At the Aug. 19 Round County Board of Education meeting, district instructional staff described new professional‑learning and student‑support steps for the 2025–26 school year, and announced the district preschool received a five‑star state rating.

The instructional presenter, Miss Carver, told the board the district held a “productive, really awesome two‑day retreat” in July with district and school‑level administrators, counselors and instructional coaches, and that the retreat included threat assessment training with the Kentucky Center for School Safety and a Leader in Me representative to lay out a strategic vision for the program.

The retreat and subsequent professional learning were intended to support teachers, Carver said. “We trained all new teachers and all of our high quality instructional resources,” she said, and the district has assigned mentors for each new teacher and provided mentor training for district and school leadership.

Why this matters: Board members said the mentorship and coaching structures are design decisions to help retain staff and support instruction amid continuing teacher shortages. Carver said those shortages help explain why three teachers received emergency certificates after being accepted into certification programs.

District leaders also told the board they have added an advisory period to middle‑ and high‑school schedules so students have a regular time for “profile of a learner” work and character education. “We’ve asked teachers for that first week to really work on building relationships so every student has a trusted adult in the building,” Carver said.

On early assessment data, Carver said the district has received raw KSA data back to help teachers make instructional decisions, and that the district also has MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) data, providing two data points early in the year for goal setting and small‑group instruction. She said the district is completing quality control with the school report card process before public release, which typically occurs in September or October.

Carver highlighted the preschool program’s five‑star rating, calling it “not an easy feat” that involved extensive documentation and observations. She said the rating is valid through 2028 and praised preschool staff for the work required to earn it.

Board members asked whether the district could display the rating publicly; one said a banner or plaque at pickup would let more parents see the recognition. Carver said the district would pursue visible recognition so parents who do not attend meetings would know about the award.

The update closed with an acknowledgment that preschool and Head Start had been active throughout the week ahead of classroom starts and that preschool classes begin the following week.

District next steps include releasing cleaned school report card data once quality‑control is complete and implementing the mentorship and advisory period plans across schools.

The instructional update was presented by Miss Carver and discussed during the regular agenda; no formal board action was recorded on these items at the meeting.