A high school principal in Halifax County is taking an unusual approach in an effort to get more of his students to go to college.

Marvin Bradley, who is in his first year at Northwest Halifax High School, has renamed the 11 buildings on the Littleton campus after state colleges – East Carolina University, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Wesleyan College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to name a few.

It’s part of a bigger effort to change the culture of the school, which has had a graduation rate of less than 75 percent for several years.

Last year, 73.8 percent of seniors graduated up from 57.8 percent two years earlier. Of every student who graduates, about two-thirds go on to a college or university.

Over the next two years, Bradley says, his goal is to see 80 percent of seniors graduating and going on to college.

“I think what our students need, more than anything else, is the guidance and the leadership,” said Bradley, who comes from Chicago Public Schools, where he specialized in turning schools around.

Halifax County Schools – one of three school systems in the county – is in the midst of a three-year, intensive program aimed at boosting student performance.

A Superior Court judge ordered the state to intervene in 2009, calling the district’s test scores “academic genocide.”

Nearly half of the state’s 13 lowest-performing schools have been in Halifax County, according to the state’s 2011 ABCs of Education report, and state numbers last year showed six of the district’s 11 schools didn’t improve student performance as expected – including Northwest.

That’s where Bradley comes in with his mission to change the school’s culture.

A makeover is also in store to give students more confidence about their school. He plans to repave the school’s parking lot and sidewalks.

He’s also placed a mission statement in the front of the school to get students to take their studies more seriously. The mission: “to offer a diverse education curriculum that will assist students on their path to individual, community and global success.”

And he’s engaging more with students.

“I believe the students need the opportunity, and they can make a difference,” he said. “Once we change the individual, we can change minds. Once we change minds, we can change our creation and where we are.”

Parents and students alike are excited.

“I think he’s doing a great job,” mother Sherri Patterson said.

Student body president Carissa Manley says she’s noticed a change in students’ attitudes and hopes Bradley’s efforts will help get more students like her to college and to achieve her dreams.

“Halifax has instilled in me to push for that, push forever forward.” she said.

And Bradley says he’ll keep pushing forward to meet his goal.

SALT LAKE CITY The State Board of Education gave its approval to the specific processes and formulas to grade schools next fall.

A law requiring the state to grade schools was passed during the 2011 Legislative session, and a commission comprised of State Office of Education staff, lawmakers and other stakeholders has been pounding out the specifics ever since.

“It has not been easy work. There has been a mountain-load of data, a lot of statistics and data we’ve had to work through,” said Judy Park, associate superintendent with the State Office of Education.

• Utah schools beat some national averages, but make no strides on national report card Nov. 1, 2011
• Lawmakers, educators to mull what will happen to A and F schools Sept. 23, 2011
• Parents can now compare school performance after state makes new data project public Sept. 21, 2011
• Senator pitches grading Utah schools bill to Education Excellence Commission Jan. 23, 2011
• Senator pitches grading Utah schools bill to Education Excellence Commission Jan. 18, 2011

The grade a school receives whether A, B, C, D or F will depend equally on student proficiency on standardized tests and student improvement.

“What we’re communicating is we value both proficiency and growth,” said board member Laurel Brown.

School grades will be based on points, not percentages. A school can receive up to 300 points based on how many students perform proficiently on standardized tests, and up to 300 additional points based on how much students improve from one year to the next. Graduation rates will also factor into how high schools are graded.

“We want all of our schools to be able to be A schools,” said Judy Park, which is why the formula isn’t based on a bell curve.

A total of 391 points will get elementary and middles schools an overall “A,” 296 will earn a “B,” 251 a “C” and 191 a “D.”

High schools grades: 391 points earns an “A,” 295 a “B,” 250 a “C,” and 185 a “D.”

If only a small percentage of a school’s students are proficient, but they have exceptional growth in their knowledge from one year to the next, they could still be eligible to get an “A” or a “B.”

Tim Beagley, a non-voting representative from the charter school board, spoke against the fact that schools with student populations that do very poorly on proficiency would still be able to get a good grade.

“I’m very uncomfortable giving an ‘A’ grade to a school where not even half of the students are proficient,” he said. “It’s dishonest to tell the public that that’s an ‘A’ school.”

State Superintendent Larry Shumway countered that the formula is designed to give parents and educators a glimpse at the positive impact a school is having, particularly in schools with challenging demographics. If students at a school are rapidly expanding their knowledge year after year, even if they aren’t proficient, that progress should be acknowledged, he said.

Two schools could have the same number of proficiency points, but one might have steadily improved to get to that point while the other degenerated.

“The trajectories are different. The ‘A’ school has the high trajectory. The ‘F’ school has the low trajectory,” he said.

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UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School has named Sarah Perez executive director of its MBA for executives programs, which includes the school’s evening and weekend programs.

Perez joins Kenan-Flagler from Florida International University, where she was executive director of its executive and professional MBA program.

Perez succeeds Penny Oslund, who has retired after 20 years as executive director.