Archive for Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Bonner elementary schools receive top grades on state report card
October 13, 2009
The report card for state schools was released Tuesday by the Kansas State Department of Education and in USD 204 it was the schools with the lowest grades that came out on top.
Bonner Springs Elementary achieved the building-wide state standard of excellence in reading and BSE third-graders achieved the award in math. Delaware Ridge Elementary achieved the building-wide state standard of excellence in both reading and math.
“I think this award is kind of like validation or justification that we are making decisions (based) on the best interests of the kids,” said DRE principal Cindy Kapeller, who added this year was the first DRE – only open since 2007 – was eligible to receive a building-wide standard of excellence by the state. “I think it says that (students) take responsibility for their learning. I think it says that they work very hard. I think it says that they take learning very seriously.”
Kim Mitchell, principal of BSE, said she was very excited about the results, especially as the school hadn’t made Adequate Yearly Progress last year. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to determine whether schools and districts are making AYP to get all students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. In each year leading to 2014, the target percentage increases. Test-takers every year score in one of five categories: academic warning, approaches standard, meets standard, exceeds standard and exemplary.
“I am incredibly proud of the staff,” Mitchell said. “They dug down deep and really spent a lot of time looking at the data and changing the way we were doing things to meet the specific needs of our specific learners.”
No grades in Edwardsville Elementary, Clark Middle School or Bonner Springs High School made the state standard of excellence in any of the testing categories, which are reading, math, writing and science, though reading and math are the only tests that factor into whether a school will make AYP or not.
More of this story can be found in the Oct. 15 issue of the Chieftain.
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Point of View
The postal service is cutting back hours at some rural post offices. How often do you go to the post office?
“For my own personal use, I only go a couple times a year to mail gifts, usually around Christmas and family birthdays. At that time I usually buy a couple books of stamps that last for most of the year! For professional use, I go a couple times a month to check our PO Box.”
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