Assistant principal highlights literacy gains and student engagement at Coffee Middle School

At a Coffee County School Board meeting, Ashley May, assistant principal at Coffee Middle School, presented a short video and a summary of this year’s improvements in student engagement, attendance and academic growth.

May told the board the school adopted the Lexia PowerUp remediation program for students with disabilities and that STAR reading and math data show gains from fall to spring. "We have 55.4%" of the special-education subgroup showing typical growth and "19.5 percent of our sped population that showed high growth this year in the literacy," she said. May also emphasized efforts to increase after-school participation and family engagement, and the school’s focus on stronger tier 1 instruction.

The presentation highlighted subgroup outcomes and growth percentiles; May said math and reading both showed increases in "developing, proficient and distinguished" categories and noted strong growth in eighth-grade social studies on the Georgia Milestones. She attributed fewer disciplinary incidents and reduced vandalism to consistent behavior expectations and interventions in place at the school.

Board members asked follow-up questions about discipline and substitute coverage. One board member noted a marked drop in vandalism and TikTok-related disruptions after enforcing the expectations; May replied that the school has seen discipline decrease "tremendously" and that a positive school environment was encouraging both students and staff to attend and participate.

The board received the presentation for information and had no immediate action on the school program recommendations. The item will remain on future agendas as the board monitors achievement and attendance data.