School Focus
M
WELCOME
Winter 2021 | VOL. 5 | ISSUE 1
CONTRIBUTORS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ississippi educators met unprec-
Nathan Oakley
edented challenges head-on this
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Patrice Guilfoyle
academic year with innovative
teaching methods and sheer determination to
MANAGING EDITOR
continue instruction no matter the climate or
Carl Smith
environment, and we here at the Mississippi
EDITOR
Department of Education (MDE) could not be
Heather Craig
prouder of those dedicated to public education. In this issue of School Focus, we’ll reflect on a few of the initiatives sparked by the COVID-19 outbreak and look ahead at a few that will
DESIGNER
Amanda Gronewold
WRITERS
greatly improve educational opportunities and outcomes across the state. After classrooms went virtual last academic year and digital instruction became a new normal, the Legislature helped us provide technology to school districts in need to ensure students continued to learn (p. 6). I’d like to personally thank everyone involved with making this program — Mississippi Connects — both a reality and a success in such a short
Heather Craig Will Graves Amanda Gronewold Carl Smith Brock Turnipseed All photos were submitted by the MDE or their respective districts unless otherwise noted.
amount of time. Our feature story discusses a transformative partnership between Mississippi State University (MSU) and the Starkville Oktibbeha
ON THE COVER
Consolidated School District that will expose students of on-campus learning environments not found anywhere else in the district (p. 14). Additionally, the new campus will allow MSU College of Education students — the next generation of teachers — to receive hands-on learning experiences and classroom observations unlike any they’ve had in the past. I’m excited to see how new social emotional learning standards (p. 22), high-quality instructional materials (p. 28) and computer science curricula available to students as early as middle school (p. 30) also improve learning outcomes in the future. These stories, along with features on Mississippi’s Administrator (p. 10), Teacher (p. 20) and Parent (26) of the Year, and other news and recog-
Photo by Megan Bean, MSU Office of Public Affairs
nitions in this issue highlight the great things happening in our schools.
Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District
Thank you for being part of educating all of Mississippi’s children.
Superintendent Eddie Peasant (right) tours the newly
Nathan Oakley
constructed Partnership Middle School with Mississippi
Chief Academic Officer
State University President Mark Keenum in July
Mississippi Department of Education
before the start of the 2020-2021 academic year. Read more on p. 14.
School Focus
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Winter 2021
