NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Students at Sedgefield Elementary got a warm welcome Tuesday morning from Congressman Bobby Scott. Scott toured the school and sat down with school leaders to discuss how the division transitioned back into the classroom.
"The American Rescue Funds constituted the biggest investment in K-12 education in the history of the federal government," he said. "We wanted to see if it was working or not.”
The division credits funds from the American Rescue Plan for helping students and staff safely return to the classroom and catch up on missed learning following months of virtual learning.
New Superintendent Dr. George Parker said the division focused a majority of that money on school safety and addressing learning loss.
“20% of our K-5 students were identified as not meeting benchmark.. or more.. not meeting the benchmark of this year," Dr. Parker said. "We saw a huge jump in students needing remedial support in reading, remedial support in math."
Dr. Parker said the division plans to improve reading instruction and is investing in a new program called Eureka, which will help teachers boost math literacy.
“We’re teaching our teachers how to best serve our students and addressing their needs,” said Elizabeth Jackson, a grant writer for Newport News Public Schools.
Division leaders also want to look ahead. They used a portion of that money to invest in youth engagement, STEM and mentorship programs.
“To make it a full resource in elementary by piloting 8 schools at the beginning of next year," Dr. Parker said. "We’ve expanded social-emotional learning for students both in the home, but also resourced in the school division.”
These are all things Congressman Scott says will improve the division, even making it more equipped than prior to the pandemic.
“You just don’t want to make up for lost learning, you want to move forward," he said. "STEM education is obviously an important aspect of education.”