Pembroke enjoys dramatic academic gains

In 2002, the year B.J. Howery was hired as Pembroke Community Consolidated School District 259 superintendent, the district’s academic performance was in shambles.

Pembroke was a regular fixture on the state academic watch list. And that year, in a dismal display of academic failure, only 6.8 percent of eighth-grade students were meeting Illinois State Learning Standards in math.

It took time, focus and plenty of persistence to do it, but Lorenzo R. Smith School, the district’s single school, has completely reversed its fortunes. And as Howery is set to retire this year, she has plenty of solid data to prove it.

The percentage of eighth-graders meeting state standards in math climbed to 62.1 percent of students in 2009, according to the latest published results. In 2008, the entire school district met state standards for the first time and was subsequently lifted off the state academic watch list.

“She is relentless,” Edna Dixon, the school’s speech and language pathologist, said of Howery. “She can be tenacious, especially if it’s best for the children. That’s her motto — what’s best for the children.”

For her part, Howery will be returning to Atlanta to be near her son and daughter when her tenure expires June 30. But she’ll be bringing
good memories with her, including one of her most cherished.

This year, the Illinois State Board of Education designated Lorenzo R. Smith School as one of the state’s 975 “Honor Roll” schools for maintaining academic excellence. It has also been named a “Spotlight School” for beating the odds overcoming a high poverty rate to achieve
that designation.

“I got to see that,” Howery said. “That’s enough fanfare for me.”

Interview with Grade Results Founder Craig Ullman