Monroe ‘worst-to-first’ under principal Vinson Davis

ALBANY — The Dougherty County School System’s Monroe High School has made great strides forward, the school’s principal told members of the Dougherty Kiwanis Club on Monday.

Principal Vinson Davis told club members that since 2013, when he arrived there as principal after serving eight years as assistant principal and principal at Radium Springs Middle School, school performance and graduation rates have improved from worst to first in the school district.

“In 2013 we had a dropout rate of about 85 students,” Davis said. “Even more significant, about 54 were ninth-grade students. What’s really significant about that is that many young people (were) without a path to a quality career, so we had a significant challenge ahead of us.”

Fast forward, he said, “to where we are now. Last year we had 29 dropouts, with only one of those being a ninth-grade student.”

One key to the turnaround, Davis said, is a focus on literacy. Children who start school at age 5 can already be behind their classmates if they have not been to day care, pre-school or even been read to at home.

“In the ninth and 10th grades,” Davis, “if a kid comes in and they’re reading at a fourth-grade level, we don’t just say, ‘Okay, do what you can.’ Now we have options available to catch kids up with reading. We do the same thing with math. When you look across the southwest region with priority schools, in 2013 we had the lowest algebra and geometry scores in the region. Monroe is a priority school. Now we have the highest.”

Through a three-year, $3 million School Improvement Grant, a lot of money was spent on teacher quality and training. Cutting-edge technology was also purchased, the principal said.

“Now at Monroe High School, we have 911 simulators” similar to what is used in real life at the Dougherty County 911 center, Davis noted. There are also engineering classes including robotics and Autocad and 3D printers for drafting and technology, “so now our kids can take it from print to practice, from screen to reality.”

“Not only can we get our kids graduated now, we can get them graduated with job skills so they can go right to work,” Davis said. “That’s very important, that our kids leave school not just graduated from high school with a diploma, but they have a track, a career option.”

“The priorities,” said Davis, “are two-fold: No. 1 is to be a good steward of the taxpayers’ dollars. Whether it’s grant funds or local funds, we have to produce the very best we can do at Monroe High School. The second is to make sure our kids land on their feet. We have to position them where they have a job skill or they’re prepared to go to college.”

Currently, about 122 students are participating in “Move on When Ready,” the dual-enrollment option with Albany Tech and Albany State University. Completing two years of college credits while still in high school enables students to enter college full-time as juniors.

“It’s really an optimal situation for kids to take advantage of,” said Davis. “We’re really pushing that, hoping that gets a lot of our kids to college early.”

Monroe High’s current enrollment is about 950, Davis said. If Albany High School is closed, as is currently being proposed, Monroe is prepared for an influx of additional pupils, he added. Also, a feeder school to Monroe, Southside Middle, is being repurposed as the Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy.

Nevertheless, according to the principal, “We’re excited about how we’ll move forward. The main thing is to have the right support system in place.”