BV Prep, N.S. High listed among state’s best schools
Cumberland’s Community School also named one of DOE’s ‘commended schools’
Four schools in the Blackstone Valley are among the 22 the Rhode Island Department of Education named as 2016 Commended Schools, a designation given to 7.7 percent of Rhode Island schools.
RIDE released the classifications on Wednesday to honor schools that have demonstrated high proficiency levels on the 2016 PARCC assessments, achievement gap closure, student growth (for elementary and middle schools only) and rising graduation rates (for high schools only).
“On behalf of the Board of Education, I congratulate our 2016 Commended Schools for their high levels of achievement and for closing learning gaps,” said Barbara S. Cottam, chair of the Board. “I want to thank the students, teachers, and families in these school communities for their commitment to excellence.”
Commended Schools is one of three classifications RIDE uses, aside from Priority Schools for those with the lowest scores from the four aforementioned criteria, and Focus Schools for those with the lowest scores for proficiency or gap closing.
The local 2016 Commended Schools are North Smithfield High School, Blackstone Valley Prep Middle School, Community School in Cumberland and Francis J. Varieur School in Pawtucket.
Additionally, William E. Tolman Senior High School, in Pawtucket, has left its classification as a Focus School because of improvement over the past couple years.
“I’m very, very excited, and very proud of my students and my teachers and my families,” said Cindy Giroux, principal of Community School. “I know that we’ve worked really hard on really focusing on the individual needs of students, and I think that’s what helped us achieve this status.”
She cited a before-school program focused on writing skills, homework clubs, high levels of family involvement, and extra-curricular programs like science conventions and reading weeks as factors that played into this designation.
“I think that we really talk about hard work, and we’re a very strong positive culture,” Giroux said, “and so I think that students are invested in their learning.”
RIDE last announced its Commended Schools in February, when it recognized 17 schools.
Daniel P. McConaghy, chair of the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, said that the addition of five Commended Schools from February until now “is a sign of continued improvement among our highest-performing schools as well as overall improvements statewide on state assessments.”
Two of the schools named in February were Blackstone Valley Prep Elementary School 2 and Blackstone Valley Prep High School, and now Blackstone Valley Prep Middle School is being recognized.
Head of School Joy Souza noted in a statement that the school has had academic success because staff work hard, are committed to expanding writing across content areas, and focus on analyzing fiction and nonfiction work.
“BVP is a proof-point for what is possible in public education in Rhode Island,” Central Falls Mayor and BVP Board Chair James Diossa said. “Once again, we are proving that with more time, high expectations, and incredible dedication, your street address need not define your opportunity and your zip code need not define your destiny.”
RIDE is in the process of developing a new classification system, which will use additional measures beyond state assessments.
The U.S. Department of Education requires states to identify 15 percent of all Title 1 schools – those with the most economically disadvantaged students – as Focus Schools and Priority Schools.
RIDE works with districts that have Focus and Priority Schools to help them with transformation plans.
In its classification system, RIDE gives each school a total score based on its combined scores for proficiency, gap closure, and graduation rate for high schools or student growth for elementary and middle schools.
Barrington Middle School, Nayatt School (also in Barrington), Rockwell School in Bristol and Classical High School in Providence each received a score of 100.
The lowest total score was 25.71, held by Sheila Skip Nowell Leadership Academy. Woonsocket Middle School and Joseph Jenks Junior High School, in Pawtucket, each received a score of 28.