15-04-2025
White Hall Elementary receives statewide recognition as an Exemplary Practice School
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — White Hall Elementary School is one of three schools in the state that was recognized by the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) as an Exemplary Practice School for 2025, which was celebrated on Monday with an assembly.
'It is absolutely phenomenal,' Principal Taylor Myers told 12 News. 'I'm so excited not just for myself, but for my entire staff and the students. They've worked so hard over the last several years and they truly deserve this recognition.'
Myers believes one of the biggest factors that contributed to White Hall Elementary School receiving this honor is the school's 'Leader in Me' program. She stated that this program deals a lot with data-driven notebooks, which they allow the students to take leadership of.
'We're teaching every student to be a leader,' said Myers. 'So, they're kind of responsible for tracking their data, looking at their scores, setting goals for themselves, amongst a lot of other things.'
According to Myers, the program also implements student-led conferences for 3rd and 4th grade students. This allows the students to take their data notebooks home every nine weeks and discuss the information with their parents.
'They talk to their parents about those data notebooks and kind of share how they're doing and their progress,' Myers added. 'It gives them some ownership on the things that they're doing.'
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Myers also told 12 News that the Exemplary Practice Schools program first started in 2024, making this the second year that this honor was given out and the school's first time being selected. 'So we're pretty excited to be chosen,' she said.
Myers added that this honor is something you have to be asked to apply for. Once White Hall Elementary was asked to apply, they wrote and submitted a narrative that was followed by a subsequent visit from WVDE representatives.
The school was honored alongside two other elementary schools in the Mountain State. Another school in our viewing area, Mylan Park Elementary School, celebrated receiving this honor with a similar assembly this past Friday.
Myers said that she believes receiving this honor will help White Hall Elementary School continue to grow in the future. 'It'll help the students continue to push and really strive to do their best,' she added. 'So we're really proud of that. Their test scores are great but also, they're great students too.'
Being recognized as an Exemplary Practice School will also help White Hall Elementary reach out to other schools, share the Leader in Me program and conduct visits with other schools, according to Myers. She added that she wants to highlight how proud she is of all her staff, students and former principal Mrs. Murray, who also attended the assembly.
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