— Grant Foreman Elementary students found a new regimen when they returned to class Wednesday.

In the first moments of the first day of school, they gathered in the school gym, sat in lines behind their teachers and waited while Principal Vickie Albin dismissed them to their classes.

“When they first came in, they didn’t know which direction to face, but they caught on fast,” Albin said. “Now every morning, they’ll come in here and wait for the teachers to take them to class.”

Students at Grant Foreman and Cherokee Elementary schools will face new programs and new challenges this year. The State Department of Education designated the two as “focus” schools, meaning the schools had wide gaps in how subgroups performed or were not meeting a state benchmark on test results.

Parents of Grant Foreman and Cherokee Elementary students were given the option of transferring their children to other schools. Muskogee Public Schools spokesman Melony Carey said that, as of Thursday, 10 students were transferred out of Grant Foreman, which had 348 students the first day; nine transferred out of Cherokee, with 237 students. Carey said she had no information about where the students went.

A “focus” designation would not put a school at risk of closing, said Tricia Pemberton, communications specialist with the State Department of Education.

“It’s just shows there are areas where attention is needed,” she said. “We have a number of strategies to help these schools,” she said.

Superintendent Mike Garde said he expects both schools to improve. He said teachers at the schools are looking at data on each child to see who needs help. He said the “focus” designation is based on scores from 2011.

MPS’ assistant director for curriculum and instruction, Peggy Jones, said the two schools, like all MPS schools, will have a new intensive math program called Everyday Math and Literacy First reading program.

New principals at each school also could spur improvement, Jones said. Albin comes to Grant Foreman after 11 years as principal of Pershing Elementary. Suzie Orton was reading specialist at Ben Franklin Science Academy before coming to Cherokee.

“Vickie is the data queen,” Jones said “She looks at school data and makes sure students get the remediation they need. And Suzie Orton also is expert in using data to improve performance.”

Albin said Literacy First and Everyday Math should help raise test scores.

“We have a literacy specialist helping teachers with their assessments,” Albin said. “And we’ll be following Everyday Math with fidelity. Students also will receive intervention during the school day.”

Albin said she went over data with teachers to find where students succeeded and where they failed.

Samantha Mitchell, mother of second-grader Delton Milton, said she had received the letter about transferring out of Grant Foreman. She said she discussed the possibility of transferring to another school, probably Sadler Arts Academy. She said she decided to stay with Grant Foreman.

“Knowing they’ll implement programs to make the kids do better encouraged me to stay,” Mitchell said.

At Cherokee, Orton said she went over testing data with teachers to find weaknesses. Parents, even students, will see where they need to improve, she said.

“We’ll give each student a data notebook, where they will see their achievement test scores,” Orton said.

Orton said she also will incorporate programs to motivate students. Cherokee is joining other MPS schools on the Rougher ROAD Character program. She said Cherokee’s theme is ROAD to HOPE, with the HOPE letters standing for High expectations, Optimism, Persistence and Excellence.

“A lot of these tests are about endurance. The fifth-grade test book is this thick,” Orton said, holding her fingers an inch apart. She said students might give up before finishing the test.

“As teachers, we must train the students to persevere,” she said.

Reach Cathy Spaulding at (918) 684-2928 or cspaulding@muskogee phoenix.com.