The Vicksburg Warren School District earned eight Growth Awards from Mississippi’s PREPS (Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools) organization.

Schools that showed improvement in their 2021 average scale scores compared to their 2019 average scale score were recognized for increasing performance despite the challenges they faced teaching during the pandemic. 

Honorees are:

• Warrenton Elementary School, 3rd Grade Math Growth Award
• Vicksburg Intermediate School, 5th Grade ELA Growth Award
• Redwood Elementary School, 5th Grade Math Growth Award
• Vicksburg Intermediate School, 5th Grade Math Growth Award
• Beechwood Elementary School, 6th Grade ELA Growth Award
• Bowmar Avenue Elementary School, 6th Grade ELA Growth Award
• Redwood Elementary School, 6th Grade ELA Growth Award
• Warren Central High School, ACT Growth Award

The Mississippi Department of Education’s data shows that state-wide average performance dropped in every tested area during the pandemic, making these gains even more meaningful. 

“To tell a staff that all of Mississippi went down, but we went up, sounds like a good way to celebrate after all of the obstacles you guys have faced,” said PREPS Executive Director, Dr. Chuck Benigno.

The awards were announced at the Feb. 24 VWSD School Board of Trustees meeting and principals accepted award certificates on behalf of their schools.

“I am proud of our hard-working teachers, hard-working kids and our hard-working principals,” said VWSD Superintendent Chad Shealy. “During the middle of the most difficult time our teachers had to teach, we had schools that scored higher than they did when it was a regular school year.” 

2019 was the last reliable data available to compare 2021 scores to, as no tests were administered in the spring of 2020 due to the pandemic. The Mississippi Department of Education did not require testing in 2021. However, the Vicksburg Warren School District participated voluntarily because, Shealy said, “We take learning seriously and we needed to know where our students were so we could make plans to move forward.”