Editorials - 08/08/02

New policies, new faces, new year

Every year brings its own set of joys and sorrows for local students, and this year is no exception. If anything, it promises more than average change for our school children.

Local schools ­ like their counterparts across the nation ­ will grapple with new federal legislation that mandates no child be left behind. Schools will no longer be "graded" on the average performance of their students but will be required to provide the tools that will help each child and each subgroup of students make visible progress.

This will come on top of the pressure North Carolina already has placed on students at certain "gateway" years. Third-, fifth- and eighth-graders must pass state-mandated end-of-the-year tests in order to be promoted to the next grade.

Local students will find some new programs in place aimed at helping them succeed. Smoky Mountain High will introduce its Freshman Framework, a team-teaching approach designed to ease ninth-graders' transition into high school and increase student achievement while reducing failure and dropout rates.

Because school officials believe students must be present to reach the desired goals, a new attendance policy mandates doctors' notes for absences longer than two days.

School officials passed a sweeping new student dress code last May aimed at eliminating apparel that could prove distracting to students and faculty. Among other things, the policy states that Jackson County school children may no longer wear tank tops or expose their midriffs while at school.

New faces will replace familiar ones at several schools. SMHS will have new coaches for five varsity sports, the other Smokey Mountain (Elementary) has a new principal and Fairview has a different assistant principal, though Dennis Proffitt is no stranger to the school's students and parents.

The back-to-school rush is even affecting our newsroom this year. Our excellent intern, David Bailey, will leave The Herald after this issue for his final year at Western Carolina University.

David has been an asset to our paper and is certainly a credit to his university. We'll miss him, and we know he'll continue to do well.

It's a new year. Our wish for David ­ and for all our county's students ­ is that it will be their best and most productive year to date.

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