Tissahickon achievesavp, results presented to board

qhe results of the mSSA testing were announced at the Wissahickon School Board meeting Sept. 24, and the district achieved Adequate vearly mrogress EAvmF with the scores. qhere was, however, some cause for concern at the high school level.

fn order to achieve Avm status from the state, a school district needs to show attendance rates of 90 percent or higher, have graduation rates of 85 percent or higher, have mSSA participation in both reading and math by 95 percent or more of currently enrolled students and have 81 percent of sWudHnWs rHFHLYH D SrRfiFLHnW Rr advanced score in reading and DW lHDsW 78 SHrFHnW sFRrLnJ SrRficient or advanced in math on the mSSA, according to information in a presentation given by Jen- nifer Schmidt, district supervisor of curriculum and learning.

fn math, the district fared well, with every racial and economic demographic performing to the standard at the elementary and middle school level. eowever, at the high school level, the BlackL African-American and fndividualized bducation mrogram EfbmF, a program which includes special education, demographics underperformed with 50 percent and 40 percent, respectively, reaching the target performance percentages.

fn reading, numbers were down at the elementary and high school level as the BlackLAfrican-American demographic at both levels didn’t meet target performance percentages, scoring S7 percent and 70 percent, respectively. Additionally at the high school level, fbm scores were below the target performance percentages, scoring 55 percent.

eowever, because 84 out of 90 demographics met the target scores, the district achieved Avm for this year.

Avm is also broken down by individual schools. bach of the elementary schools and the middle school achieved Avm, but the high school did not.

aue to the fact that Wissahickon eigh School has not achieved $YP IRr fiYH RuW RI WKH SDsW sLx years, the state has categorized the school as being in the lowest tier known as corrective action ff. Corrective action ff means that sFKRRl RIfiFLDls nHHd WR SrHsHnW D plan as to how they will address the problem and the school could face consequences from the state, according to the state aepartment of bducation’s website.

fn other news, a science teacher was recognized by the board for a special award.

Monica Weninger, a seventhgrade science teacher at the middle school, was awarded the mhiladelphia area qeacher of the vear award by the iiberty Bell chapter of the mennsylvania Air Force Association. qhe award is given to teachers involved in science, technology, engineering and math. Weninger was recognized for her style of teaching, adding robotics to the science club, encouraging students to growing individually and cooperatively and for bringing science engineering technology to life, according to hevin McAneny, Wissahickon Middle School principal

Along with a wind breaker from the Air Force Association, Weninger was presented with a check for A500.

qhe award allows Weninger to move on to a competition at the state level.

“f don’t do what f do for the recognition, but it does feel nice to be appreciated,” Weninger said.

Additionally, the board approved the submission of the mlanCon form to the state aepartment of bducation regarding the possible reconstruction of the high school. qhe board also approved the districtwide facilities study done by Breslin Ridyard Fadero Architects and a’euy bngineering fnc. in aecember 2011.

qhe approval does not mean that the board will stick with these plans or has approved of any type of construction. ft simply shows the state that the district has a plan that they have looked at with regard to the possibility of new construction. qhis allows the district to get a refund from the state if the district does decide to move forward with plans for construction.