By Jamie Webb The Livingston Parish Newsbloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/livingston...2 Back to School, Thursday, July 10, 2014 Stories Curriculum …Page 2

2 Back to School, Thursday, July 10, 2014

StoriesCurriculum ��…Page 2

Literacy & Technology Center ��…Page 3

School calendar ��…Page 4

School calendar (month by month) ��…Page 5

Summer construction ��…Page 6

Public schools of Livingston Parish ��…9-16

Substance abuse education ��…Page 17

School Board members ��…Page 21

Superintendent John Watson ��…Page 21

School resource officers ��…Page 21

Phyllis Guy Dance Center ��…Page 3

Dow Louisiana Federal Credit Union �� Page 6

Yale Dentistry ��…Page 7

Central Private ��…Page 8

Amite Christian School ��…Page 12

Dermatology Clinic & Cosmetic Center …Page 13

Community Christian Academy ��…Page 14

The Learning Tree �� …Page 14

School Days Uniforms ��…Page 15

Louisiana Dental Center ��…Page 17

Cellular Stuff ��…Page 18

Pelican State Credit Union �� Page 18

Rick Beringer DDS �� Page 19

Sport-N-Center �� Page 19

Denham Finance Inc� �� Page 22

AT&T �� Page 24

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By Jamie Webb The Livingston Parish News

LIVINGSTON — It might be dif-ficult to understand how teachers can teach English/Language Arts or math with-out textbooks, but this is the problem educators have faced since the new Common Core State Standards were imple-mented more than a year ago.

There are no textbooks cur-rently available that adhere to the Common Core State Stan-dards, so the School Board central office last school year ordered consumable work-books and other materials to supplement classroom in-struction, and they are doing this again this year.

“This will be the third year now that there has not been a textbook adoption because of how this is all up in the air,” Superintendent John Watson said.

Common Core is a set of standards that focus on in-creasing rigor, or the depth of knowledge students must have about a topic to gain a better understanding. These stan-dards, however, do not include a curriculum.

“We can’t afford just to sit around and wait for the answers, and we decided that a long time ago when we saw the direction this was going. We decided a long time ago we’ve got to become more self-sufficient,” Watson said.

Taking a proactive ap-proach, School Board officials last year selected a group of more than 75 teachers, super-visors and coordinators to come up with a curriculum aligned with Common Core and to assess and revise it as needed.

“There are 54 teachers and 14 supervisors and coordina-

tors at the central office,” Director of Curriculum Dawn Rush said. “The special ed group is another 8 or 10 that are revising from the special ed perspective,” she added.

Rush explained the selection process for this committee. “As central office personnel, we observe teachers, so we used what we know about the teachers in the classroom and the quality of their instruc-tion as well as principal rec-

ommendations. We took the two different lists and worked from there to create a team that would be willing to invest the time and energy in writ-ing curriculum.”

Some of the curriculum changes are a heavier focus on informational texts and incor-poration of nonfiction sources, including biographies, autobi-

Parish educators put together a curriculum

DaviD NormaND | The News

First graders Kaeden Esser and Addison Bond participate in a testing cheer during a “Rock the Test” rally to help prepare for LEAP, iLEAP, and IOWA standardized tests.

CURRICULUM Page 23

Back to School, Thursday, July 10, 2014 3

By McHugh David The Livingston Parish News

WALKER — The Livingston Parish Literacy and Technology Center here continues to expand its edu-cational offering to the residents of Livingston Parish. To facili-tate that growth, the center has hired a new director for their vocational education wing.

Kimberly Albin, formerly the Assistant Principal of Curricu-lum at Denham Springs High School, enters the position with vocational experience, mostly due to its presence at Denham High.

Albin administered more than 75 teachers and 1,500 students in roughly 76 subject areas at Denham Springs. She said guid-ing the 226 current students at the Literacy and Technology Center’s vocational wing won’t be very difficult; the important task is expanding the offering.

“We are trying to find courses and focuses that this location

can service, but our local high schools can’t,” Albin said. “The state is expanding the Jump Start program, and we’ve al-ready started it here.”

Jump Start is a new program under the auspices of the state Department of Education that places school districts, colleges, and local businesses into a col-laborative educational effort to provide students with a certifica-tion and career path.

“We want people to walk out of here with something in their back pocket,” Albin said, “whether that be a certification, a career goal, or both.”

Jump Start lists careers and coursework that are deemed “ac-ceptable” for graduation stan-dards, Albin said. Her goal is to take that list and cross-reference it with the local job market to find the best courses to offer

Duel credit: Parish gets a jump start

KimberLy aLbiN | sLU LiTeracy aND TechNoLogy ceNTer

Students in the vocational track at Southeastern’s Literacy and Technology Center in Walker par-ticipate in the Automotive class during the 2013-2014 school year. The class is sponsored by local auto dealerships, giving students a chance to gain experience with up-to-date car models.

CENTER Page 22

4 Back to School, Thursday, July 10, 2014 Livingston Parish Public Schools Post Office Box 1130 Livingston, Louisiana 70754 SCHOOL CALENDAR – 2014/2015 Planning/Preparation (TEACHERS and PRINCIPALS)* Tuesday, August 5, 2014 (Full Day) Planning/Preparation (TEACHERS and PRINCIPALS)* Wednesday, August 6, 2014 (Full Day) First Semester Begins (STUDENTS) Thursday, August 7, 2014 Parent/Teacher Conference Day Thursday, October 16, 2014 First Semester Ends (STUDENTS) Friday, December 19, 2014 Planning/Preparation (TEACHERS and PRINCIPALS)* Friday, January 9, 2015 (Full Day) Second Semester Begins (STUDENTS) Monday, January 12, 2015 Second Semester Ends (STUDENTS) Thursday, May 28, 2015 Second Semester Ends (TEACHERS and PRINCIPALS) Friday, May 29, 2015

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS (STUDENTS) Labor Day Monday, September 1, 2014 (1 Day) Livingston Parish Fair Friday, October 10, 2014 (1 Day) Parent/Teacher Conference Day Thursday, October 16, 2014 (1 Day) Election Day Tuesday, November 4, 2014 (1 Day) Convention and Thanksgiving Monday - Friday, November 24-28, 2014 (5 Days) Christmas and New Year’s Monday, December 22, 2014 - Friday, January 9, 2015 (15 Days) Classwork resumes Monday, January 12, 2015 Martin Luther King Day Monday, January 19, 2015 (1 Day) Mardi Gras Monday & Tuesday, February 16 & 17, 2015 (2 Days) Good Friday/Easter Friday, April 3, 2015 - Friday, April 10, 2015 (6 Days) Memorial Day Monday, May 25, 2015 (1 Day) *School staff will observe all holidays with the exception of those designated as for planning and in-services.

PROGRESS REPORTS TO BE ISSUED ELEMENTARY & JUNIOR HIGH

SECONDARY

Monday September 8, 2014

Wednesday November 12, 2014 Wednesday February 11, 2015

Friday April 24, 2015

Monday September 8, 2014 Wednesday October 8, 2014 Wednesday November 12, 2014 Wednesday February 11, 2015 Tuesday March 17, 2015 Friday April 24, 2015

GRADING PERIOD ENDS/ELEM. & JUNIOR HIGH

GRADING PERIOD ENDS/SECONDARY

Wednesday October 8, 2014 - 44 days Friday December 19, 2014 - 44 days Tuesday March 17, 2015 - 44 days Thursday May 28, 2015 - 45 days

Friday December 19, 2014 - 88 days Thursday May 28, 2015 - 89 days

REPORT CARDS TO BE ISSUED

ELEMENTARY AND JUNIOR HIGH

SECONDARY

Thursday October 16, 2014 Monday January 12, 2015 January 9, 2012 Wednesday March 25, 2015 Wednesday June 3, 2015

Monday January 12, 2015

Wednesday June 3, 2015


4 Independence Day

JULY 2014 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

JANUARY 2015 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

1-2 New Year’s Holidays 9 Teacher Professional Development Day 12 Students return 19 M.L. King Day

5-6 Teacher Professional Development Days 7* Students begin

AUGUST 2014 S M T W Th F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7* 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

FEBRUARY 2015 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

11 Progress Reports --all grade levels 16-17 Mardi Gras Holidays

1 Labor Day 8 Progress Reports --all grade levels

SEPTEMBER 2014 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

MARCH 2015 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

17 Grading period ends --Elementary & MS Progress Reports --HS Only 25 Report Cards issued --Elementary & MS

8 Grading period ends Progress Reports --HS only 10 LPPS Fair Day 16 Parent/Teacher Conference Day- No students 16 Report Cards Issued --Elem & MS only

OCTOBER 2014 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

APRIL 2015 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

3-10 Easter Holidays 24 Progress Reports --all grade levels

4 Election Day --240 day employees only 12 Progress Reports --all grade levels 24-28 Thanksgiving Holidays 27 Thanksgiving Day

NOVEMBER 2014 S M T W Th F S

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30

MAY 2015 S M T W Th F S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

25 Memorial Day --240 day employees only 28 Students Last Day Grading period ends --all grade levels 29 Teacher Last Day

19 Last day of first semester Grading period ends --all grade levels 22-31 Christmas Holidays 25 Christmas Day

DECEMBER 2014 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

JUNE 2015 S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

3 Report Cards issued

Livingston Parish Public Schools | 2014-2015 CALENDAR


Summer school construction humsBy John Dupont

The Livingston Parish NewsLIVINGSTON — The absence of students and teachers may give the impression that school buildings are dor-mant during the summer

School campuses remain full of activity once stu-dents and teachers leave for summer vacation – but for a different reason.

The summer break marks the time school systems tackle a long list of projects, ranging from routine main-tenance to major building plans.

It marks a particularly busy season for the Livings-ton Parish School System, which accommodates ap-proximately 25,830 students on 45 campuses.

The job does not get easier over time, either.

“We go through a long list of projects every summer,” Assistant Superintendent

Rick Wentzel said. “That list grows longer as we add more schools.”

The list includes work ranging from roofing and pavement of parking lots to addition of new buildings on campuses.

Many projects can only roll during the summer because of safety hazards that would come if carried out on a cam-pus full of students during the school year, Wentzel said.

“It’s always a busy summer here,” he said.

Principals and mainte-nance personnel pencil out the laundry list over the course of the school year.

The clock ticks the moment the final school bell rings.

“No sooner do the last teachers and students file out the school building, work-

CONSTRUCTION Page 7


Construction is under way on the new Albany field house to be completed at the end of 2014. The new facility will have football dressing rooms, film room, weight room, restrooms, concessions.


ers move in to clear out the classrooms and start work-ing,” Wentzel said. “The toughest part is hurrying up to get started.”

Roughly 10 weeks separate the end of one school year and the start of the next.

It’s not much time to expe-dite the work orders – and that does not include the built-in challenges.

“Weather sometimes becomes a major obstacle,” Wentzel said. “You can’t do much about it, so that’s why it’s so important that we hurry up and get started.

“It’s always our biggest issue,” he said. “We’re very fortunate, though, that we have great contractors who do their best to work around

Construction hits the ground running on last day of schoolFrom Page 6

CONSTRUCTION Page 18


Workers are busy adding a four classroom addition to the campus of Doyle Elementary School in Livingston. Summertime is always a race to complete needed campus renovations, additions and repairs during a 10-week window of opportunity in Livingston Parish.



Above, work crews removed old metal windows and are replacing them with more energy efficient ones at Denham Springs High School. Below is a classroom addition at North Corbin Elementary School.


albany High

29710 Mulberry Street, AlbanyPrincipal: Jill ProkopGrades: 9 - 12Phone: 567-9319Fax: 567-9162Number of students: 570Number of faculty: 35Start time: 7:18Dismissal: 2:30http://albanyhs.lpsb.orgRegistration for new students is on July 30 and 31 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

and 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

albany Lower elementary30051 W. School Street, AlbanyGrades: Pre-K-2Principal: Kathy StilleyPhone: 567-9281Fax: 567-2972http://albanyle.lpsb.orgNumber of students: 570Number of faculty: 38Start time: 8:20 a.m.Dismissal: 3:17 p.m.Registration is on July 28 and 30, both from 9 a.m. to 6

p.m. Open house for 1st and 2nd grade is on Aug. 5 at 6 p.m. Kindergarten parent meeting is on Aug. 8 at 9 a.m.

albany Middle29675 Reeves Lane, AlbanyPrincipal: Rachel JenkinsGrades: 5 - 8Phone: 567-5231Fax: 567-9177http://albanyms.lpsb.org/7 a.m. Car Drop BeginsStart time: 7:25 a.m. Dismissal: 2:19 p.m. Number of students: 579Number of faculty: 37

albany Upper elementaryPO Box 1750, AlbanyPrincipal: Debbie TateGrades: 3 - 4Phone: 567-5097Fax: 567-5085

http://albanyue.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:19 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:17 p.m.Number of students: 320Number of faculty: 24New student registration is on July 28 and 30 from 9 a.m.

to 2 p.m. Open house is Aug. 13 at 6 p.m.

Denham Springs elementary306 N. Range Ave., Denham SpringsPrincipal: Eric DiMariGrades: Pre-K - 5Phone: 665-5855Fax: 664-8672http://DenhamES.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:35 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:30 p.m.Number of students: 540Number of faculty: 37

Denham SpringsFreshman High

940 N Range Ave., Denham SpringsPrincipal: Ken MageeGrades: 9Phone: 665-7890Fax: 665-1865http://freshman.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:27 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:53 p.m. Number of students: 650Number of faculty: 34Student orientation for last names beginning with A - D on

July 31, 8 a.m.; E-K, July 31, 10 a.m.; L-R, Aug. 1, 8 a.m.; S-Z, Aug. 1, 10 a.m.

Denham Springs High1000 N. Range, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Kelly JonesGrades: 10 - 12Phone: 665-8851Fax: 665-4082http://DenhamHS.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:25 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:51 p.m. Number of students: 1,510Number of faculty: 85New student registration on July 30 and 31 from 9 a.m. to

noon.

LIVINGSTON PARISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS

JillProkop

KathyStilley

RachelJenkins

DebbieTate

EricDiMari

KenMagee

KellyJones


Denham Springs Jr. High401 Hatchell Lane, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Bryan WaxGrades: 6 - 8Phone: 665-8898Fax: 665-8601Start time: 8:10 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:30 p.m.http://denhamjh.lpsb.orgNumber of students: 875Number of faculty: 45Open house for 6th grade is on July 28; 7th grade, Aug. 4; and 8th grade, Aug.

5. All open houses start at 6 p.m.

Doyle elementary29285 South Range Road, LivingstonPrincipal: Donna SibleyGrades: Pre K - 6Phone: 686-2416Fax: 686-1500http://doylees.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:25 a.m.Dismissal time: 3:07 p.m.Number of students: 600Number of faculty: 41Registration begins July 28 from 9 a.m. to noon.

Doyle High20480 Circle Drive, LivingstonPrincipal: Tommy HodgesGrades: 6 - 12Phone: 686-2318Fax: 686-2701http://DoyleHS.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:25 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:25 p.m.Number of students: 534Number of faculty: 35

eastside elementary8735 Lockhart Road, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Kelly LaBauveGrades: Pre K - 5Phone: 791-8581Fax: 791-8582http://eastside.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:30 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:17 p.m. Number of students: 540Number of faculty: 25

New student registration is on July 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

French Settlement elementary15180 La. Hwy. 16, French SettlementPrincipal: Cindy GillGrades: Pre K - 6Phone: 698-6848Fax: 698-6849Start time: 8:30 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:24 p.m.http://FrenchES.lpsb.org Number of students: 530Number of faculty: 35Open house in on Aug 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

French Settlement High15875 La. Hwy. 16, French SettlementPrincipal: Lance HutsonGrades: 7 - 12Phone: 698-3561Fax: 698-6458http://FrenchHs.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:26 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:36 p.m. Number of students: 403Number of faculty: 25Open house is on Aug. 6 at 6 p.m.

Freshwater elementary1025 Cockerham Road, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Julie DugasGrades: K - 5Phone: 665-5371Fax: 664-6577http://freshwater.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:15 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:22 p.m. Number of students: 400Number of faculty: 30Registration is on July 31 from 8 a.m. to noon. Open

house for kindergarten is Aug. 13 at noon; 2nd and 4th grade, Aug. 19 at 6 p.m.; and 1st, 3rd and 5th grade, Aug. 21 at 6 p.m.

Frost elementary19672 La. Hwy. 42, LivingstonPrincipal: James ForbesGrades: Pre K - 8Phone: 698-3780Fax: 698-3126Start time: 7:55 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:53 p.m.


BryanWax

DonnaSibley

TommyHodges

KellyLaBauve

CindyGill

LanceHutson

Julie Dugas

JimForbes


http://www.ourfrostschool.comNumber of students: 378Number of faculty: 27Open house is on Aug. 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

gray’s Creek elementary11400 Hwy. 1033, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Melissa DoughertyGrades: Pre-K - 5Phone: 667-1808Fax: 667-3597www.oncoursesystems.com/school/webpage.

aspx?id=11137540Start time: 8:15 a.m.Dismissal time: 3:12 p.m. Number of students: 520Number of faculty: 36Meet the teacher on Aug. 7 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Holden School30120 LA 441, HoldenPrincipal: Paula GreenGrades: Pre K - 12Phone: 567-9367Fax: 567-5248http://Holden.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:45 a.m.Dismissal time: 2:55 p.m.Number of students: 720Number of faculty: 50New student registration is on July 25 - Aug. 5 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. High

school orientation is on July 31 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Juban Parc elementary12555 Brown Road, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Shanna SteedGrades: Pre-K - 5Phone: 665-4079Fax: 665-4114http://jubanparces.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:25 a.m.Dismissal time: 3:20 p.m.Number of students: 550Number of faculty: 33Meet the teacher is on Aug. 6 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Juban Parc Junior High12470 Brown Road, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Jeff Frizell

Grades: 6 - 8Phone: 664-1001Fax: 664-5000http://jubanparcjh.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:15 a.m.Dismissal time: 2:25 p.m. Number of students: 650Number of faculty: 366th grade orientation is on Aug. 6 at 5:30 p.m. Open house is

Aug. 11 at 6:30 p.m.

Levi Milton elementary31450 Walker North Road, WalkerPrincipal: Arlene WilsonGrades: Pre K - 5Phone: 664-9711Fax: 665-4415http://lmes.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:20 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:20 p.m. Number of students: 720Number of faculty: 45Meet and greet is on Aug. 6 for grades 1 - 5 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Lewis Vincentelementary

7686 Vincent Road, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Carol RobertsonGrades: K - 5Phone: 665-8198Fax: 665-9713http://Lewis.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:25 a.m.Dismissal time: 3:10 p.m.Number of students: 382Number of faculty: 28Meet the teacher is on Aug. 6 from 11 a.m. to noon.

Kindergarten parent meeting is on Aug. 13 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Live Oak elementary35194 Old Hwy. 16, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Michelle WheelerGrades: K - 5Phone: 665-6702Fax: 664-7910http://liveoakle.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:20 a.m.Dismissal time: 3:22 p.m.Number of students: 650Number of faculty: 36Registration is currently ongoing Monday through

Thursday, closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.


MelissaDougherty

PaulaGreen

ShannaSteed

JeffFrizell

ArleneWilson

CarolRobertson

MichelleWheeler


Live Oak HighP.O. Box 590, WatsonPrincipal: Tracy McRaeGrades: 9 - 12Phone: 665-8858Fax: 665-8850http://liveoakhs.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:14 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:23 p.m. Number of students: 1,300Number of faculty: 64Student orientation is on July 30 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. For seniors with last

names A-L, 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.; M-Z, 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. For juniors with last names A-L, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.; M-Z, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. For sophomores with last names A-L, noon to 1 p.m.; M-Z, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. For all freshman, orientation is on July 29. For last names A-L, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; M-Z, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. All students must be dressed in uniform. There will be a dress code check.

Live Oak Middle8444 Cecil Drive, WatsonPrincipal: Ryan HodgesGrades: 6 - 8Phone: 664-3211Fax: 664-1551

Start time: 7:15 a.m.Dismissal time: 2:40 p.m.Number of students: 1018Number of faculty: 51All orientations will be anytime between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. For 6th grade,

Aug. 4; 7th grade, Aug. 5; and 8th grade, Aug. 6.

Maurepas23923 Hwy. 22, MaurepasPrincipal: Kenny KraftGrades: Pre K-12Phone: 695-6111Fax: 695-3997http://maurepas.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:40 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:40 p.m. Number of students: 415Number of faculty: 34Open house for all grades will be on Aug. 6 at 6 p.m.

North Corbin elementary32645 North Corbin Road, WalkerPrincipal: Glenda NewmanGrades: Pre K - 5Phone: 686-9169


TracyMcRae

RyanHodges

KennyKraft

GlendaNewman


Fax: 686-9170Start time: 8:35 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:25 p.m.www.oncoursesystems.com/school/webpage.aspx?id=348128Number of students: 612Number of faculty: 41

North Corbin Junior High32645 North Corbin Road, WalkerPrincipal: Dennis DeLeeGrades: 6 - 8Phone: 686-2038, Fax: 686-2690http://207.5.43.193/ncjh/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspxStart time: 7:30 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:55 p.m. Number of students: 662Number of faculty: 40Kick off and open house will be on Aug. 4. For 6th grade, 8 a.m.

to 9:30 a.m.; 7th grade, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; and 8th grade, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

North Live Oak elementary36605 Outback Road, Watson

Principal: Michell StoneGrades: K - 5Phone: 667-3135Fax: 667-1994http://liveoakne.lpsb.orgStart time: 8 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:15 p.m. Number of students: 890Number of faculty: 44Open house for grades 1 - 2 is Aug. 5 at 6 p.m., grades 3 - 5, Aug. 6

at 6 p.m., and kindergarten, Aug. 13 at 10 a.m.

Northside elementary1090 Robbie Street, Denham SpringsPrincipal: JoAnn CookGrades: K - 5Phone: 664-4223Fax: 664-5660www.oncoursesystems.com/school/webpage.

aspx?id=454799&xpage=Start time: 7:40 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:40 p.m. Number of students: 450Number of teachers: 28Open house for kindergarten, 3rd and 5th grade is on Aug. 26 at 5:30 p.m.


DennisDeLee

MichellStone

JoAnnCook


Open house for 1st, 2nd and 4th grade is on Aug. 28 at 5:30 p.m.

Pine Ridge School30228 Travis Street, WalkerPrincipal: Tony TerryPhone: 664-4823Fax: 667-2984Start time: 7:45 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:10 p.m. Number of students: 30Number of faculty: 12

Seventh Ward elementary24495 La Hwy. 16Denham SpringsPrincipal: Stacey MiltonGrades: Pre K - 5Phone: 665-5815Fax: 665-7280www.seventhwardelem.com/seventhwardelemStart time: 7:45 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:37 p.m. Number of students: 325Number of faculty: 26

Meet the teacher is on Aug. 5. For grades 1 - 3, 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and grades 4 - 5, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

South Fork elementary23300 Walker South Road, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Allison RabornGrades: K - 5Phone: 664-2281Fax: 664-2282www.southforkelem.orgStart time: 8:25 a.m.Dismissal time: 3:25 p.m.Number of students: 450 Number of faculty: 26Open house for Pre-K and kindergarten is on Aug. 10. Open house for all

other grades is on Aug. 5.

South Live Oak elementary8400 Cecil Drive, WatsonPrincipal: Amy SavageGrades: Pre K - 5Phone: 667-9330http://LiveOakUE.lpsb.orgFax: 667-2713Start time: 8:10 a.m.


TonyTerry

StaceyMilton

AllisonRaborn

AmySavage


Dismissal time: 3:10 p.m. Number of students: 575Number of faculty: 39 (contined next page)Meet and greet is on Aug. 4 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Southside elementary1129 South Range, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Laura WilliamsGrades: Pre K - 5Phone: 665-5500Fax: 667-3171http://SouthsideES.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:40 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:40 p.m. Number of students: 550Number of faculty: 35New student registration will begin July 24 at 8 a.m. Open

house is on Aug. 5. For kindergarten, 2nd grade and 4th grade, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. For 1st, 3rd and 5th grade, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Supplies may be dropped off.

Southside Jr. High26535 La. Hwy. 16, Denham SpringsPrincipal: Carlos WilliamsGrades: 6 - 8

Phone: 664-4221Fax: 664-9061www.southsidejh.orgStart time: 7:35 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:37 p.m. Number of students: 492Number of faculty: 30

Springfield elementary25190 Blood River Road, SpringfieldPrincipal: Catherine MartinGrades: Pre K - 4Phone: 294-3398Fax: 294-6920http://springes.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:25 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:20 p.m. Number of students: 588Number of faculty: 43

Springfield High37322 La. Hwy. 42, SpringfieldPrincipal: Spencer HarrisGrades: 9 - 12


LauraWilliams

CarlosWilliams

Catherine Martin

Spencer Harris


Phone: 294-3256Fax: 294-4800http://SpringHs.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:25 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:33 p.m. Number of students: 345 Number of faculty: 30Registration for seniors and juniors is on July 31; sophomores, Aug. 1; fresh-

man, Aug. 4. Open house is on Aug. 6 at 6 p.m.

Springfield Middle24145 Coates Road, SpringfieldPrincipal: Michael DykesGrades: 5 - 8Phone: 294-3306Fax: 294-3307http://springms.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:25 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:29 p.m. Number of students: 400Number of faculty: 24

South Walker elementary13745 Milton Lane, WalkerPrincipal: Chad BroussardGrades: Pre K - 5Phone: 665-0446Fax: 665-0816http://southwalker.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:25 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:20 p.m. Number of students: 774Number of faculty: 44

Walker elementary13327 Wildcat Drive, WalkerGrades Pre K-5Principal: Bonnie CoxPhone: 665-5534Fax: 665-9951http://walkeres.lpsb.orgStart time: 8:20 a.m. Dismissal time: 3:27 p.m. Number of students: 600Number of faculty: 34Open house is on Aug. 5. For kindergarten through 2nd grade, 5 p.m. to 6

p.m. For grades 3 - 5, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Walker High12646 Burgess Avenue, WalkerPrincipal: Jason St. PierreGrades: 10 - 12Phone: 664-4825Fax: 664-4321http://walkerhs.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:25 a.m.Dismissal time: 2:20 p.m.Number of students: 1020Number of faculty: 60

Walker Freshman High13443 Burgess Ave, WalkerPrincipal: David Clark Grades: 9Phone: 664-0243Fax: 665-0512Start time: 7:27 a.m.Dismissal time: 2:27 p.m. Number of students: 450Number of faculty: 19Orientation is on Aug. 4 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Westside Jr. High12615 Burgess Avenue, WalkerPrincipal: Steve LinkGrades: 6 - 8Phone: 665-8259Fax: 665-8283http://westside.lpsb.orgStart time: 7:20 a.m. Dismissal time: 2:30 p.m. Number of students: 630Number of faculty: 35Class schedules, textbooks and supply list pick up is on July 29, 9 a.m. to 11

a.m.; July 30, 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; and July 31, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. New student orientation is on Aug. 4 at 6 p.m.

School Board Central Office13909 Florida Blvd., Livingston, La.Mailing address: PO Box 1130, Livingston, La 70754Main number 225-686-7044Fax number: 225-686- 3052Adult Education 225-667-9427Pupil Appraisal 225-667-2080Credit Union 225-664-9103


Michael Dykes

ChadBroussard

BonnieCox

JasonSt. Pierre

DavidClark

SteveLink


Substance abuse education

By Lisa Dowty The Livingston Parish News

The Livingston Parish Safe and Drug Free School program provides substance abuse prevention education and is required for all students.

The program is designed to build the strengths of students and school personnel in order to establish a safe and positive learning environment.

“Students are far more likely to realize their individual and academic potential in a supportive school en-vironment that is safe and free from violence, drugs and alcohol,” Federal Programs Coordinator Debbie Kropog said.

Like the D.A.R.E. Program, students are taught the effects of drug abuse that go beyond the physical effects and extend to emotional, social, and economic aspects of life.

Problem solving skills and strate-gies help students make informed de-cisions to resist drug use and violence.

Drug and alcohol abuse is one of the leading causes of injury and death in young people, but substance abuse can also lead to a long life full of physi-cal and mental problems.

“It is important to communicate to students that drug experimentation has a wide range of consequences from fatality to long-term mental and physical problems,” Kropog said.

Young adults who have untreated health problems such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress dis-order are more likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol.

Kropog said that experimentation can lead to dependency or addiction.

“Statistics show that those who suf-fer from dependency may use drugs or alcohol for a feeling of short-term re-lief,” Kropog said, “but in the process, they are worsening their addiction and developing other problems.”

Positive self-esteem, a supportive family, and positive role models help teens gain confidence to make good choices.

“Teens who feel good about them-selves are less likely to use alcohol and drugs,” Kropog said.

Kropog also talked about the im-portance of learning about substance abuse early in life.

“By age 9, children will already have opinions about substance use. By increasing education and aware-ness early on, we can work to combat the issues before they begin,” Kropog said.

Spreading information where it needs to go has been more challeng-ing in recent years because of budget cuts to the Safe and Drug Free School program, though parish schools con-tinue to support it, Kropog said.

i THE DETaILS___| Alcohol: the leading cause of death for teens and young adults is car crashes related to alcohol.

| Marijuana: About 38% of teens have tried marijuana one or more times, and about 19% of teens currently use marijuana.

| Opiates and prescription drugs: There has been dramatic rise in teen prescription substance abuse in recent years. Prescription medications most often abused include opiates, such as Oxycontin; sedatives, including Xanax and Valium; stimulants, including Ritalin and Dexadrine, and steroids.

| Methamphetamine: commonly called meth, crank, or speed, methamphetamine can cause seizures, stroke, serious mental problems, long-term health problems and death.

| Cocaine: About 7% of teens have tried cocaine, while 3% use it currently (one or more times in a month). It can cause abnormal heartbeats, occasionally causing a deadly heart attack, seizure, or stroke.

soUrce: web mD


those issues.”The move to start the proj-

ects is akin to runners at the starting point of a race.

“We usually have work-ers lining up, ready to move things out the last day of school,” Wentzel said.

Maintenance chores always dominate the work list, on everything from climate con-trol to improvements to each classroom.

“Those projects are spread across the 45 schools – just about everyone is touched in some way or another,” Went-zel said. “We’ve had four main offices at schools that relocated because of projects, some because of projects and others because of safety

From Page 7

Maintenance chores dominate list of summer construction

CONSTRUCTION Page 20


The sixth grade classes are being moved from Doyle Elementary to Doyle High School. This new building will house four six grade class-rooms, a band room and restrooms.



A rare window from the outside into a construction project is created when work crews remove old metal windows at Denham Springs High School. More energy efficient ver-sions are going up along with new A/C units throughout the school.


improvements.”Projects not assigned to con-

tractors keep the school system’s in-house maintenance department rolling during the break.

“Air conditioning is a big prior-ity, obviously, because it’s hot for a lot of the school year,” Wentzel said. “This year, it also involves new cabinets and work on fire safety, something we must always keep up to code and up to snuff.”

The work often continues up to a few days before the start of the school year.

“We do everything we can in the summer so we can minimize the distractions it could create dur-ing the school year,” Wentzel said. “We aim to keep it as low-key as possible.”

Major projects this summer include:

·Construction of a football field house near the Albany High sta-dium. It will house a weight room, dressing room, film room, conces-sion stand and restrooms.

·A new drainage system between Live Oak Middle and South Live Oak Elementary.

·Construction of a new admin-istrative building at Westside Junior High.

·A new roof on the library at Walker Freshman High.

·The addition of four new class-rooms at Doyle Elementary.

·Construction of a band room at Doyle High, along with moving of sixth grade classes into the high school building.

·Installation of new ceiling tile and lights across the entire North Corbin Elementary building, as well as the addition of foam insu-lation.

·The addition of a parking lot alongside the old Holden High gymnasium.

·Improvements to parking lots at Maurepas, French Settlement and Springfield high schools.

·Construction of three class-rooms, a restroom and storage rooms in the Maurepas High gym-nasium. Other additions include a digital sign and a field house for the softball program.

From Page 18

School system employees team with contractors on construction


Among the major construction projects under way in Livingston Parish over this summer are (top photo) three classrooms, a restroom and storage rooms in the Maurepas High gymnasium and installation of new ceiling tile and lights across the entire North Corbin Elementary building, as well as the addition of foam insulation.


District 1Malcolm Sibley

33176 Weiss Road Walker, LA 70785(225) [email protected]

Schools: Doyle High, Doyle El-ementary, Frost, North Corbin Elementary, North Corbin Junior High, 1/2 of Holden

District 2Kellee Dickerson

35104 Perkins Road Denham Springs, LA 70706 (225) 664-2945 [email protected]

Schools: Live Oak High, Live Oak Middle, North Live Oak Elementary, South Live Oak Elementary, Live Oak Elementary

District 3Dr. Milton Hughes

P. O. Box 487Denham Springs, LA 70726(225) [email protected]

Schools: East-side Elemen-tary, Freshwater Elementary, Denham Springs High, Denham Springs Fresh-man, Denham Springs Junior High

District 4Karen Schmitt

412 N College E Denham Springs, LA 70726 (225) 665-5849 [email protected]

Schools: North-side Elementary, Denham Springs High, Fresh-man High, and Junior High, Denham Springs Elementary, Southside Junior and Southside Elementary

District 5Buddy Mincey, Jr.

10983 La Hwy 1033 Denham Springs, LA 70726 (225) 667-3811 [email protected] [email protected]

Southside, Lewis Vincent, 7th Ward, DS, Juban Parc & Gray’s Creek Elem., DS High, Freshman High & Jr. High, Juban Parc Jr.

District 6Jeffery Cox

34121 Cane Market RoadWalker, LA 70785(225) [email protected] [email protected]

Walker High & Freshman High, Westside Junior High, Walker, S. Walker, Levi Milton, N. Corbin Elem., N. Corbin Jr. High

District 7James Watson

13561 Graham LaneWalker, LA 70785(225) [email protected]@lpsb.org

Walker High & Walker Fresh-man High, Westside & N. Corbin Jr., Walk-er, S. Walker, Southfork, N. Corbin Elem.

District 8Keith Martin

PO Box 211Springfield, LA 70462(225) [email protected]

Schools: French Settlement High, French Settle-ment Elemen-tary, Springfield High, Springfield Middle, Spring-field Elementary, Maurepas

District 9Sid Kinchen

P. O. Box 1883Albany, LA 70711(225) [email protected] [email protected]

Schools: Albany High, Albany Middle, Albany Upper Elementa-ry, Albany Lower Elementary, 1/2 of Holden

John Watson, a 33-year veteran with the Livingston Parish School System, was chosen by the School Board in 2012 to lead one of the state’s most successful public school districts.

Watson has served in varying capacities including teacher, coach, assistant principal and principal at schools in Denham Springs, Wat-son and Walker and as the human resources supervisor at the Central Office.

He served as assistant superinten-dent from 2009 until his promotion following the retirement of former Superintendent Warren Curtis. Un-der Watson’s leadership, Livingston Parish schools have produced impres-sive achievements.

With an enrollment nearing 26,000 students, the system is now the seventh largest in Louisiana, yet it

continues to turn in top performanc-es in the state for scores on standard-ized tests.

School perfor-mance results in Livingston Parish continue to exceed state averages significantly. While 24 percent of parish schools got A grades

for 2012-2013, only 14 percent in the state did.

The most recent school perfor-mance results nearly matched a re-cord set the year before. The district received 91.1 points under a new scor-ing system, which translates to 117.3 points under the old one, a drop of .1 points from the record 117.4.

Meet SuperintendentJohn Watson

John Watson

The joint effort between Sheriff Jason Ard and the Livingston Parish School Board to place resource officers in schools throughout the parish will return this academic year.

"The program focuses on pro-viding the schools in Livingston Parish added security to their al-ready safe environment as well as working hand-in-hand with school administrators to fulfill everyday needs at their school," Ard said.

"We want to see the resource of-ficers develop a strong bond with students at their school by inter-acting with them. We'd also like to see them be positive role models that can be turned to if a student needs guidance or assistance."

Ard started the partnership for the 2013-14 school year and

this June the School Board was so pleased that members unani-mously approved its renewal.

Ard said the only complaints he received from principals through the year was that more resource officers were needed at the schools.

“The principals speak highly of the officers’ presence on their campuses,” Assistant Superin-tendent Rick Wentzel said. “Their presence and their mentoring of the kids is important.”

Each officer will be assigned to schools around the parish, join-ing the officer from the Sheriff 's office already assigned to Live Oak High School and the munici-pal officers from Denham Springs and Walker who service those schools.

School resource officers add protection at campuses


students.“We focus on the hot spots of local

business and industry to determine our coursework,” Albin said.

While Walker and Denham Springs High Schools currently have vocation-al offerings, they are limited on space and educators. Some of the smaller schools can’t offer the track at all.

Albin hopes that the center can con-tinue to help the larger high schools fill their vocational course gaps, while also being able to offer the track to students from the smaller districts around Livingston Parish.

According to Albin, every Livings-ton Parish public high school has at least one student enrolled in the program. Denham Springs currently leads the pack with 62 students en-rolled.

The seven courses offered are Au-tomotive; Criminal Justice and 911; Medical Office Assistant; EMT Train-ing; Pharmacy Tech and Patient Care.

The EMT coursework is brand new this August, and Albin is actively

seeking an instructor. However, both the Pharmacy Tech and Medical Office Assistant tracks are being removed from Jump Start for the 2015-2016 school year.

Albin will also be working with Joan Gunter, Assistant Vice President of extended studies at Southeastern, to help promote the center and its cur-riculum.

Gunter works out of the Center as director of the college-level and above coursework, including Southeastern credit courses and non-credit certifi-cation courses.

“We are not a ‘satellite campus’ of Southeastern, though,” Gunter added. “It’s not in the guidelines and goals of this building. We’re simply an outreach that partners with South-eastern, and Northshore Technical College, for courses.”

Gunter says that one of the chal-lenges she and Albin will be looking to tackle is marketing and branding.

“A lot of people pass in front of our building and think ‘what is that?’” Gunter said.

“Many of the faculty and staff of

our schools know about this build-ing,” Albin added, “but the kids don’t know about it. We want to reach out to them.”

Another hurdle, space, is already being conquered. While Albin’s half of the building stays full during the day,

most people that visit Gunter’s side of the building come at night.

“We’ve already opened up our side of the building for Kim (Albin), and she has offered her side if we need it,” Gunter said. “All we need to do now is get people in the door.”

Center will build course offerings to foster career-oriented educationFrom Page 3

KimberLy aLbiN | sLU LiTeracy aND TechNoLogy ceNTer

The 2013-2014 graduates of the “Pharmacy Tech” vocational track at Southeastern’s Literacy and Technology Center in Walker pose for a graduation picture after receiv-ing their white coats. Students from all Livingston Parish public high schools were represented.

ographies, informational magazines and other supplemental sources. There is also a strong emphasis on hands-on research projects, com-puter activities and more classroom interaction among students with student-led activities, discussions and debates.

“The greatest changes came in the K-2 curriculum for ELA,” Rush said. “We did a more effective alignment of the foundational reading skills, although they were already very well aligned. We created a slightly different structure and emphasis on foundational skills and the order in which they are emphasized in the lower grades to really establish that learning to read process instead of reading to learn that happens in the upper grades.”

Rush was heavily involved in the assessment aspect of the curriculum. “We created new curriculum maps and a new scoping sequence and weekly maps,” she said.

Scoping is looking at the curricu-lum for an entire year, figuring out the starting point and ending point, calculating how long teachers will spend in each unit, and determining the major concepts covered in each unit, she explained.

Assistant Superintendent Joe Mur-phy said, “She also created a bench-mark system for our curriculum which allows us to assess where our children are during the course of the year on the curriculum that we’re teaching.”

“Benchmark testing is basically a pre-test, a middle-of-the-year test and an end-of-the-year test locally designed so our teachers will be able to tell where our students are at any given time,” Watson said.

As for the revision process, every teacher had the opportunity to com-plete a survey to give feedback on the curriculum.

“We took all 320 pages of the survey results and used that to take a really hard look at what the teachers felt needed to be tweaked,” she said. “There were no massive revisions, just a little tweaking, some reword-ing, and changing a couple of reading passages.”

Watson said the School Board is

committed to providing students opportunities for more industry-based certifications (IBCs) as well as advanced placement (AP) courses to help prepare them for career or col-lege. “We will continue to do the best we can so they can be competitive with everybody,” he said.

“This past year, we more than tri-pled the number of advanced place-ment courses offered to our students in 2013-2014, and this year we have over 80 of our high school teachers who are getting advanced placement training to increase that even more and to improve the instructional level,” he said. “There’s always dual enrollment with universities. Many of our students leave high school with college credit, and we’re expect-ing that to continue. Dual enrollment is so important because it saves parents a year or so of college tuition, and it saves the state a year or so of TOPS.”

Because of their proactive ap-proach, Watson, Murphy and Rush are all optimistic about the curricu-lum going forward. However, School Board officials are uncertain what official assessment will be used to

determine the effectiveness of their curriculum.

There is controversy at the state level about whether to keep using the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment or to adopt a similar assessment from a different company.

“When we are unsure what the as-sessments are going to be, it creates a huge void for us because we have to align our curriculum to whatever assessment we give,” Murphy said. Because the test will most likely be very similar to PARCC, that allevi-ates some of the worry.

PARCC assesses students in 3rd through 8th grades, and it joins a slew of other tests students must complete throughout their education. This includes the six end-of-course tests given in grades 9-12, EXPLORE in grades 8-9, PLAN in grade 10 and the ACT in grade 11. EXPLORE results help determine PLAN results, which help determine ACT results. The ACT is now mandatory for all 11th graders regardless of whether they plan to attend college.

“These tests allow for an accu-

rate scheduling of children into the correct courses so that they can be college or career ready when they exit as seniors in our district,” Murphy said. He noted that it speaks well of Livingston Parish that their ACT composite scores remained high while the overall state scores dropped.

Murphy said another test that could be coming is WorkKeys, which is a career and technology test for students who are not interested in attending a four-year college.

All of these tests are in the ACT series. “That’s one of the arguments in the state is that the state instead of PARCC should go towards an ACT series,” Watson said.

Before the state halted use of the PARCC assessment, Watson said their preliminary results were good. “We were very pleased with the results. Our students’ assessment re-sults are right up there in the top 10 where they’ve always been,” he said. “We had some areas we improved on and some we need to take a look at, but we’re very optimistic about that.

“Putting the curriculum in our own hands, we feel comfortable of the direction we’re going regardless of the outcome with the state. None of that is changing our main goal. Our main goal is to prepare students for college or career. We’ve been doing that for years. We’ve been doing that very successfully for years. And we will continue to do that. We will just play by whatever rules happen to be in place,” he said.

“Just tell us what the rules are and we’ll be fine,” Murphy agreed. “Regardless of whatever test they pick, we’re going to have school, our kids are going to be in class, and our teachers are going to be teaching. We’re going to use our curriculum.”

“Whatever the outcome, if the outcome over there is that they’re going to get a commission together from Louisiana to determine a new set of standards, we’re anxious to have people on that committee to assist, and we will make adjustments accordingly,” Watson added.

“I feel like we are in a really strong position to assist because of the ex-perience our writers have had. They have learned much in the last year in a half,” Rush said.


A proactive approach to keeping up with curriculumFrom Page 2

‘Benchmark testing is basically a pre-test, a middle-of-the-year test and an end-of-the-year test locally designed so our teachers will be able to tell where our students are at any given time.’ John Watson

Superintendent of Schools

‘When we are unsure what the assessments are going to be, it creates a huge void for us because we have to align our curriculum to whatever assessment we give.’ Joe Murphy

Assistant Superintendent of Schools


Documents

By Jamie Webb The Livingston Parish Newsbloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/livingston...2 Back to School, Thursday, July 10, 2014 Stories Curriculum …Page 2