Performance on SAT ranked sixth out of 132 systems

By By Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle Junior High School ranked among the top six junior high schools in the state based on how well its students performed on the spring 2009 Stanford Achievement Test.
Principal Don Pouncey shared that information with school board members Monday night following its regular monthly meeting in the school library.
Pouncey said he and his staff conducted a survey of the state’s 132 public school systems to find out how well their students compared with others on SAT results. Only Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Arab, Madison and Cullman city ranked higher and the difference was as little as one or two points.
Pouncey used a power point presentation to show how well his student are doing on standardized reading, math and writing tests as well as ARMT reading and math scores.
Without exception, students of all grades are exceeding state averages and are well above base line figures as required under the No Child Left Behind Act.
He said the base line figures under ARMT will continue to rise until 2014 and it will become more difficult for student to stay ahead of the curve.
He said the school has implemented “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens” and “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and established a school-wide leadership team to promote academic excellence. An early morning tutorial team is in place to help students having problems building math skills.
The junior high currently has 744 students enrolled, down a little from last year. However, the projected enrollment for the next sixth grade class is 279.