The Graceville Woman’s Club hosted local school administrators for their November meeting in honor of National Education Week. Graceville School Assistant Principal Kayla Wilson and Poplar Springs High School Principal Laura Watford both spoke about their school and how the community can help the students and school prosper.
Graceville School Assistant Principal Kayla Wilson was the first to speak. A graduate of Graceville High School, Wilson commented that while she never taught at Graceville prior, when the administration position opened up, she quickly applied because “truthfully I felt like it wasn’t ever going to get any better unless somebody from Graceville was in there.” Her ultimate goal is to be at Graceville School as long as the Jackson County School Board will allow it noting that “my plans are to spend the rest of my career at Graceville” with the goal of eventually becoming principal. She then spoke about the attendance noting that school attendance had increased since last year and noted that they really needed teachers and substitutes for anybody who would like to apply.
Wilson commented that “it’s been a struggle… to fill positions,” noting that it was a national issue with individuals not going into public school system career field anymore. She then moved onto testing commenting that Graceville’s scores had improved and her goal was to keep seeing those numbers rise. Wilson finished that the school is always looking for volunteers.
Poplar Springs principal Laura Watford was the next to speak. Also, a native of Graceville and graduate of Graceville High School, Watford started stating, “Being a principal was never something I necessarily aspired to be, but when the position came open, I did not want somebody that did not have the heart for the school to take over.” She then spoke about what she and staff have been working on since 2022 specifically talking with students about “how they treat each other”. She continued speaking about the disconnect between kids and being able to communicate because the younger generation is more dependent on social media and cell phones. She went on to add that “I spend probably 30 to 40 percent of my time each week dealing with mental health issues and talking to kids.”
She then spoke about school grades noting that while the school would not receive an official grade from the State, looking at testing scores the staff had calculated that the school would have received another high “B”. She commented that they are working on learning gains because “that is what got us one point away from an ‘A’” the year prior. She went on to add that the new math teacher had really helped in the testing area on geometry noting that the school had a 75% proficiency in Geometry, adding that the teacher is a engineering major and teaches on a different field that the students seem to be really understanding.
Watford noted that like Graceville School, she is also always looking for staff members especially math educators. She then spoke briefly on all the changes to the school commenting, “we jumped off the deep end” and added a handful of new sports to the school including golf and weightlifting. On the academics, the school is working on adding a Debate Team and bringing back the Robotics program. She finished, “We’re growing. We are out of space. When you hear us quoted as saying ‘the inn is full’ it’s because we’re at our cap… we have zero classrooms. We have a fourth grade that has to be split… and are having to create a room for them.” She noted that she had been told that Poplar Springs is supposed to be on the five-year plan for more space, but it will not be something that can happen immediately.
The Woman’s Club thanked the ladies for speaking as well as for coming back to the Graceville community and investing in the children of the community through the local schools.
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