New approach changes school
Click here, to view corresponding video. Lafayette Elementary School is celebrating.
The first- through fifth-grade school – for the first time since testing year 2004 – has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), according to the state Department of Education and the school district.
AYP is the state’s determination of whether schools and school districts met targets in reading and math and/or have shown progress as it related to those tests. Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores as well as test participation and attendance are the factors that determine whether a school makes AYP.
Lafayette’s progress is a personal success story for Paula Work, principal of grades first through fifth at the Uniontown Area School District school. She began her job as principal with two main goals: achieve AYP and reduce or eliminate teacher turnover.
She said she has reached both goals.
“This is a puzzle that never made a picture. Everything is equally balanced and that’s what made AYP – all pieces of the puzzle coming together for the first time,” said Work.
Academic strategies, including the Response To Intervention (RTI) model, were implemented to deliver intensive reading instruction. The CARE or Counselors and Administration Resources in Education team composed of administrators and guidance counselors was formed last year to help students through any social or emotional difficulties.
School officials improved the parent-school connection through an open door visitation policy, a Parent Advisory Council (PAC) and special events such as Harvest Day and an annual awards ceremony.
Work took an organizational approach, including having the building cleaned inside and out. She minimized down time and increased instructional time for students and teachers. She asked the children for a quiet environment free of disruptions in order to reduce classroom chaos. She established school rules that children learned to follow and encouraged kindness and respect toward and for one another.
“The school climate has changed completely to child-focused,” said Work. “Our children have come such a long way. We experienced a little growing pains along the way, but we are a family.”
It’s not out of character for her to make home visits, sit down with parents and ask them what they need in order to help remove the “clutter” impeding on a student’s learning.
“The key to helping children to learn is removing the clutter from their hearts and minds,” said Work. “Then you can get to where the learning begins.”
Teachers build students’ confidence that they can pass the test. They are given bits of trivial information based on questions that could appear on the PSSA. PSSA tests are multiple choice and open-ended questions, so every test at the school is designed in the same fashion.
They compete with other students on the Internet-based Study Island and last year, were inducted into the awards circle, indicating good things to come.
By the time PSSA testing time rolls around, it’s just another test, said Work, adding that the only difference is passing out mints, which are said to stimulate thinking.
Through a combination of efforts, “The kids start to feel good about yourself and that starts to make good things happen,” explained Work.
Fourth-grader Anna Shaffer is one of 80 students who scored proficient or advanced on the PSSA and were invited to a pizza/playground party over the summer. Work personally made half the calls to invite students.
Shaffer said she was nervous at first when taking the PSSA, but realized, “Hey, I learned this before. This is going to be easy.”
Shaffer, like other students at the school, indicate a personal connection with Work, a connection that is apparent when the principal visits the classrooms, kneeling to address students. They are excited to share what they have learned and to read to her. They do not seemed surprised to once again have their principal visit the class.
After all, when Work was in a wheelchair, she would make daily rounds to classrooms to observe teachers and talk with students.
She wheeled herself down the hall and into the classroom doors, one foot in a cast after a benign bone tumor was discovered. Making Lafayette a safe place was one of Work’s priorities.
“This (school) is where a child lives,” said Work. “It should be cared for and clean because our treasures arrive here every day.”
Sam Savage, a fifth-grade student who transferred to Lafayette Elementary from the Albert Gallatin Area School District, said he’s no longer “a total wreck” since he arrived at Lafayette.
He shows his appreciation for his principal nearly every day by bringing her flowers. Snapdragons, which he finds up to December, are his favorite. It has become routine for him to fill a vase from Work’s office shelf with water and place the freshly picked flowers on the principal’s desk.
“She’s the nicest principal I ever met,” Savage said. “She’s my number one fan.”
Since 2007, Lafayette Elementary test scores have risen.
That year, the school building became two grade spans and was turned into two separate entities: Lafayette Middle School and Lafayette Elementary School. The elementary school’s progress became more visible since PSSA results for each school were reported separately since that time.
In testing year 2009, 61.2 percent of Lafayette Elementary School third through fifth graders scored proficient or advanced on the math PSSA. That’s a jump of 20-percent from testing year 2008.
Nearly a 10-percent jump from testing year 2008 was experienced on the reading PSSA. Nearly 40 percent of students in the same grade levels scored proficient or advanced on the test, while 30 percent did so in 2008.
Jamie Miller, district Title 1 guidance counselor, said Work is the guiding force behind the school achieving AYP. She declared now as the principal’s “time to shine.
“Achieving AYP is a huge accomplishment,” said Miller, who has been involved in character education, bullying and parent involvement initiatives at the school since 2007. “(Work is) very humble, but is responsible for guiding us in this direction.
“She had a plan of action, attacked it head-on with perseverance and succeeded,” Miller continued. “The entire staff, including myself, could not be more proud of both the students+ and Mrs. Work’s strong leadership skills that guided them to academic achievement. (Work) is the strongest instructional leader. She knows effective practices and works with us. We’re a team.”
Work said the road to progress was not paved by her alone.
Dr. Charles Machesky, district superintendent, the Uniontown Area School Board and all the school’s support staff, including a mental health worker, a social worker, a community liaison and more, laid the foundation for the school’s success, she said.
“Each person fits into the puzzle – from the receptionist to the cafeteria workers to the teachers, administrators and school board members,” said Work.
“There’s such a caring that we are in this together,” she continued. “We will have hardships and the reason why we’re here is to help overcome these difficulties together.”
With test scores up and students flourishing under her teaching staff, the public’s image of the school should change, Work believes.
“It’s time to stop ridiculing,” she said. “This school should be the showpiece of the community.”
The construction of a new Lafayette, which the school board hopes to soon begin, may bode better times. Work hopes a new building helps Lafayette shed its negative image.
“(The students) know they can become anything in America,” said Work. “All children can learn when they feel valued.”
As another way to celebrate the success, school officials plan to take first- through fourth-graders to an October showing of “Where the Wild Things Are,” a soon-to-be-released movie based on the book of the same name.
Students at the school have read the book and are excited to see the characters come to life on the big screen, school officials said. The book is the school’s fall reading theme, pictures from which graces the school’s lobby.
Individuals or businesses interested in donating $7, the cost of a movie ticket, should call Miller at 724-438-3581, ext. 109.