School district hosting curriculum, school fair

Published 12:11 am Monday, February 16, 2015

NATCHEZ Natchez-Adams School District officials hope to answer questions Tuesday from parents who will be deciding which schools their children will attend next school year.

The district will host a school and curriculum fair from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the options available to students in fifth through ninth grade.

Morgantown College Prep Academy Principal Orisha Mims said students, families, educators and friends are invited to attend the informational event hosted at Robert Lewis Magnet School, located at 1221 Martin Luther King Jr. Road.

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The event was created, Mims said, to allow students and parents an opportunity to learn more about the various options offered for secondary education in the district.

A restructuring plan for the district went in place this school year to establish three smaller learning communities for students: middle school academies, an early college model and a career academy.

The Academies at Morgantown serve as a school within a school and feature three academies or focuses of study: leadership, college prep and arts.

The Natchez Early College Academy was created as a college-preparatory high school on the Natchez High School campus that will allow students to take more rigorous courses to help prepare them for college.

The restructuring also changed the format of the district’s freshman academy, moving it off the high school’s campus to the former alternative school building.

Those new creations joined several district programs already in place, such as Robert Lewis Magnet School and Fallin Career and Technology Center.

The result of all those changes, Mims said, is more options for district students.

“I think the students and parents are excited about these changes because they have so many options now,” Mims said. “Anytime you give someone a choice, I think that’s a good thing.”

But those options, Mims said, inevitably come with questions.

“Because of all the different academies and schools, we wanted to give parents and students a chance to get all the information they needed in one place and ask all the questions they had,” Mims said. “We’re excited to see everyone come out.”

Mims said students from each school and academy will be on site to present work they’ve completed this school year and tell those attending about the programs in which they’re enrolled.

Those attending will rotate through each 15 minutes to hear the options offered at each school.

Mims said those attending don’t need to bring anything with them, but will have a chance to fill out applications to the schools of their choosing.

For more information on the event, call 601-445-2927 or 601-445-2917.