An “Innovative Zone” designation will be sought for Williamson High School in the next several weeks with the aim of providing teachers with flexibility regarding the school calendar and the opportunity to use creative strategies in the classroom.

That’s the word from Principal Johnny Branch, who discussed the new initiative supported by Gov. Joe Manchin as he addressed members and guests of the Williamson Kiwanis Club Monday night at its weekly dinner at The Brass Tree.

Kiwanis President June Blevins conducted the meeting. Branch was introduced by Williamson Mayor and Kiwanian Darrin McCormick. He and his wife, Jacqueline Branch, a member and vice president of the Mingo County Board of Education, were guests at the meeting. They have lived in Williamson for 17 years and enthusiastically endorse it as their home.

#Branch made it clear that he was not present to talk about consolidation of Mingo County’s five high schools in the next decade, “even though I have been a frequent participant in discussing it.” (Consolidation is tentatively set for 2011.)

“I am talking about what we might do to our high school that might make it better,” said Branch. He and other school leaders in West Virginia who are interested in their schools becoming Innovative Zones” have until Dec. 29 to submit applications.

The principal told his listeners, “The faculty and leadership of Williamson High School are taking a newly created opportunity to make changes to the structure and curriculum of the 100-year-old institution in hopes of improving student achievement and of better preparing its students to participate in the 21st Century global workplace.”

He explained that School Innovation Zones is a new initiative supported by the Governor and introduced by State Senator Earl Ray Tomblin (of Logan). Separtate lawmakers approved legislation in a special session last spring, giving up to $500,000 to West Virginia schools willing to make vast changes in how schools normally operate.

#The idea is to utilize new strategies and even give teachers and students the flexibility to attend school year-round, if desired, as one way to better student achievement.

The legislation requires that 80 percent of a school’s personnel who would be affected by the change (including teachers, principals and counselors) must vote to allow it. From Branch’s observation of the preliminary interest of WHS’s personnel, it appears the vote is “yes.”

Branch noted that school innovation zones are designed to give schools the opportunity to re-imagine the way they educate students and to design innovative strategies to support student learning that may ordinarily be hampered by state code and regulation.

He explained that through careful evaluation of WHS’s effectiveness, he and his faculty identified certain weaknesses in mathematics and “the fact that many students are not as prepared for college as they should be.” He cited the need for students to increase their ability to spell, write and use good grammar.

#He pointed to the graduation rate which, although improving, is still not what it should be. For instance: two years ago the school’s graduation rate was 67.4 percent of the students. On the national level last year, the school had 80 percent of its class to graduate, which means there was a 20 percent dropout rate. Branch also reported the school has gained 50 students in the last two years.

“Students get frustrated at times and drop out of school,” he noted. “Williamson High used to be a jewel of a school but has lost its luster.”

But, improvements already are underway, said Branch

“Williamson High School has a rich tradition of academic excellence, but traditions mean very little if you can’t sustain results,” he said. It was after the legislature passed the innovation idea that Branch floated the idea of applying for a zone in conversations with his school’s staff.

“They were intrigued from the start,” said Branch. “The idea of being able to re-create or transform a school was quite exciting. We have all said from time to time, ‘If I had an opportunity to do things differently, I would....’ Now we really can.”

The principal reported that in meetings of the Williamson High School professional learning communities, the faculty has been introducing research and hammering out the specifics of their plan to present to the Innovation Zone selection committee in December.

Changes to the curriculum and innovations designed to better ensure success for students at-risk for dropping out are two components of the plan, Branch explained. Other innovations are designed to better prepare students for some type of training beyond high school.

“We are not just flying blind into this thing,” he said. “We have sought out the advice and help of certain experts in various fields of study. Some of the ideas we have, we are trying to model in a limited way. Hopefully, the innovations we hope to implement will find success and will serve as a model for other schools.”

Branch stresses that the goal of an innovative Williamson High School is to assure that all students who enter high school, finish high school with the skills necessary to move on to their next learning experience in their journey toward taking a competitive role in the 21st Century world.

If WHS is subsequently designated an innovation zone, further planning and technical assistance, provided by the state Department of Education, will take place in the spring. State officials are expected to approve a minimum of 10 innovation zones. Implementation of the innovations would begin next fall (2010).

Branch noted that West Virginia’s School Innovation Zones initiative has also caught the interest of the Obama administration, which is encouraging states to compete for nearly five billion dollars in Race-to-the-Top education fundings.