J.D. Dickerson, Montgomery Middle Among State’s Reward Schools

J.D. Dickerson Primary School from the Vidalia City School System and Montgomery County Middle School from the Montgomery County School System have been recognized by the Georgia Department of Education (GDOE) as “Reward Schools.” Only 157 total schools in the state were chosen; these schools came from 77 school districts.

According to the GDOE, “Reward Schools” are schools “among the 5 percent of Title I schools in the state that are making the most progress in improving the performance of all students over the most recent two years on the statewide assessments.” Testing was not administered in the 2019-2020 school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so choosing the 2020-2021 Reward Schools was based on testing in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 data. Vidalia City Schools Assistant Superintendent Ginger Morris said that the honor bestowed upon J.D. Dickerson Primary School is shared with Sally D. Meadows Elementary School. That is because this is the first assessment of grades kindergarten through third grade. Morris noted that with the makeup of Dickerson, which is prekindergarten through first grade, and Meadows, which is second through fifth grades, “the assessments are given in third grade, so this is really a combined effort of both schools and hopefully shows that the programs we have put in place for kindergarten through fifth grade are paying off.”

Vidalia City Schools Superintendent Dr. Garrett Wilcox echoed this perspective. “We hope that this shows a direct correlation of the efforts we have put into our literacy program,” he said.

Likewise, Montgomery County Schools officials are proud of the success of the middle school. “Montgomery County Middle/ High School is very blessed to have awesome teachers and support staff providing quality instruction for our students,” Middle and High School Principal Dr. Scott Barrow emphasized. “Our Eagle Family has bought into a system of standardsbased instruction while putting positive student relationships before everything else.”

J.D. Dickerson Primary School and Montgomery County Middle School were among the Reward Schools recognized by State School Superintendent Richard Woods.

“While we are focused on ensuring all schools have the support and resources they need to continuously improve, it is incredibly important that we also recognize and celebrate when schools are doing well,” he explained. “I wish to congratulate the staff and students of this year’s Reward Schools – during a time of challenges, they have worked hard and they have succeeded.”