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Opp Elementary School earned the highest overall score for elementary schools in Covington County.

Principal Shawn Short said that they increased their score 10 points.

“We went from an 81 last year to a 91 this year,” he said.

To do that, teachers and administrators changed several things.

“We have been working on several different instructional practices at OES,” he said. “We implemented Walk to Read a few years ago and it has definitely helped improve our reading scores. During our Walk to Read hour, we have embedded SPIRE intervention groups.”

Short said that these groups get more explicit lessons in phonics and fluency.

“We have just started a new tier one phonics program called Reading Horizons,” Short said. “This will allow us to be more consistent and use the same language from grade-to-grade.”

Short said that he commended teachers for always going the extra mile for OES students.

“They work hard every day and these results are a great reward for their efforts,” he said. “I am also very proud of our students’ hard work and our parents for pushing them daily to become their best.”