What's New with Selma City Schools?

Team Selma is still on the move!  We are excited about this upcoming school year.  With a smooth opening and new theme, the optimism is palpable.

One Team, One Voice: Committed to Excellence is our theme for the year.  The team includes the entire Selma community and we look forward to working together to improve outcomes for the children and families of Selma.

This year, Selma High School will introduce the Star Academy.  This unique structure will allow us to support our middle and high school scholars who are overaged and/or have been retained.  The goal is to help them earn the credits that they need to graduate on time.  We are aiming to start after Labor Day and more updates will be shared as the year progresses.

Selma City School’s Strong Start Pre-K at Sophia P. Kingston Elementary school is up and running.  We still have a few slots remaining and encourage families of four-year olds to apply now.  Early learning is key to our scholars being school ready by kindergarten and leads to higher graduation rates long term.

R.B. Hudson is now the R.B. Hudson STEAM Academy.  We are infusing science, technology, engineering, arts and math throughout our curriculum.  Scholars will have opportunities for more hands-on learning to include STEAM Day every Friday.  Volunteers and community partners are always appreciated.

Each of our elementary schools are creating Academies of Academic Excellence.  Each school will feature a unique area of focus that includes improving literacy outcomes for our scholars.  Academies range from Social Justice and Performing Arts to Commerce and Entrepreneurship.  Later in the school year, I will do a feature on each school. 

Bullying prevention is important for our scholars to feel safe.  With a new policy in place, we are also implementing new procedures.  This includes how to report bullying.  In this age of social media, cyber bullying has become more prevalent.  Our new procedure addresses this as well.  October is Bullying Prevention Month and we will share facts and hear from our scholars about how they help prevent bullying at their schools.

Finally, next spring, Team Selma will be visited by AdvancED for our accreditation engagement review.  We are excited to share all that’s great within our school district.  This will also be a time for the community to get involved.  If you are interested in being on a focus group, please let me know!

We have a busy year ahead and I could not be more excited to lead these efforts.  Get involved.  We need you on our team!

For more information, please reach out to me at avis.williams@selmacityschools.org.

Happy School Year!

On behalf of the Selma City Schools Board of Education, I want to wish all the children of Selma and Dallas County a Happy School Year. 

We had an amazing back-to-school weekend as we played host to hundreds of runners, parents, scholars and friends at Bloch Park.  Thanks to everyone who participated in our Aim for Excellence events which included providing school uniforms and of course our second annual 5K and one-mile fun mile.

As we begin another year, our goal is to help every child have an excellent school year.  There are a number of ways that parents and families can partner with schools so that our children can achieve greater success.  Here are just a few.

·       If you have not yet, meet and get to know the teachers and staff.  Forming a positive relationship early in the year will go a long way.  Teachers need your support.  Find out when the PTO open house is being held and make plans to attend and to continue to support school events throughout the year.

·       Stay aware of how your child is performing in school.  Don’t wait until report card time to be alarmed.  It is important that we act early when students need help.  Let’s not risk having him/her fall behind.  Schedule an appointment with the teacher if you have any concerns about grades, attendance, behavior or social interactions.

·       Encourage your child to read every day!  Limit screen time (TV, cell phone, video games, and social media) and create balance that includes reading.  Reading for even 20 minutes a day can increase vocabulary and improve students’ grades in other subject areas. All Selma City schools have libraries and students also have access to MyOn, which has hundreds of ebooks. 

·       Be a positive role model.  You are your child’s first teacher and they will learn more from you than any lesson at school.  Show support with a positive attitude.  This will let your child see that you value their education and will go a long way towards them striving to succeed.

In the coming weeks, I will begin planning meetings and events for our new Parent Advisory Committee.  Think of it as a district-wide PTO.  This will serve as a way for our families to provide input and give feedback regarding the district direction.  If you are interested in participating, please let me know.

I look forward to seeing the smiling faces of our scholars this week.  Get plenty of rest boys and girls and let’s make this a truly happy school year!

For more information, please reach out to me at avis.williams@selmacityschools.org.