Reflecting on his first year as Metter High principal, John Jordan said, "I feel like we've had a lot of highlights ... and I'm very proud, first and foremost, of the graduation rate, 78.9 percent.
"I'm very proud of each one of those students and very proud of the effort the teachers are putting in, the parents, the community and all school level personnel.
"I'm honored to work with professionals who care about students and student achievements. I believe our students are the best in the state and they deserve our best effort."
But, Jordan said, reflecting on the successes of his first year also makes him realize there is much to be done this year.
"As proud as I am of the 78.9 percent graduation rate and each one of those students in the graduation class of 2009, we still have a lot of work to do. That graduation rate represents to me that we have 21.2 percent of our students (in that class) who did not graduate.
"The goal is for every child to graduate and be prepared for colleges and careers."
To achieve that goal, Jordan said special effort will be made to target 9th and 10th graders.
"Across the nation, students who do drop out of high school traditionally drop out between 9th and 10th grade, so we have to do a good job of keeping students in school, particularly in those grade levels. Right now, there are 100 percent of incoming 9th graders ready for graduation. Now, at the end of the year, how many are still on track?"
Jordan said to encourage students to stay in school, several new incentives have been planned, as well as continuation
of incentives already in place.
The Academic Acceleration/Tiger Break Time will allow students who are on the mastery level and caught up with all work in their classes to have a special morning break.
Students who are behind or need to do make-up work will have this opportunity to meet with the teacher and get work caught up.
The tier honor graduate program, which will be implemented beginning this year, is also an opportunity that Jordan is pleased to offer.
"I'm very excited about that, about students challenging themselves to take more rigorous classes to help prepare them for colleges and careers."
Another change this year, and one that parents and students need to be especially aware of, is the change in class time.
"School time is a little different this year," Jordan said. First period will begin at 7:55 a.m. and there will be no homeroom. Last year, students were to report to their homeroom a few minutes earlier.
"We will have advisement periodically to help students focus on attendance, grades and progress," Jordan said. There will be four particular areas of focus in the new year, Jordan said: Continued growth to help more students graduate; increase in state testing achievement levels; attendance and continued strengthening of partnerships with parents and the community.
"I believe it is imperative that we improve in attendance,"
Jordan said. "It is very difficult for students to learn when they are not with us. We need parent support to ensure that students attend and that they are learning."

Courtesy of Metter Advertiser