Mountain Brook Superintendent says 'what's right with our schools' is more than statistic-deep

  By Ana Rodriguez | arodriguez@al.comal.com
on May 09, 2013 at 4:04 PM

Dicky Barlow, superintendent of Mountain Brook Schools, talks to students in Heather Hutto's kindergarten class at Brookwood Forest Elementary School in 2009. (Birmingham News file)
 

MOUNTAIN BROOK, Alabama -- Today, it was about more than just numbers and statistics.
“We try to look after the whole child,” said Dicky Barlow, Superintendent of Mountain Brook Schools during his speech at the quarterly luncheon of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce this afternoon.
Barlow was on hand today at Park Lane to address the crowd about “What’s Right with Our Schools.”
Sharing that information, he said, would be like “sipping water from a fire hydrant,” because of the wealth of positive things he could share about Mountain Brook schools. The success, he added, the national-recognition the schools receive, all start with a shared mentality.
“We don’t say ‘I,”’ explained Barlow about everyone involved in the school system—from the Board of Education to principals, teachers, the PTO, and of course parents and students. “We say ‘we.”’
It’s a practice that has been at the heart of the school system for as long as he can remember, said Barlow, who’s been involved with city’s schools since 1996.
The group’s goals, said Barlow, have evolved over time—though success is always its driving force.
In 2007, while Barlow served as the principal of Mountain Brook High, administrators began to talk about their “ultimate goal” as a school system. Back then, their motto was to become a “world class school system.” Upon further discussion, however, the group agreed that it was about more than reaching a lofty ideal—it was about making every day a success. Every day, agreed those involved, should be: effective, challenging and engaging.
“We realized that if we did that every day,” said Barlow, “we would eventually become a world-class school system.”
State and national statistics—though Barlow views them as ineffective measures of success on their own, and should just be part of the picture—prove that through the everyday, they have succeeded.
Today, he shared the following numbers:

• 96 percent of students (grades K-3) meet or exceed state early literacy standards
• 97 to 100 percent of students (grades 3-8) meet or exceed state standards in reading and math
• 99 percent of students (grades 5-7) meet or exceed state standards in science

The city’s high school students continue the trend

• Currently, said Barlow, the high school offers more than 20 Advance Placement courses to students.
• This past year, 986 students took AP tests
• 89 percent of students earned a high enough scores to receive college credit for the course, compared to the national average of 58 percent
• 29 National Merit Scholars this year helped the school tie a previous school record Students scored an average of 26.7 on the ACT, compared to the national average of 21.1
• Students scored an average of 1864 on the SAT, compared to the national average of 1498
• 98 percent of mountain brook high graduates go on to attend 4-year schools

What the numbers don't show, said Barlow, is the work that goes into earning those recognitions. They don't show the countless hours of community involvement, volunteer work and outreach the students are involved in; they don't show the hundreds of thousands of dollars the community raises each year to support their students; and they don't show the every day objectives of each institution valuing not only math and science, but the arts as well in creating a complete student.
But it's all part of the mix.
At the end of the day, said Barlow, every day is about making each and every student a success.
“What every parent wants first,” he said, “is that we care for their child.”