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Halls High School Blue Ribbon School
 Halls High School recently joined only six schools in the state
of Tennessee to be named as a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon
School by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
The national award honors public and private kindergarten
through 12th-grade schools for closing achievement gaps and
ranking high in student test scores.
Each school nominated has scored in the top 10 percent on state
tests in reading and math for the past three years, with HHS
considered a Category 1 school. Category 1 includes schools that
scored in the top 10 percent of the state with at least 40
percent of their students from economically disadvantaged
backgrounds.
“All of these schools have students from all subgroups who’ve
made impressive test gains or who scored in the top tier on
state tests. They are outstanding examples of how all students
can achieve to higher standards,” said Spellings. “These schools
show what wonderful accomplishments can be made when we focus on
the bottom line in education, student achievement.”
The school was nominated for the award by Commissioner Lana
Seivers of the State Department of Education, and submitted an
application to be named as a Blue Ribbon School.
“It’s a really big honor,” said HHS Principal Andy Pugh. “It’s a
tribute to how hard our students and staff have worked, to do as
well as they did on the state assessments.”
“I am extremely pleased that Halls High has received this
recognition,” said Superintendent Phillip Jackson. “I know how
hard our teachers and students work. I also know that we are
doing some really good things in our schools and am pleased that
others have come to recognize this and pay tribute to it.”
“I think everyone is excited that we won it,” said Pugh. “Not
many schools (achieved this award) and just four high schools in
the state. It’s hard to achieve an award like that, but it’s
even harder to maintain that level, and it gets harder every
year. We’ll just have to work hard to maintain it and continue
to improve.”
The State Department of Education notified nominees in November
that they had met the eligibility requirements to apply for the
national recognition. The school then submitted an application
that was reviewed before it received the recognition.
Representatives of HHS and the Lauderdale County School System
will receive the honor Nov. 9 through 10, at an awards ceremony
in Washington, D.C.
HHS holds Senior Day
Seniors at Halls High School attended Senior Day in the HHS gym
last week, where about 30 colleges, technical schools and
organizations were represented. Students were able to gather
information, schedule interviews, and speak to delegates from
the many different four-year universities, community colleges,
and technical and trade schools represented at the event, as
well as representatives from the Armed Forces.
HHS concession stand looking good!
Students in Joe Clendenin’s Construction I and II classes at
Halls High School have given the school’s concession stand a
face lift this fall.
Members of the class prepared the foundation for the building’s
new brickwork, ran a cornice around the top of the structure,
completed roll-up doors for each of the serving windows and
installed aluminum trim over the wood.
The students also poured new cement sills for the windows and
observed professionals lay the bricks on the exterior of the
structure.
“The people who laid the brick said that the students did an
excellent job on the cornice,” said Clendenin, who added that
the cornice needs to be perfectly straight to properly trim the
brick. “It’s good and straight and built right.”
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