Union County School District takes top honors in state rankings

UNION COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A northeast Mississippi school district gets top honors in the recent rankings from the state department of education.

Everyday, in classrooms throughout the Union County School District, students are challenged to do more than what is expected.

For the third year in a row, the Union County School district has received an “A” rating from the Mississippi Department of Education.

“Being a Level A-rated school or district is a big deal because it lets us know our teachers are doing what they need to do and students are performing at the level of mastery,” said Asst. Supt. Windy Faulkner.

Magan Stanton teaches third grade math at West Union Attendance Center. In the latest rankings, her students had the highest proficiency rating statewide.

“Some of the things that make that happen are high expectations from my students, from day one, a structured classroom, also, loving them even when it’s hard to show them, and having fun when it’s time to have fun,” said Stanton.

The West Union Attendance Center took the top spot from more than 200 schools in the state with 12th grade. The principal credits that honor to several things, such as parental involvement, hard work from teachers and staff and also making students feel valued.

“We’ve got social contracts we have developed in our classrooms that tells how we are going to treat each other, for staff and students, we have four questions, how do you want to be treated by us, how do you think we want to be treated by you, how are we going to treat each other and how will we treat each other when there’s a conflict,” said West Union Principal Russell Taylor.

Union County schools got four of the top five spots out for non traditional schools in the state. A non traditional school is any school which has a grade below the 9th grade level. Teachers, faculty and staff say they want to do even better next year.

Each year the MDE gives schools grades from an A to F based on student test scores and other factors.