State Superintendent John White on Thursday presented a check for $169,077 to 20 Calcasieu Parish Public School principals
for achieving Top Gains School status.
Each school will receive $8,453 to be
used toward furthering their students’ education. Schools were
recognized for growth
during the 2011-2012 school year. To reach Top Gains designation,
schools must improve their School Performance Score by reaching
or exceeding a certain growth target from two to 10 points. In
Louisiana, 440 schools earned Top Gains School status.
“You get a parish like this with 20
schools and that’s more than a third of the schools that made Top Gains
and that’s a big
deal,” White said. “It’s not just rewarding the principals, it’s
rewarding the teachers and kids and the parents because it
takes so much work to make a great school.”
The state rewards schools that achieve their growth target with year-to-year improvement and are not in subgroup component
failure.
School Performance Scores can be increased by low-performing students improving academically as well as yearly progress in
state assessments taken by students.
Westwood Elementary Principal Gerald Treme was one of the district principals recognized for his school’s improvement. Treme
said while there have been challenges, such as meeting subgroups needs, the school is always looking at how it can get an
edge on student performance.
“With all the new implementations
coming down from the state department we have to make sure that we have
enough professional
development coming into our schools,” he said. “I credit this to
our staff as well at Westwood; they’re a very hard-working
staff and that goes to show you that’s why we’re where we’re at.”
Superintendent Wayne Savoy said the
parish is continually trying to find ways to meet higher standards,
especially as new
requirements come from the state. Last year the district went from
a C to a B classification, changing the requirements for
performance targets. Savoy said this is proof of the hard work
going on in schools.
“I’m proud of all our principals in our schools but this particular group really made some gains,” he said. “It shows that
everybody is really trying to find ways to continually improve the instruction we have here in Calcasieu Parish.”
In 2013, schools with a letter grade A
will have to increase their School Performance Score by five points to
be classified
as a Top Gains School. Schools rated a B or lower will have to
increase their School Performance Score by 10 points. Annual
growth in subgroups of low-performing students or a combination of
subgroup growth and overall improvement can help schools
earn up to 10 extra points.
W.T. Henning Elementary Principal Terry Collins said she believes teachers who focus on the needs of individual students have
contributed to the parish’s success.
“Their dedication to that academic success is what has contributed to this success,” she said. “It’s an honor to be here and
in our particular school students made history this past year with their test scores that were higher than they have ever
been.”
White said Calcasieu Parish’s focus on an early education with programs, such as Head Start, has helped the schools make gains.
White said that last year 75 percent of schools throughout the state grew in performance to some degree. He said now this
means schools have to raise their standards and look for more ways to provide students with a path to a career or college.
“We’re very proud of all of our schools
because they have all made gains,” School Board Vice President Annette
Ballard said.
“Naturally the schools being honored today made the greatest gains
and in reality, as a whole, Calcasieu Parish is doing very
well.”
Schools recognized were: Alfred M.
Barbe High School, Bell City High School, DeQuincy High School, Dolby
Elementary School,
Frasch Elementary School, W.T. Henning Elementary School, Sam
Houston High School, Iowa High School, John F. Kennedy Elementary
School, E.K. Key Elementary School.
Also, Maplewood Middle School, Moss Bluff Elementary School, A.A. Nelson Elementary School, Cypress Cove Elementary School,
Prien Lake Elementary School, Starks High School, Vincent Settlement Elementary School, Vinton High School, Westlake High
School, Westwood Elementary School.