TOPS (Tennessee Online Public School) at Greeneville Principal Dr. Lindsey Weeden updated the Greeneville City Board of Education on the program during their meeting last week.
Below your will find her comments as well as those of some parents.
ENROLLMENT
“Currently, and this is just Greeneville students and not counting the Bristol students, we have 132 students, K-12, that are Greeneville students. We have eight that were early graduates, having graduated in December, and we are still maintaining 140 students, which is where we started the first day of school.”
TEST SCORES
“There has been improvement in our school wide literacy and numeracy, still an area for us that we want to continue to grow in, but so very proud of the teachers for all the hard work and effort that they put in every day. If you’ve had a chance to see what they do online, it’s amazing, because it’s easier said than done to have those students pay attention at home. If you can imagine zooming in from your own home and having to sit there and pay attention all day long. So I think these scores are a reflection of their dedication, and just the way they can hold those students’ attention all day long on Zoom.”
CHALLENGE TO TEACHERS
“So, I challenged the teachers this year to present at an educational conference, and I am proud to say all teachers were accepted to present at different conferences across the state and nation, and when you apply to present at a conference, it does not necessarily mean you will get accepted. So, very proud of each and every teacher that stepped up to this challenge. Why present? It allows them to collaborate with other educators and technology, allows teachers to share and show off what we do here at TOPS, spreads the word of our school, and I think it builds confidence in our teachers. They need to know how awesome they are, and being able to share that with others, and just hear the praises that come back from that.
We had teachers present at our local Tech Blitz.. We had them present at Niswonger Symposium, TETC, which is the Tennessee Educational Technology Conference, and then we also had two teachers go to Florida to present at the Florida Educational Technology Conference as well.
We are very proud of each and every one of them being able to share about what we do and the awesome things that we have going on here at TOPS.
So while they were busy doing that, I’m busy trying to promote us as well. I got the honor to go to Nashville, be on the local news, to talk about what we do at TOPS. They had a homeschool day, so all day long, they talked about virtual schools and other homeschool options. And then I also had the opportunity to go to a conference in Nashville, and was asked to present while I was there as well on a local panel.”
CAREER WEEK
“Something new we did this year was a career week November 10 through 14th.. TOPS offered one Zoom session a day where a different guest speaker joined us to discuss their career. Each guest also discussed the skills they learned in elementary school and how they utilized those skills in their careers. So, we often have to get those questions from kids. Why do I need to know this? So that was great to hear from these professionals to talk about how they’re using these basic math skills and reading skills that they’re learning in K through 5 and how they apply those to their jobs today. Students were also able to dress up as what they wanted to be when they grew up and ask questions to each speaker. We had the local firemen come out. They actually came to the office and put on all the gear, did the whole thing. We had a dental hygienist ,a pilot, a police officer, and a geologist. And the kids absolutely loved it. They look forward to each day. For the geologist, honestly, I thought that would be the lowest turnout. Apparently, every single kid has a rock that they want to show off and talk about. I think we had 26 kids on there for the geologist. They were excited.”
PRINCIPAL CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS
“So for myself, I wanted a way that I could connect with the students. When I observed the teachers or I’m watching some of the classes, I pop in, and oftentimes they were like, Who is this? There’s a stranger over there. And I wanted them to know who I was. So I started a monthly Zoom event that is just for the students, and we do a different theme every month. You can see the career week one that we had. In January, we created a dream board, so they were able to join and I walked them through that. And then we also did a show and tell back in September. But it was just a way for me to be able to get to know the students more and connect with them, and I’ve absolutely loved it. It’s been a blast.”
IN PERSON EVENTS
“Among our in person events, the Nashville Zoo last year, we had 100 people show up for the zoo. We’re hoping to do that again this year. We did some arts and crafts, read some books, went on a bear hunt. We always have such a great turnout. And, of course, just don’t forget about the people that make our school possible, and some of them are here this evening. I couldn’t do any of this without them. They’re always there, and they’re always willing to go above and beyond for the students and their families.”
PARENTS GIVE TESTIMONIES
“My name is Erica, and I have two daughters who are participating in the TOPS program, and our family is an international family. We live in Greeneville, but we travel to South America, to Chile every year, and TOPS has been such an amazing and wonderful program so that we can travel and continue to be within the school system and the curriculum. It’s a very easy and interactive way for the girls to participate in school and stay close to the curriculum that they are use to, and we think that TOPS is a fantastic program, so we may be doing that here in Greeneville, or we may be doing that in the Patagonia region of Chile. So this program reaches kids that are close to home as well as far, far away.”
“Hello Greeneville City School Board. First of all, thank you so much for allowing us to be part of TOPS these past few years. I have a current third grader and first grader, and we have absolutely loved everything about tops. We love the flexibility. We love how kind and helpful the teachers are. We love that I am able to work with the boys and really push them to their limits. Both of my boys are beyond their grade level, and so it is fantastic that we can have our zoom time and our canvas work, but then on top of that, we can do things that are actually at their level that’s really pushing and challenging them, and it has been so wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about TOPS. We are actually from a county that is considered one of the highest counties in the state for education, and as I told Ms. Henderson last year, I would put our second grade experience up there with that county any day of the week. I mean, it is fantastic. I cannot say anything bad about it. It’s been so wonderful.”
Hey there. My name is Bethany. I’m the parent of a second grader who’s actually been with TOPS since she was in kindergarten. And there’s no way in a video like this, that I could express how much TOPS means to us as a family, but I’d love to share a few reasons why we love TOPS. One is, interestingly enough, even though this is an online school, I love that every day, we’re doing things in our notebook, and on paper and pencil. We’ve got manipulative things in our hands. It’s not all just staring at a screen. And so that means a lot to us. Also, with the technology, though there is an opportunity for her education to be personalized, and part of that is the platforms themselves, but also just the way the teachers work with her and with us as her family, to really provide her an opportunity to learn and grow in ways that means something to her and excite her. And so we really appreciate that. Also, the way the program is designed, it’s really fostering increased independence for our daughter, and that means a lot to us. Also, we love the choices. Our daughter loves it, she gets some choices, and what she’s doing when she’s doing it, how she’s doing it. And so, that’s important to us. Along with just flexibility, it’s nice that if we have an appointment or we’re traveling, that we can not miss school and that we can still get a great education, and again, that flexibility is important to us. Last but not least, and I would think a huge reason why TOPS works is the strong relationships that our daughter has with her teachers. They’re fantastic. I could go on and on about how amazing her teachers are, and all the work that they do to provide. Just the best education she can have. And so, um, pass the Kleenexes, ’cause I could use one, but we really do appreciate everything that TOPS has done for our daughter."