Seventh-grader Jasmine Anderson told members of the House Education Committee that she struggled in school before enrolling in the Star Academy program at Haywood County Middle School.
Anderson says the program changed everything and helped her to interact and work with other students.
“In Star Academy, we all work on different lessons, and we all learn different things. Also in Star Academy, it gave me a chance to work with other students in the lab when we have to do our rotation. In the regular classes, I was confused and frustrated and didn’t understand what was going on in those classes. Now in Star, I understand and know what to do,” said Anderson.
Haywood County Schools Superintendent Amy Marsh brought Anderson to Nashville along with other students who want to enroll in the program, to tell state lawmakers about the impact Star Academy is making.
Last year Tennessee awarded the district a $1 million grant to cover three years of implementation for Star Academy at Haywood County Middle School. The program began this school year.
Star Academy is an accelerated school within a school program that gives high-risk middle school students two grade levels in one year and uses a full immersion, hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) in core academic subjects to engage the students and help prepare them for career academies.
Currently, Haywood County Schools is the only school system in the state to implement this program and it’s limited to seventh-graders only, but Marsh hopes to eventually expand that to eight-graders.
“That’s why I wanted you to hear from each of these ladies today, one who’s had the experience and who’s benefitted from it, but also two who didn’t get that opportunity and unfortunately as they go onto ninth-grade next year, they won’t. But, as you heard from them, what they are interested in is letting other students get the experience that they didn’t get to benefit from. And I think that’s important that we recognize that, and we listen to their voices, because that does make a difference,” said Marsh.
Star Academy students saw improvements across all core subjects. More than 44 percent of those enrolled in the program improved in English language arts, 66 percent improved in science, and 41 percent improved in social studies.
Marsh told the committee that she expects to see even more growth as time goes on.
Star Academy representatives joined Marsh in providing a presentation on the program to the House committee.
Star Academy began in 2005 with the Department of Education in South Carolina. At the time, the state experienced challenges with eighth-grade students failing a high-stakes test for promotion to high school, leading to a problem with dropouts.
The program started as a way to help this population of at-risk and academically behind middle school students with unique challenges.
NOLA Education runs the program and provides all the furniture and equipment, as well as professional development for the teachers, and constant check-ins and communication with the school.
“These kids need a different approach and one of the things we pride ourselves on at Star Academy is that we have a program that engages these kids,” said NOLA Education CEO John Alvendia. “Statistics show that if a student fails just one time at the eighth-grade and are not able to make that promotion, more than 90 percent of them end up dropping out. We found that to be consistently true throughout the United States as we went to different school districts.”
There are nearly 100 sites across 16 states using Star Academy.
