NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL BOARD
Kiptopeke Elementary Hopes for Provisional Accreditation

Northampton County school principals Ron Yorko at Occohannock Elementary, Alvin Coleman (standing) at Northampton High, and Elizabeth Fennell at Kiptopeke Elementary. (Wave photo)

By SARAH BARBAN
Cape Charles Wave

October 26, 2012

Northampton County Schools have been facing their fair share of troubles — from accreditation, to staffing, to test scores. The county school board even had to call in an outside company, Edison Learning, to try and help sort out the issues.

At the Northampton County School Board meeting October 24, it appeared that rough seas are still ahead.

Due to last year’s unsatisfactory math scores at Kiptopeke Elementary, the school cannot be deemed fully accredited.

The three classifications for accreditation are: fully accredited, accredited with a warning, and seeking additional accreditation.

Kiptopeke falls under the latter.

“We have to make a request to the [state] Board of Education for their consideration to see if they will give Kiptopeke that rating of additional accreditation,” reported Superintendent Walter Clemons.

With the exception of math, Kiptopeke’s scores went up in all other areas, including reading, language arts, science, and social studies.

The State Board of Education met October 25 to decide whether to grant Kiptopeke a status of additional accreditation needed. The school awaits the decision.

Clemens lamented that in these difficult times, Northampton County schools, along with the entire United States, face federal budget cuts under the Budget Control Act of 2011, known as sequestration.

The cuts could affect Federal programs such as Title One, Head Start, English Language Acquisition, IDEA, and Career and Technical Education. [Read more…]