Inside Ferristown’s Playbook

Policy shifts don’t raise scores—people and routines do. From a busy hallway in Lexington, we sit down with Principal Angie Alexander of Ferristown Middle School to unpack how Kentucky’s new accountability pathway and the push for “vibrant learning” translate into daily wins for real students. Angie shares a grounded playbook: align resources to standards, make math engagement visible, and build relationships that keep students in the struggle long enough to learn something durable.

Website: spotlight4success.com

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
I'm Devin Pentosi, your host.
We are here in sunny Lexington,Kentucky today at the Kentucky
Continuous ImprovementConference.
We are so excited to be heretoday with our special guest,
Angie Alexander.
Hello, Angie.

SPEAKER_01 (00:24):
Hi.

SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
Angie joins us.
She is a principal with theMadison County Schools.

SPEAKER_01 (00:30):
Yes, Ferristown Middle School.

SPEAKER_00 (00:32):
Ferristown Middle School.
Wonderful, Angie.
Angie, tell us a bit about whatbrings you here today.

SPEAKER_01 (00:37):
Well, we come to this uh conference because of um
specifically there are a fewgroups from KDE here, and uh
we're on the beginning of a newuh accountability uh pathway,
and so we're uh here uh tolisten to some um information
about how the new testing systemmight roll out and it's a little

(01:01):
a little bit more explanationabout vibrant learning in
Kentucky and what that's gonnamean uh for our testing system.
And then also we had um thereare several um uh sessions about
math and math engagement, whichis um specifically in our
district an important componentof us trying to make improvement

(01:22):
right now.

SPEAKER_00 (01:23):
Wonderful.
And uh can you tell us a bitabout your educational journey?
What uh got you into education?
Thank you for watching Spotlightfor Success.
I am David Pentosi, the ChiefOperating Officer of American
Book Company.
We are located here in ourheadquarters in Woodstock,
Georgia.
All of our materials are printedin the USA.

(01:46):
We have horse and online testingmathematics.
These materials are alldesigned.

(02:07):
We guarantee score improvement.
You can get free samples of ourmaterials either in print or in
electronic formats at abc12.com.
We look forward to hearing fromyou.

SPEAKER_01 (02:22):
Well, um a long, long, long time ago in second
grade, um I loved helping myteacher be a teacher.
So uh that was probably thebeginning of me wanting to be a
teacher.
I've always helped with thingslike Bible school and that kind
of thing uh when I was younger,and then it was just a natural
progression for me to try toteach.
I thought I wanted to teach highschool, I did for about five

(02:44):
years, and then I moved tomiddle school, um, and I have
been in middle school for about27 years, either as a teacher,
um an instructional coach, ornow as a principal.

SPEAKER_00 (02:59):
Wow.
Do you have any uh specialmoments uh during your
educational career you'd like toshare with the audience?

SPEAKER_01 (03:04):
Oh, I've had lots of in 32 years, there's been a lot
of moments that have been great.
I really especially love it whenuh I build a good relationship
with a student, uh especiallythat's had some struggles, and
then see them go on to dobetter.
Um, you know, they'll often comeback during high school and
visit and uh tell us how howwell they're doing in high

(03:27):
school, and you know, we've beenthrough quite a struggle in
middle school, and that's alwaysprobably the best part.

SPEAKER_00 (03:32):
That is awesome.
That's awesome.
And I understand in the pastyou've used uh American book
company materials.

SPEAKER_01 (03:38):
Yes, we have consistently used American book
company materials uh for thelast several years at
Ferristown.
Uh we find uh the material to bevery closely aligned to the
standards uh that we're tryingto get across the students, and
um the platform is good forstudents uh um as we seek to try
to help them, you know, growthrough middle school.

SPEAKER_00 (03:58):
That's wonderful.
And uh have you seen scoreimprovements associated with
working with?

SPEAKER_01 (04:03):
Yes, our scores have steadily increased over the last
uh four or five years.

SPEAKER_00 (04:06):
Gosh, that is wonderful to hear.

SPEAKER_01 (04:08):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (04:09):
Um do you have anything you'd like to share
with the uh uh Kentuckycommunity today?

SPEAKER_01 (04:15):
Well, I do think that the ABC book company, the
um the materials we get fromthem are a very positive impact
on our instruction and justcontinuing to push for
engagement, which is what thisconference has kind of been
about.
So uh the engagement piece Ithink is extremely important
over my years.
That's kind of been what we'vekind of focused in on to make

(04:37):
big change in school.

SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
Wonderful.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday.

SPEAKER_01 (04:41):
No problem, I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 (04:43):
Yes, Angie Alexander uh in Kentucky at the Kentucky
Continuous ImprovementConference.
Thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 (04:49):
No problem.