Okolona High Principal Addresses Holiday Learning Decline

OKOLONA, Miss. (WCBI) – “You have to have all teachers hands in. You have to have to have all the student’s hands in.”

Michael Watkins has seen Okolona High School rise from a C rating to now back-to-back B ratings.

He says the key to his success is starting each semester strong, which can be hard to do when returning from summer or winter break.

“Sometimes students do not get the memo of when school started back.”

Attendance is the first issue a lot of schools see, but once that settles, the focus is on tailoring classes and schedules.

“When they come back, they’re getting into a new routine, they have a set of teachers, they may have had classes with their friends, they’re different now so trying to those classes and schedule changed to fit the best interest of the student.”

Before the second week of the new semester starts, Watkins does something that not a lot of principals can replicate.

He meets with each individual student to discuss their grades, behaviors, and state test scores.

These ‘data talks’ as he calls them, are aimed at setting clear goals and understanding each student’s unique challenges.

“I talk to students about their performance levels based on their previous benchmarks to try to have students understand this is a new semester, this is where I was, this is where I need to be. So I have those data talks with our students to make sure they understand that we’re coming closer to the end of the year so now we need to focus more on instruction. ‘This is what I was weak on.’ ‘This is what I need to do to make myself better.’ In order to get the performance letter grade that I need in order to be successful.”

It’s not just students who get this personalized attention – teachers and staff also meet with Watkins to align expectations and strategies for student success.

“First we meet with our wonderful administrator who revisits the high expectations that he has for the faculty. And we do the same thing with our students. We revisit those high expectations that we have for our students in the classroom because we want them to learn and grow. We do this by providing meaningful lessons and activities that they can relate to.”

Watkins says his strategy works because everyone buys into a united goal.

“I feel like as a school, we’re doing good with our culture and climate, we’re bringing students together.”