A NEW YEAR WITH PRINCIPAL TRIBBLE

When Garth Garris retired during the winter of 2016 as Elkmont's High School principal, Bill Tribble, was selected to join our Hilltop family.  We met him in an interview (Meet Elkmont's New Principal) when he took over the helm in March.  He said he wanted to observe how the school worked those few months before school was out before anything was changed.  He wanted to improve what was needed and to leave in place what didn't need fixed. 

It is now time to start a new school year and Hill Spirit dropped in to visit Mr Tribble last week to hear what is new for this school year.

The first item on the list is using the data collected to improve instruction.  Many times all this information is gathered, put on an Excel sheet or turned into the state but not used at the school level. Mr. Tribble thinks that these stats can shine a light on what areas need to be changed and what  only needs a little fine tuning to make our school better.

A new department is being rolled out this year, "The Business Academy".  Elkmont hasn't had a business teacher for several years but one has been hired.  She is in charge of developing the programs.  The Academy will be rolled out this year with eighth graders taking the Career Prep course.  Ninth graders will be exposed to Personal Finance. Hopefully, Dave Ramsey principles will be part of that course. Additional courses will be added to include 10-12 grade in the next few years.

Another change will be the check-in/out procedure.  It will be a computerized system and parents will be able to access it at home. Walking in to the office and having Miss Gina take care of visitor passes, and signing kids in or out is gone.  Primary goals are safety and making the process easier for parents.  

The new process will be:
1. Picture id (such as a driver's license) will be scanned to come on campus.
2. Visitor's pass with that picture will be printed out.
3. Unlimited amount of family/friends can be listed as contacts.
4. Changes to your child's information can be done from home 24/7.

Elkmont has been classified as a Title One school and will be given additional funds.  A federal grant will be paying for free breakfast for all students.  Breakfast will be served in the classrooms for Pre K thru 5 grade.

Items of note:
*Mac Books will be provided for grades 3-8.  Parents will need to receive DPI training before laptops are assigned.  One part of Open House, scheduled for August 2, is this DPI  training.

*Morning Drop Off 
Please don't open the car door and drop your child off at the Ag building parking lot or in the road around the school.  With so many cars, safety is an issue. Entry points for car riders (any age student)  is the kindergarten building and the new gym/elementary school entrance.

*Mark your calendar on September 6 @ 6 pm for the first PTO meeting.