Covington High School has a simple educational priority:
student success without exception. Covington, located
in rural Tipton County, prepares its students with both an
academic and vocational foundation, including college-prep honors courses and career-centered technical programs. Teachers and administrators are committed to their students and to each other, working closely
together to help all students succeed at the school. They
communicate regularly and frequently to share information, including grades and instructional strategies.
They fervently believe that each student is like one of
their own children, and will accept only the best. “I won’t
accept failure as an option,” Covington High School Principal Peggy Murdock said.
SCHOOL Profile
Principal – Peggy Murdock
Grades served – 9-12
Enrollment – 790
Economically disadvantaged students – 72%
White – 47%
African American – 52%
Hispanic – 0.5%
Other – 0.5%
Attendance rate – 94%
TVAAS growth estimate
Algebra I: 50.7
English II: 5.3
EOC Proficient/Advanced
Algebra I: 73%
English II: 51%
College readiness data
ACT Composite: 18
Graduation Rate: 97%
College-going rate: 58%
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Pathways to the Prize
Lessons from the 2012 SCORE Prize School Winners
Covington High School was not always this way. When
Murdock first came to the high school in 2008, the
school had not met Adequate Yearly Progress targets for
African American students, the graduation rate for African American students was significantly lagging behind
that of their peers, and only half of Covington graduates
pursued postsecondary education after high school. Not
only were the numbers troubling, but Murdock also saw
that high expectations were not held for all students and
teachers.
After studying school processes and listening closely to
teachers and parents, Murdock set an aggressive course
for improvement. She started by raising academic
expectations for all students, improving the physical environment of the school, redefining administrative roles
and functions, establishing new data systems and expectations for using data for instructional planning, and
developing new interventions for any student who fell
behind. She pushed teachers to implement new, more
engaging instructional strategies and pushed students
to nurture their own sense of personal responsibility. As
a result, the school has narrowed achievement gaps,
shown impressive growth on End-of-Course exams, and
had more of their students pursue postsecondary education and training than in the past. In 2012, the school
was nationally recognized by U.S. News and World
Report with a bronze medal for Best High Schools in the
country. This means that not only is the school meeting
state expectations on standardized tests, but they are
also outperforming other schools in the state when it
comes to their least advantaged students.
“There are no excuses,” Murdock said. “It doesn’t matter
what the poverty level is. It is about the best achievement that we can have for all of our students.” A Covington teacher added that higher expectations and academic achievement can help break persistent cycles of
poverty. “The higher our student achievement levels, the
better opportunities students have when they leave our
system to do whatever they want to do,” she said. “We
try to give them the best background we can.”