Organization: Education Goal Team

Goal Team Co-Chairs: Suzanne McCommon & Kyle Miller

Mission Statement: Promote and support education and workforce training as the economic development engine that will attract new and retain existing businesses, and provide new opportunities for Phillips County citizens by working with the Education Foundation, Phillips Community College and business community to improve the literacy level of citizens, involve parents in their children’s education, foster greater public and business involvement and support for education, produce high school graduates prepared for the workforce or higher education, and provide job skills training for adults.

Improvement in educational systems, processes and most importantly student achievement is a critical foundational activity impacting the success or failure of all other community development programs.  At the present time three of the four schools in Phillips County are under some form of academic or fiscal distress.
Educational goals considered in the Community Strategic Plan include improvement of student literacy levels, involvement of parents in their children’s education, fostering greater involvement in public education by the business community, increasing experience levels of school administrators, principals and school board members, expanding the KIPP School to provide education for children from kindergarten through high school, engaging the public school system with Phillips  Community College and providing workforce education and job skills training for adults.

Following is the list of strategic goals related to education identified by Phillips County residents. For a complete list of action steps associated with these goals, download the Phillips County Strategic Community Plan.

Strategic Goal Number One – Initiate comprehensive training for public school teachers, principals, administrators and board members, with such training designed to promote current leadership development techniques as well as improved course curriculum.

Strategic Goal Number Two - Expand the KIPP Delta College Preparatory School to educate children from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Strategic Goal Number Three – Initiate programs designed specifically to improve literacy and mathematics aptitudes for students in Phillips County.  Specifically, this strategic goal involves implementation of the “PRIISM” initiative – “Partnership to Renew Interest and Improve Student Mathematics”.

Strategic Goal Number Four – Develop and initiate occupational educational programs for Phillips County’s high school students that provide them with necessary skills for employment in a trade or craft.

Strategic Goal Number Five – Develop and implement the Career Pathway Program for adult residents of Phillips County.  The Career Pathway Program will start with adult education that is contextualized to particular career/job activities available in Phillips County, including nursing/allied heath, education, manufacturing, mechanical and industrial maintenance, technology and behavioral health.

Strategic Goal Number Six – Establish a University Center at Phillips Community College to accommodate post-secondary study beyond a two-year program.  The Center would serve as a coordinating agent for programs from various colleges and universities.

Strategic Goal Number Seven – Develop, implement and provide community-based broadband internet access and computing technology to the communities of Helena-West Helena, Marvell and Elaine.

Strategic Goal Number Eight – Formalize and expand the Phillips County Educational Foundation, which is partly intended to reconnect the local business community to public education.