l.robinson1@charter.net

It’s official.

Students of the forthcoming King’s Fork High School will have a bulldog to look to as their mascot, and maroon and gold as school colors. Suffolk Schools Superintendent Dr. Milton Liverman announced Thursday night that an overwhelming majority of high school students favored the bulldog in an online survey.

During last night’s school board meeting, Liverman revealed that a student committee had narrowed the choices down to the Monarchs, Titans, Royals and the selected mascot.

&uot;We wanted a strong positive image,&uot; stressed Liverman.

School officials are anxiously awaiting completion of the $41 million high school scheduled to open next fall. According to an update presented at the meeting, 50 percent of the building is finished. Now the focus will shift to the interior beginning in January. Roofing is complete over the music wing, and work begins on the cafeteria today. Paving of the parking lot is also scheduled to commence.

This past week board members William Hill and William Whitley toured the school, which already has a very bold presence from Route 10 and King’s Fork Road. Whitley commented that the contractors have done a &uot;fine job&uot; to date.

In other matters, Dr. Phyllis L. Sharpe revealed Stanford 9 test results for 2003 indicating significant advancements for fourth, sixth and ninth grade test takers. The Stanford 9 measures these grade categories against students nationwide in subjects including reading, math and language.

&uot;I continue to be pleased with the progress,&uot; Sharpe stated before the board.

Of the 940 fourth-graders that took the test, the division’s reading scores leaped from the 47th to 48th percentile. Math scores also jumped one step to the 55th percentile. In language, scores have moved up from 60 to the 61st level.

Some 988 sixth graders were tested, increasing their ranking from the 50th to 53rd percentile in reading and language; and in math from 56 to 58. Of 874 ninth grade students tested, reading remained constant at the 52nd percentile, but math went from the 45

to 47.

Also last night, school board members directed the superintendent to develop a memorandum of understanding in response to Obici Hospital’s request to utilize King’s Fork Middle School or an alternative in the event of emergency evacuation. The board will vote on the memorandum at a later meeting.

On a lighter note, School board members were entertained by the Kilby Shores gifted and talented chorus, who put quite a bit of spunk into the 12 days of Christmas and Jingle Bells. Laughter and applause filled the room. But the ultimate show stopper was the miniature version of the Virginia Tech Hokie Bird, who remains nameless and has actually performed at Virginia Tech football games.

With colors that also reflected Kilby Shore’s scheme, the bird caused quite a stir as it flamboyantly danced and pranced before the school board.