Darla Hoover ascended the steps of the May 5 Evansville Rotary Club luncheon, after being introduced by her son Conner, 17.
This was was her first State of the Schools as Superintendent, after being selected last May. She’s been with the district for 25 years and took over for David Smith who led for 14 years.
Hoover started by sharing insight into her own past. She was raised by her grandparents, and talked about the need for teachers to meet students where they are.
"I'm proof of what happens when a school community refuses to let a child's background define their future," she said. "That's who I want us to be for every student."
She said some students start kindergarten knowing 1,000 words — others have never held a book. "And their first lessons are going to be how to walk down the hallway or how to sit in a circle with their friends. But we're built for that," Hoover said. "We don't see a 'typical EVSC student' because there isn't one. You're 21,000 different students, and our size is actually our strength."
While she was a new presence on stage, the positive message was familiar — success stories, standout students and programs to prepare them for a career beyond high school. But of course there are challenges — such as reading levels, Hoover said.
“We have 83.6-percent of our kids reading, but we need more than that, reading proficiently, because third graders who don't pass the IREAD are at risk of retention,” she said. “That's huge. We don't want that for our kids.”
In the last five years, EVSC graduation rate has improved 10 points to 89.7-percent — but Hoover added that the diploma is only as good as the program behind it. She said current Freshman will graduate with the new Indiana High School Diploma, so they’re working on maximizing that new program for students. “It really aims at tailoring the coursework and experiences, getting real world experiences for seniors.”
They’re also in the midst of a middle school redesign to increase engagement with those students. She said they’re still working to reverse the COVID-era urge for some students to stay home.
Hoover said in her first year, they focused on student achievement, of course, but also on “parents as partners.”
“Trying to engage our families,” she said. “We know that we're going to be better as a school district, and our students are going to do better when the schools and families are working together.”
They also worked on internal customer service for staff.
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