Disciplinary referrals are down drastically at Charles Henderson Middle School since the school implemented two programs to deal with the issue.

Principal Aaron Brown demonstrated to the school board Monday that disciplinary referrals dropped 54 percent from the 2015-2016 school year to the 2016-2017 school year after the Closet to Closet and CHARGE programs were initiated.

“We went down from 472 referrals on average to 286 referrals,” Brown said. “CHARGE gives students the opportunity to increase learning abilities in different things and by doing things they like, they foster relationships with one another. It also allows opportunity for students to be exposed to new things.”

Brown also gave updates on how students were performing in areas such as math, science and reading.

Brown touted the school’s vertical alignment plan put in place that allowed seventh grade teachers to communicate with sixth grade teachers to see where students were having the most struggles transitioning.

“Fractions were a big, big, big deal that we found we needed to work on and refresh when students come to seventh grade,” Brown said. “Sometimes there’s a loss of that knowledge over the summer break.”

In addition to hearing from Brown, the board celebrated the Charles Henderson High School girls basketball team for winning the AHSAA 5A State Championship in March and approved the school calendar for the upcoming year. The teachers and administration voted on the calendar.

Officials praised the basketball team for its success.

“We congratulate you, the coaching staff and also the players,” said Dr. lee Hicks, superintendent. “You displayed on and off the court what it means to be a champion.”