Southside High School will be screening its incoming freshman for reading proficiency at their current middle schools once ACT Aspire testing concludes.

The screenings will be performed by Southside teachers at the middle schools. As of right now, Southside is the only local high school screening its incoming freshman class.

When asked why the screening are occurring, Southside head principal Jeff Prewitt explained, “We have come to learn that a significant percentage of our students are not reading at a level that enables them to be successful in class. This has led to frustration for students that has in turn led to lower academic performance, and in some cases increased office referrals. If we are to be true to our mission, we have to exhaust all possible resources to ensure that our students are able to grow academically.”

Only about 42% of Southside’s students are proficient in reading. Southside is trying to enforce their mission statement about academic excellence into their test scores. Southside will screen all of the incoming freshman to identify students who need additional help with their literature skills.

If a student is not proficient in reading, then they will be put into a credit-bearing course called Critical Reading, or an intervention time during Southside’s FLEX period throughout the year.

The goal of the screenings is to raise all of the students’ ACT and ACT Aspire scores.