PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL IS A WIN-WIN-WIN SITUATION
MSU, SOCSD EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS WILL BENEFIT FROM UNIQUE COLLABORATION AT STATE-OF-ART SCHOOL
On July 31, Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum took a tour of Starkville Oktibbeha County School District’s Partnership School, with SOCD superintendent Eddie Peasant serving as tour guide.
The $30-million, 123,000 square-foot school, tucked away on the northeast corner of MSU’s sprawling campus, now serves roughly 600 sixth-and-seventh grade students. It is a collaboration between the university and the school district.
After an hour, during which Peasant pointed out feature after feature of the new state-of-the-art school, including a pod system designed to accommodate 100 student “tribes” as they move from each of five classsooms around a common area like spokes in a wheel, Keenum was clearly impressed.
“This is a fabulous, fabulous school,” Keenum said as the tour ended. “I go to schools all over Mississippi to visit with students and I have never seen a school nicer than this. This is the highest tech, most modern school, I think, in the whole state of Mississippi.”
Yet for all of its new features, latest technology and innovative design, the most impressive feature of the new school had yet to arrive at the time of Keenum’s tour.
Long after the “new wears off,” the unique learning environment that brings MSU education students into close, daily contact with the schoolchildren will continue to grow and evolve, a true partnership in education.
Although MSU education students have long visited area schools to observe and learn in real-time settings, The Partnership School will allow more teachers-in-training to spend more time and become more familiar with the students they’ll see on a daily basis.
“In a normal school year, we’ll have somewhere between 150 and 175 students taking classes at the school,” said Terry Jayroe, associate dean at MSU’s College of Education. “It will be invaluable to our students.”
In addition to the eight, five-classroom pods for SOCSD students, the facility has designated space for six classrooms and 10 office spaces for MSU students and administrators.
“We’ll be right here in the heart of the school, which will be great,” said MSU instructor Kim Smith, who will teach literacy and math to MSU’s future teachers. “It’s one thing to tell our teachers how things are and another thing to show them. That’s what we’ll be doing here.”
While the Partnership School will provide MSU students hands-on opportunities like never before, the collaboration provides SOCSD with unprecedented benefits as well.
“It’s going to be great for the student teachers, but it’s going to be great for us, too,” said sixth-grade science teacher Ashley Allen, who’s been with the SOCSD for six years.
“They’ll open my eyes to ideas that maybe I haven’t thought about. We can bounce ideas off each other, see what works best.”
Allen said the arrangements will mean students are more likely to get more one-on-one or small group assistance.
“It’s an extra hand if a child needs help,” she said. “Eventually when she starts teaching, we can swap places and I’ll be the one to do the one-on-one or small-group assistance. The student will have the best of both worlds. With two teachers, a student knows he or she can get help if they don’t understand something.”
For some, the learning began far before the school began classes. That’s particularly true for Devon Brenner, assistant vice president for research and development of MSU, who acted as a liaison between the university and the school district since its inception five years ago.
“It’s been a unique experience,” Brenner said. “The building is on university land, but it belongs to the school district. Throughout the process, there have been a lot of changes - a new school board and new superintendent, construction delays, changing costs, COVID-19. [...] I think I still have Partnership School mug on my shoes from the start of construction. Now that it’s finished, it’s such an honor to have been a part of it. It’s such a beautiful building and facility.”
Jayroe said the school is a testament to what can be achieved through teamwork.
“Our faculty and students are excited for the opportunity the school represents,” Jayroe said. “I’m sure the same is true for the school district. But for both of us, the ultimate goal is to impact student learning.”
STORY BY SLIM SMITH
PHOTOS BY CLAIRE HASSLER
