September 10th, 2010
Dear Wahluke Community Members, Parent/Guardian:
Washington’s schools and school districts are dedicated to providing all students with the academic knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to succeed in school and beyond. The 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly referred to as “No Child Left Behind (NCLB),” expands the federal government’s role in ensuring that every student succeeds academically.
How is student achievement measured?
Individual schools, school districts and the state as a whole are deemed to be making “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) if they meet the targets that have been established in each of the categories. If schools, districts or the state do not make AYP for two or more years in a row, the federal government requires that specific action be taken, including giving parents the option to transfer their children to other public schools or providing extra tutoring and other academic services required to raise student achievement. The Wahluke School District did not meet AYP because we did not meet the targets in the categories“all students” and “students in each of the subgroups”. Ultimately, consistent failure to meet AYP can result in a redistribution or loss of federal funds to schools with large populations of low-income students.
Saddle Mountain Intermediate School is currently in Step 5 with these categories in grades 3 & 4 not meeting AYP: Reading for All Students, Hispanic, Special Education, Limited English Proficiencyand Low Income student groups, Math forSpecial Education student group.
Morris Schott Middle School is currently in Step 5 with these categories in grades 5 & 6 not meeting AYP:
Reading for All Students, Hispanic, Limited English Proficiency, Low Income, and Special Education student groups.
Wahluke Junior High did not make AYP and is currently in step 1. They did not meet in the following areas: Reading and Math in All Students, Hispanic, Limited English Proficiency, and Low Income student groups.
Wahluke High School has been identified as not making AYP and is identified for improvement, step 5because WHS did not meet either state or federal guidelines for AYP in the following areas: 10th Grade math in Limited English Proficiency student group.
Complete district and school adequate yearly progress data is available on the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) website via the Report Card link:
What does being in “school improvement” mean?
This means our schools must take some specific steps to raise student achievement. Those steps may include offering Public School Choice and Supplemental Educational Services (SES).
Public School Choice
Because we receive federal money under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we are required to offer public school choice to students until we have made our AYP achievement targets for two consecutive years. This means you have the option to transfer your child to another public school within the district or in a neighboring district that has met its AYP target. However, we do not have other schools in our district that serve the same grade levels to transfer into,although a new provision has been made that students may enroll in online high schools in other school districts that are not in AYP to satisfy this option. Should you choose to do soyour child becomes a full time student of that school district and is no longer a student of Wahluke School District.
Supplemental Educational Services
We do offer supplemental educational services (SES) to qualifying students. Qualifying students are defined as being enrolled in grades K-12 and qualifying for free and reduced lunch. Supplemental educational services refer to extra help provided to students in reading, language arts, and/or math. SES providers are approved by the Title I department at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. These providers may be public or private school entities, public or private institutions of higher education, for profit or nonprofit organizations, or faith-based organizations. Organizations that provide distance learning technology are also eligible. Forms and information on accessing this service are available by contacting Leonor B. de Maldonado, Assistant Superintendent, at 509-932-4565. The dates for the first session are September 29th- October 15th and the second session is Nov.1st – 19th It is your decision as to which available provider you select. The services will be funded, either in full or in part, by Title I dollars set-aside by the district. Transportation may be required to the SES provider. This is the parent’s responsibility, as the district is not allowed to pay for this out of the Title I SES funds. The district will then enter into a contract with the provider on your child’s behalf.
Parent Involvement
As a parent/guardian your input is valued and encouraged. There are many ways that you can be involved in helping us to address the issues around school improvement. Some of those include:
- Supporting your children’s learning (for example, monitoring attendance, homework completion, or television watching; volunteering in their child’s classroom; and participating as appropriate in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time).
- Communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum—
- Parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which a compact will be discussed as it relates to the individual child’s achievement.
- Frequent reports to parents on their child’s progress.
- Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities.
Each building in our District has a parent involvement plan and specific ideas on opportunities for you to be actively involved in your student’s academic success.
What are we doing to improve achievement at our schools?
Our district, along with each school, has created an improvement plan to address and outline the specific steps we plan to take to overcome the challenges that have been identified. We are addressing instructional and learning goals in reading, math, science, and writing. Parents are invited to read through our plans.
We take our achievement results seriously, and we will use all of the local, state and federal resources available to address our district and school improvement needs and to help all of our students meet Washington’s Essential Academic Learning Requirements. Provisions and maintenance of high quality schools is a job for the entire community, and we need your assistance in reaching our academic achievement goals. We encourage you to become active participants in our school improvement efforts. For more information, please contact me at (509) 932-4565.
Sincerely,
Aaron Chavez
Superintendent