The key to a successful school system is being able to look back at the end of the year and know progress has been made. Monday, Demopolis City School principals brought good news before the school board reporting improvements in a variety of areas.

U.S. Jones principal Dr. Tony Speegle said his school had gotten rave reviews from the state.

“The state monitoring team came in the first week of May,” Speegle said. “They were very pleased at how our school performed. Overall, they had some suggestions, but we were very pleased for their findings.”

U.S. Jones students have also made leaps and bounds in reading. Speegle said their scores had come in and everyone will be pleased when they are able to make them public. Speegle said they are now preparing for a fun summer break and awards days.

“Our writing assessment scores came in and we were also pleased with those,” Speegle said. “We are also gearing up for the close of the school and have our awards day on May 23.”

Demopolis Middle School principal Dr. Clarence Jackson said his school had also gotten food reviews. Jackson said their two-day visit from SACS in May had been stressful, but helpful and encouraging.

“This school year we were getting ready for our visit from the Quality Assurance Review Team and SACS,” Jackson said. “The visit was on April 20 and 21. We got an official notice form them last Friday and I am happy to report we are happy with it.”

Jackson said they received only one recommendation from the board and were pleased with the overall report.

There was no let-off from Demopolis High School. DHS principal Dr. Ronald Roberts said his school was ending its year in a high note as well.

“We also had very good reports from our Assurance Review Team,” Roberts said. “They were very impressed, not only with our high school, but with our system as well.”

Roberts said thanks to a lot of help from the central office, things were heading in the right direction.

“Our state monitoring also went well,” Roberts said. “Our central office staff did a tremendous job of helping us prepare for that and they need to be commended for the tons of work they had to do. They did it well.”

Outside the classroom, the school has made plenty of noise as well. Both the Tiger softball and baseball teams are preparing for the state championships in their respective sports in Montgomery. Roberts said they are showing the rest of the state that Demopolis is a school system that develops complete students.

“There is so much going on and our student athletes continue to bring recognition to Demopolis, our community and our school system,” Roberts said. “We are proud of them.”