Sam Palmer

Theresa Meyer

Intro to Professional Educator

11/16/23

School Analysis Paper: McCracken County District Schools

Down by the Ohio River, a very small town in Paducah, Kentucky sits at the waterfront. While

it may not seem like it holds many wonders looking from the outside, every good educator knows that

you can learn something from anything - especially this place. It may be home to some more unique

places and while it may not exactly be your Chicago suburb, Paducah does its best in its environment

to make sure that it can prosper as a city. This is not only shown in its own community, but also in the

school district - McCracken County Public Schools. McCracken County Public Schools do their best

to “serve our community through excellence in education” (Mission Statement), and the community

around them does their best to support them in every way they can.

First off, what has the school district been doing to make sure their kids succeed? For some

context, the high school is already an A rated school. They have a graduation rate of 93%, and all of

their assessment scores (minus the SAT, which they prep for significantly less than the ACT) are higher

than the state average by considerable margins. Given that they are off to this great start, it feels like it

should be hard to improve from this spot. However, McCracken County Schools are actually going

above and beyond - they have submitted a Comprehensive District Improvement Plan (CDIP). They

are currently trying to increase their proficiency from 59.9% (in 2020) to a whopping 84.5%, which is

30 more than the state average! Not only is this an incredible goal, but they’re doing it in two ways -

one by checking up on the students, and one by also trying to improve the teacher’s techniques by
having them consistently grow and follow their “Teach Like a Champion” method. They are putting

local and school funding into supporting these teachers so that the teachers can better support our

future scholars.

Speaking about funding from the local community, it’s no surprise once you start reading that

this school district has a very tight-knit bond with all of the people around it. Every single section (and

yes, I mean that quite literally) on their CDIP relies on funding from the community. In fact, 37% of

the funding that the school district gets as a whole is strictly from local sources . This ends up earning

them an enormous total of $31,258,000 a year! Adding on to this, there is also a Community

Scholarship program built into the district. As long as a student graduates with a GPA of 2.5, has an

attendance rate of at least 95%, and has no major disciplinary infractions, they will be eligible to gain

two years worth of tuition towards the Community Technical College. Due to the possibilities around

the district, the MCPS are able to have pretty much every single extracurricular activity possible for

students. This results in many community members taking part in working with the district to host

events live at the school, such as the Market House Theatre and their staff.

While extracurricular activities are very important, MCPS makes sure to also never forget that

they’re still providing a strong education. The vision statement of the district is “One Vision… Endless

Opportunities”. They achieve this by not only teaching students all of the basic school subjects that

they need, but also five core values: Strong Work Ethic, Flexibility & Adaptability, Critical Thinking &

Problem Solving, Effective Communication, and Emotional Intelligence. This results in the focus

being shifted away from just learning, and more to growing as a scholar and as a person. When taking a

look at the Instruction tab on their website, under the “Gifted and Talented” option, the first thing
that they have people take is a Growth Mindset test. They are firm believers that a strong will and

strong mindset can get you very far in the education process, and use this growth mindset test as a

means of determining everyone’s capabilities, not just the gifted students. Furthermore, under this

Gifted and Talented option, they make a strong point to say that any gifted students will still be treated

like all of the others. They will be given advancement and acceleration options for their education, and

will be given differentiated curriculum to suit their needs, but they will still be educated in the general

primary classroom. This is done to give every student a feeling of community and to allow everyone to

feel like they fit in, something that can be very important for a child at any age.

Now, given that this School District is in Kentucky, the current political state of the world is

something that should be very concerning to the school. The word “should” is used very precisely,

because while Paducah is a very conservative-leaning town, they are doing everything in their power to

make sure that politics do not get in the way of a child’s learning environment. The McCracken Public

County Library has taken a stance with the school district to make sure no books get banned from the

shelves, as it’s “very important to know our history and to know these things and understand and

discuss”, says Lia Wentworth, the adult services manager at the library. There is also a firm “Notice of

Nondiscrimination” on every single page of the MCPS website. The people that go into the MCPS,

while predominantly white, still are 15.6% minorities. Adding on to that, 43% of the people in the

district are economically disadvantaged. This does not stop MCPS from doing their best to support

each and every student. From the $11,625 worth in revenue that they earn per student per year,

$10,302 of that is put straight back into the students to make sure that programs such as the
Free-Lunch Program and the Community Scholarship will continue to stay for any child who is in

need.

Paducah, Kentucky is a very small town in a very small area in Kentucky. However, within this

small section of the US, lies a very dedicated and impressive school district. The focus on improving

students as both educators and people as well as the community involvement shows just how much

this district cares about their students, and how closely bonded this place really is. They push forward

through the political climate to keep their focus on striving to be excellent through education, and

currently, it seems like they are doing a great job of achieving that mission.
 Works Cited

JKIM@PADUCAHSUN.COM, J. K. (2023, October 4). West Kentucky libraries shine light on

banned books. The Times Leader.
https://www.timesleader.net/west-kentucky-libraries-shine-light-on-banned-books/
article_66e68f94-0 aef-5ab8-8269-b99db00385bd.html

McCracken County Public Schools Home. (n.d.). Www.mccracken.kyschools.us.

https://www.mccracken.kyschools.us

‌MCPS Students and Faculty in THE HOBBIT at Market House Theatre. (n.d.).
Www.mccracken.kyschools.us. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from
https://www.mccracken.kyschools.us/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=50IIP0&dasi=30BB