Going into the 23-24 school year, the Starr’s Mill administrative team has made several changes that are designed to streamline the learning environment.
“We looked at multiple data points and tried to find places where we can improve,” Principal Allen Leonard said.
A big focus this year is on instructional time in the classroom. Teachers are encouraged to put fewer assignments on Schoology in order to motivate students to attend classes. In addition, the senior exemption again includes an attendance clause in addition to grades. This was decided due to an attendance rate drop-off during the past year.
“We want students to understand how important their time in our classes are,” Leonard said.
The change that has the biggest impact is the phone pouch policy. This change will not just enforced at Starr’s Mill but in all Fayette County schools. Cellphones are expected to be put in the pouch located in each teacher’s classroom. This policy was put into place due to distractions caused by cellphones in the learning environment.
“Ultimately, it’s all about making sure our students have the best education possible,” Leonard said.
In line with the idea of making things efficient, Starr’s Mill has adopted ParentSquare as its primary communication app. This change was made to make things easier on parents, as before, multiple different apps were used for each organization, which potentially made things confusing. ParentSquare will be used to alleviate some of that confusion by putting everything into one app.
The focus on being in class, removal of phones, and the implementation of ParentSquare were decided to remove distractions and maximize learning.