Benton High School has been in existence for nearly 115 years and has served the Benton community well. Benton is a school that exemplifies the best in what the American educational experience has to offer. The faculty and administration strongly believe that each student should be viewed as an individual and that each student has the right to receive the opportunity through education to develop to his or her fullest potential.

The information compiled in our school profile includes a variety of data including the following: a history of the school, student performance data, school and community demographic data, characteristics of the school, and stakeholders’ perspectives on the quality of the school. The school profile committee worked together to collect data from the following: the Louisiana Department of Education website, school report cards, internal school records, central office records, and Benton Elementary School and Benton Middle School census data. The majority of this data is available in the School Report Card that is published annually by the State Department of Education. The October 2004 School Report Card is included in this document.

To determine Benton’s priorities for improving student learning, the Student Learning Committee used input from faculty, administration, parents, students, and the Benton community. The Student Learning Committee reviewed the school profile, beliefs and mission statement, Bossier Parish instructional objectives, and the state content standards and benchmarks. The committee also reviewed the NSSE Schoolwide Goals for Student Learning and Performance Indicators and the Louisiana Content Standards Foundation Skills (pp.5-3...5-4). In addition, the committee reviewed information gathered from ACT Student Profile reports, GEE 21, and IOWA test results. Finally, we reviewed the results of the NSSE School Beliefs Inventory survey of the Benton faculty (see appendix), which was conducted by the Priorities for Improving Student Learning Committee.

The mission of Benton High School is to prepare all students for life-long success. While we have generally been successful in accomplishing this mission, we will always continue to pursue excellence.

The Action Plan Committee received reports from the School Profile Committee, the Beliefs and Mission Committee, the Priorities for Improving Student Learning Committee and the Priorities for Improving School Performance Committee. The reports were based on analysis of test results for Benton High School students and on analysis of surveys which canvassed Benton High School stakeholders. The School Profile Committee gathered this data for analysis. The Action Plan Committee subsequently developed goal statements and action steps designed to address the two major areas of weakness identified in these committee reports.