Thursday, July 30, 2009

A Pat on the Back

We started off this morning with a meeting (not what we all wanted because we desperately want to be working in our classrooms getting ready for all the little faces that will be dropping in to meet us tomorrow). The assistant superintendent for our cluster had asked to talk with us, however, so we gathered in the library first thing this morning. As it turns out, I'm really glad we did.

We did not make AYP last year or the year before. Fortunately two years ago we missed one subgroup in math and last year we missed one subgroup in reading. So we're not facing sanctions at this point.

Our assistant superintendent wanted to be sure that we started off the year recognizing the fabulous things we are doing as a school. She talked about what a model we are and what miracles occurred here last year. We grew by 150 students last year and we already have a 40% mobility rate. That's a lot of kids coming and going in one school year. In spite of that we don't have a noticeable achievement gap between subgroups and we met expectations in all but that one subgroup in reading.

I can't describe how much I appreciate the fact that she came out to share this message with us. It's easy to feel weighted down by not making AYP and forget all the amazing things going on. I am so lucky to work at such an astounding school and it's great to know that others (especially in positions of authority) recognize that as well.

1 comment:

Tracey said...

It's very nice to hear the good....we only hear bad.