Photo courtesy of Trussville City Schools
Hewitt-Trussville AP Science Teachers were honored at this year’s A+ College Ready Fall Conference with “Most Qualifying Scores” Awards. Pictured left to right are AP Physics teachers Jonathan MacNaughton and Melanie Dimler, AP Biology teacher Kurt Kristensen and AP Chemistry teacher Felecia Gulledge.
Last year, both Hewitt Trussville High School and Hewitt-Trussville Middle School received some of the highest accolades in the state.
While the achievements were nice, the two schools’ administrators are focused on creating plans and cultures so they can continue to improve in 2025.
HTMS last year received the Mary D. Boehm School of Achievement Award from the A+ College Ready program, making it the only middle school to receive the honor. This recognition comes on the heels of the school’s completion of a three-year partnership with the state-wide program.
The award was based on results from the PSAT 8/9 exam that eighth and ninth graders take.
“All the awards and the results are a product of the people that are in this building,” said HTMS Principal Jared Meads. “I've got a great team here, and everybody's on the same page. … And that's doing what's best for kids, and all the other things really take care of themselves.”
HTHS also received recognition for the results its students earned on the Advanced Placement exams.
The school had more qualifying scores on AP tests than any other high school in the state, including some schools with much larger student populations.
“Some schools literally double us,” HTHS Principal Aaron King said. “But, we had more qualifying scores on AP tests. “It was truly remarkable, just absolutely incredible what the teachers have done.”
Like the middle school, the high school had received a grant from the A+ College Ready program, which provided money for training and incentives for teachers and students.
The grants for both schools are ending, but they hope to keep up the academic achievement.
That was reflected in the latest state report cards. Both schools had the same score of 93 overall, with a grade of 100 for academic growth.
King said they were looking at how to sustain the achievements of the past years with fewer resources and if there are ways to implement what the school has learned while it received the extra resources.
“The way I look at it is, it’s about culture,” he said. “It’s a culture of expectations and this community is one that wants to win. The model I’ve held with me for a long time is, if they’re keeping score, we’re planning to win.”
At the same time, King said, achievement comes with a price. The more funding, the more resources a school has, the better chance they will achieve. The question for the school going forward is how to balance achievements with maintaining a culture that keeps that high bar but does not burn out its employees.
“It’s kind of hard to go from a high B to an A, but it’s really hard to go from an A to a high A,” King said. “And there almost becomes a point where that diminishing return becomes too costly.”
