Gov. Kay Ivey visited two Wilcox County elementary schools Monday that have been part of a new statewide effort to transform low-performing schools and surrounding communities.

ABC Elementary School and J.E. Hobbs Elementary School both have seen increases in reading scores over the past year. They are two of 15 schools selected by Ivey’s Turnaround Schools Initiative last year, and have received additional funding and targeted support.

“We put all the resources we could into getting our students reading on grade level,” said ABC Elementary Principal Cherylettia Bennett, who became principal this year following her success as the school’s reading specialist last year.

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During her visits, Ivey read “How Did That Get in my Lunchbox” to kindergarten, first and second grade classes at each school.

“I grew up here in Wilcox County so I know what it’s like down here in these deep, dark woods,” she said at ABC Elementary.

In September, when the initiative was announced, State Superintendent Eric Mackey said the communities where the schools are located are dealing with high levels of poverty and “overwhelming” needs.

“It bleeds over into school with academic underperformance year after year,” Mackey said.

A total of $15 million was allocated to the 15 schools. Every selected school has a majority-Black student body and more than six in 10 students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, an indicator of poverty. The percentage of third-graders reading on grade level ranged from 38% to 65% on spring 2022 tests. Statewide, 78% of third-graders were reading on grade level.

“This is a strategic approach to turning [the schools] around so it’s not just one size fits all funding, but instead targets exactly what each school needs,” Gina Maiola, Ivey’s spokeswoman, said about the Turnaround Schools Initiative. “The governor really wants to get in these schools and encourage them along the way.”

Ivey handed out books to each classroom she visited to emphasize the importance of learning to read at an early age.

“You learn to read then you read to learn,” she said to second graders at ABC Elementary. “Strong skills make a strong state.”

ABC Elementary School saw a nearly 20-percentage-point jump in its third grade reading scores, from 41% reading on grade level during the 2021-22 school year to 60% in 2022-23.

J.E. Hobbs’s scores also jumped from 41% of third graders on grade level in 2021-22 to 54% in 2022-23.

Bennett said she hopes funding from the Turnaround Initiative, which will provide wraparound services to her students and the wider Alberta community, will help the school see continued improvement.

“It’s going to be a challenge but we are ready for it,” said Bennett.

Ivey will also tour schools in Houston and Montgomery counties selected for the turnaround program on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A full list of the 15 selected schools can be found here.