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Testing Center Hosts Successful Year
Oxford, Mississippi (June 10, 2021) — The former Oxford Elementary cafeteria was strangely quiet at the end of this school year. Although the cafeteria space had not been used in over a year and a half, the room has been the location of the OSD Testing Center for the last 180 days. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, students were given the option to learn from home in a virtual environment. Since the district had the extra space, the administration elected to provide a scheduled and proctored environment for testing virtual students. A plan was quickly put into place. Virtual students from Della Davidson Elementary, Oxford Intermediate, Oxford Middle, and Oxford High used the facility to take proctored exams – 4,024 tests to be exact.
The cafeteria had room to seat 299 students but according to CDC guidelines, only 40 students could be tested at one time. Desks were spread out and topped with acrylic testing booths. Procedures were put in place for students to make appointments with their teachers and the testing center for each exam.
“With the help of Instructional Coach Jill Knox, Assistant Superintendent Bradley Roberson, and Superintendent Brian Harvey, we removed old cafeteria tables, scrubbed walls, scrubbed floors, measured desk placement and numbered all the desks. It was important for us to ensure that students could take their exams in an environment where district personnel would administer the exams. It also reassured teachers that grades on assessments were a true reflection of the students’ abilities,” said Thomas Herrington, Virtual School Coordinator.
Virtual students were greeted each day by Floretta Certion-Pegues, Leighanne Smith, and Thomas Herrington, where they would meet students in the car line, take temperatures, open tests, contact parents, clean the desks and chairs, and start the process all over again. And they did this 4,024 times all in efforts to provide a safe place for students whose families chose to attend classes as virtual students.
“What these three employees accomplished this year is truly outstanding. When other campuses were working hard to achieve some sense of normalcy, the testing center was consistently serving virtual families in this unique way. They sprung into action and were committed to the health and safety of our students. Upholding the integrity of testing was a top priority and I feel that Mr. Herrington and his staff did just that,” said Superintendent Harvey.
At this time, plans have not been made to offer virtual learning in the fall for students in the Oxford School District.