Education Sec. to visit George Hall

MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) - U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Mobile's George Hall Elementary School Friday. Back in 2004, George Hall was one of the worst-performing schools in the state. After five solid years of hard work, the school is now a blue-ribbon site.

However, teacher Melissa Mitchell said getting to this point was not as easy as 1-2-3.

"People didn't think it could happen and all of us came in together. We had to believe that this would be possible and do whatever it took to make it happen," said Mitchell.

Since the transformation, the school has had teachers from other areas visiting.

Elizabeth Reints said outside educators want to copy the success at George Hall.

"Last year, we had about 54 different visiting groups," said Reints. "It's a little bit of pressure with it. But like I said, if we can save them or offer them any advice to them about the road we took during those five years, we are more than happy to do that."

Now that the school has made a big turnaround, the biggest challenge is maintaining momentum.

Christy Amick teaches math. She said it all adds up when there are good teachers, plus motivated students.

"Our current levels as of last year were 100-percent proficiency in third, fourth, and fifth on the state tests. So we hope to maintain that," said Amick.

The low point was seven years ago, when the entire staff was replaced. That included administrators, teachers, and support staff.

Leaders say the school experienced declining test scores, a lack of community and parental involvement, student engagement and student disciplinary concerns. After turning around George Hall, more than 90 percent of students were performing at or above proficiency in both reading and math.

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Education named George Hall a Blue Ribbon School of the Year, and in 2009, Education Trust awarded the school with its Dispelling the Myth Award.