Congratulations to the St. Mary Parish Principals of the Year.  Selected by the St. Mary Parish Principal's Association, these individuals have been acknowledged by their peers for their exemplary contributions to the profession:

• Elementary:  Ms. Shannon Hoffpauir (M. E. Norman Elementary School)
• Middle: Ms. Magdalene Drexler (B. E. Boudreaux Middle School)
• High: Mr. Milton "Mickey" Fabre (Morgan City High School)

St. Mary Parish Schools commemorated Veterans Day with programs designed to not only inform students about the contributions of our military, but also to honor veterans for their service. Veterans were treated with refreshments, certificates, pins, and performances by students from BVES, BES, Maitland, Norman, Raintree, Shannon, BJHS, MCJHS, BHS, Centerville, and MCHS. 

Mrs. Zora Bergeron’s Talented Art students at Watts, Shannon, and BJHS decorated Christmas ornaments to be displayed at the governor’s mansion. The pictures illustrate some of their creative work.

Students throughout the state are receiving PARCC test results this week.  A parent guide to understanding and interpreting the student score report has been made available here. 

The Red Ribbon Committee, a part of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program, rolled out several events and activities during the month of October that focused on student safety, including National Unity Day and Red Ribbon Week.

Louisiana Association of Computer-Using Educators (LACUE) has announced that two St. Mary Parish teachers will be honored at the organization's annual conference in December as regional winners  Congratulations to

• Brooke Quick (Bayou Vista Elementary) – Region 3 Elementary Teachers of the Year
• Cheryl Darce (St. Mary Parish Virtual Learning Program) – Region 3 Secondary Teacher of the Year

The LA Dept. of Education released school performance scores for high schools today. School performance scores for high schools are measured by calculating student proficiency in core courses through end-of-course testing, student readiness for postsecondary studies through nationally-based ACT tests, a school’s graduation rate index, and strength of diploma. Additionally, schools have the option to earn a maximum of 10 progress points for demonstrating significant growth among low-performing subgroups that exceed predetermined growth targets.

LDOE provided districts with 2014-15 PARCC testing results for English language arts and math today. St. Mary Parish students in grades 3 through 8 met or exceeded state proficiency averages in both ELA and math by scoring at the basic or above levels in ten of the twelve tests.