Story reprinted from the Herald Times
SPENCER — Owen Valley High School has gained national recognition as a Pacesetter school, and will host a two-day conference next April to share its success with as many as 60 visiting educators.
Pacesetter status is awarded by the Southern Regional Education Board to top schools in its High Schools That Work program.
"We've been involved with High Schools That Work since 1995," said high school principal Dan Cunningham.
As part of the program, Owen Valley seniors are tested every other year in math, English and science.
"In 1996 we were among the low-scoring schools," he said. "A team of teachers analyzed our results and decided where we needed to make improvements. In 1998 we advanced to a high-scoring site and retained that status after seniors took the test in 2000."
High Schools That Work includes 1,100 schools in 26 states. Only 20 were identified this year as Pacesetter schools. Owen Valley is the only one in Indiana.
The fact that Owen County ranks 89th of Indiana's 92 counties in average personal income, and 78th in the percentage of adults holding high school diplomas, has not deterred the rural high school's quest for excellence.
Academic changes during the past five years include:
Elimination of all "general" courses.
"Originally this was an effort aimed to help the middle kids," said coordinator Susan Cull. "We wanted to help kids focus who traditionally graze on the curriculum and are not college bound," but the results were better than expected.
"Not only have they improved, but our college-bound kids are now also career bound," Cull said, "so it's become a whole-school initiative."
Raising the bar while providing a safety net, Owen Valley will gradually boost graduation requirements from 42 credits this year to 48 credits in 2004. Currently, the state of Indiana requires only 38 credits.
Beginning in 2003, all graduates also must pass an introductory computer course.
For high achievers, Owen Valley partners with Indiana University to offer three dual-credit courses. The number of students taking these courses jumped from 39 in 1996 to 54 last year.
"I think our high school is one of the best-kept secrets in the state," Cunningham said. "We don't like to blow our own horn, but I'm very proud of our students and staff."
Reporter David Horn can be reached at 221-4307 or by e-mail at dhorn@heraldt.com.