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Bluefield Daily Telegraph |
Twelve years and several education performance audits later, McDowell County is once again in full control of its school system. It’s been a decade-long effort for the high-poverty county to meet state standards.
The West Virginia Board of Education is holding a regular meeting Wednesday in the town of Bradshaw, in McDowell County. Members are making the trip for a joint-session with Reconnecting McDowell, the public-private partnership focused on improving the county's education system and economy.
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Suzanne Higgins |
Members of Reconnecting McDowell met in Charleston Monday to continue their work on improving the education system and economy of McDowell County.
The West Virginia senate amended and then unanimously passed Senate Bill 359 Monday afternoon. Out of the bill is Tomblin's invitation to Teach for America. Lawmakers will instead study alternative ways to certify teachers.
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Jessica Y. Lilly |
McDowell County schools will vote on a new proposal for ways to improve the system Friday. It’s part of a new law passed by the West Virginia legislature in 2012.
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Jessica Y. Lilly |
Concord University students are hoping to help a McDowell County town find a new identity. Students are working to write a business plan for a historic building in Kimball.
Traveling along busy Route 52 from Bluefield into McDowell County, you drive in quick succession through the once thriving towns of Maybeury, then Elkhorn, and then Northfork.
The upward trend in West Virginia's teen birth rate is the focus of this year's KidsCount Data Book.
McDowell County has the highest number of substandard housing units of any county in the state, according to a recent housing analysis. Sometimes the homes are deemed ‘too far gone’ to be helped.
Putnam County sits more than 130 miles from McDowell County but for one high school senior, the conditions seem to be a world away.
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Jessica Y. Lilly |
The US Census Bureau says 33 percent of McDowell County residents lived below the poverty level between 2007 and 2011. That’s well above the state’s average at 17 percent.
Winfield High School student council is collecting items to fill shoe boxes for children in McDowell County. The group is far from its goal and time is running out.
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Jessica Y. Lilly |
About 17 percent of the students in McDowell County have special needs. More than fifty years after the Foster Grandparent program began, McDowell community leaders say it’s needed now more than ever.
Four initiatives in McDowell County in various stages of development would deliver local treatment for substance addiction.
Two newly constructed homes are on the market in McDowell County. While new houses for sale isn’t news in most areas of the country, for McDowell County it’s an accomplishment.
The President of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, readied for U.S. Sec of Education Arne Duncan’s visit to McDowell County Thursday by convening a meeting of partners of Reconnecting McDowell – a public-private partnership working to revitalize the county’s education system and economy.
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Jessica Y. Lilly |
The majority of children in West Virginia were greeted with free breakfast and lunch as they returned to school. A federal program is expected to help all children in a targeted, economically depressed area.
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Jessica Y. Lilly |
The latest data lists McDowell County with the highest rate of child abuse and neglect in the state while the foster service organizations are being forced to place the abused children even further away from familiar homes.
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Suzanne Higgins |
The town of War, WV, a McDowell County community of 1000 residents, remains horrified over the gruesome murder this summer of its mayor.
Birth rate in West Virginia among older teens rose 17 percent between 2007 and 2009 while the rest of the nation saw no increase at all. The latest data shows McDowell County has the highest teen birth rate in the state.
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Suzanne Higgins |
It’s lunchtime at the Pizza Factory restaurant in downtown Welch. Behind the counter, underneath a crisp white apron and cap, 24-year-old Daniel Estep is adding fresh veggies to a just-placed order.
The Centers for Disease Control says West Virginia had the second-highest rate of poisoning or overdose deaths in the country. And during those same years, 2007-2009 McDowell County had the most in the state.
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While the Reconnecting McDowell Project is working to secure housing as a recruitment tool, there are educators who decided long ago to commit to McDowell County children.
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Jessica Y. Lilly |
Members of the Reconnecting McDowell Project, the public-private partnership working to revitalize McDowell County, believe creating more housing options will help in attracting teachers to the area.
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Suzanne Higgins |
Save the Children is a leading non-profit organization working to combat the effects of poverty on children around the world.
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Suzanne Higgins |
In tough economic times, opening your first small business is a huge risk.
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Suzanne Higgins |
Members of Reconnecting McDowell, the public-private partnership focusing on revitalizing McDowell County, are meeting this week to finalize an action plan.
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Suzanne Higgins |
Despite a state takeover of the McDowell County education system in 2001, little progress had been made until the appointment of a new superintendent 2 years ago.
Last week, Mt. View High School students in Welch received a book to keep. Teachers hope this small gift will go a long way.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced Friday what he called an unprecedented public-private partnership led by the American Federation of Teachers to improve educational opportunities in McDowell County.