2004-2005 No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program
U.S. Department of Education
Cover Sheet Type of School: X Elementary __ Middle __ High __ K-12
Name of Principal Dr. Nancy O. Taylor
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other) (As it should appear in the official records)
Official School Name St. Laurence the Martyr Catholic School
(As it should appear in the official records)
School Mailing Address 2630 Austin Parkway
(If address is P.O. Box, also include street address)
Sugar Land Texas 77479-1325
City State Zip Code+4 (9 digits total)
County Fort Bend School Code Number* NA
Telephone ( 281 ) 980-0500Fax ( 281 )980-0026
Website/URL E-mail
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge all information is accurate.
Date______
(Principal’s Signature)
Name of Superintendent* Mrs. Sally Landram
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
District Name Archdiocese of Galveston/Houston Tel. ( 713 ) 741-8704
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date______(Superintendent’s Signature)
Name of School Board
President/Chairperson Mrs. Susie Murray
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
I have reviewed the information in this package, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date______
(School Board President’s/Chairperson’s Signature)
*Private Schools: If the information requested is not applicable, write N/A in the space.
PART II – DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
The signatures on the first page of this application certify that each of the statements below concerning the school's eligibility and compliance with U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) requirements is true and correct.
- The school has some configuration that includes grades K-12. (Schools with one principal, even K-12 schools, must apply as an entire school.)
- The school has not been in school improvement status or been identified by the state as "persistently dangerous" within the last two years. To meet final eligibility, the school must meet the state’s adequate yearly progress requirement in the 2004-2005 school year.
- If the school includes grades 7 or higher, it has foreign language as a part of its core curriculum.
- The school has been in existence for five full years, that is, from at least September 1999 and has not received the 2003 or 2004 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools Award.
- The nominated school or district is not refusing the OCR access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a districtwide compliance review.
- The OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the school district concluding that the nominated school or the district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if the OCR has accepted a corrective action plan from the district to remedy the violation.
- The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that the nominated school, or the school district as a whole, has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution's equal protection clause.
- There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the school or school district in question; or if there are such findings, the state or district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings.
PART II DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
All data are the most recent year available.
DISTRICT (Questions 12 not applicable to private schools)
1.Number of schools in the district: _____ Elementary schools
_____ Middle schools
_____ Junior high schools
_____ High schools
_____ Other
NA TOTAL
2.District Per Pupil Expenditure: NA
Average State Per Pupil Expenditure: NA
SCHOOL (To be completed by all schools)
3.Category that best describes the area where the school is located:
[ ]Urban or large central city
[ ]Suburban school with characteristics typical of an urban area
[X ]Suburban
[ ]Small city or town in a rural area
[ ]Rural
4. 7 Number of years the principal has been in her/his position at this school.
If fewer than three years, how long was the previous principal at this school?
5.Number of students as of October 1 enrolled at each grade level or its equivalent in applying school only:
Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade Total / Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade TotalPreK / 48 / 39 / 87 / 7 / 36 / 42 / 78
K / 30 / 36 / 66 / 8 / 37 / 35 / 72
1 / 30 / 42 / 72 / 9
2 / 35 / 36 / 71 / 10
3 / 43 / 27 / 70 / 11
4 / 38 / 33 / 71 / 12
5 / 39 / 33 / 72 / Other
6 / 35 / 42 / 77
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL / 736
6.Racial/ethnic composition of 68__% White
the students in the school: 2 % Black or African American
17 % Hispanic or Latino
13 % Asian/Pacific Islander
0 % American Indian/Alaskan Native
100% Total
Use only the five standard categories in reporting the racial/ethnic composition of the school.
7.Student turnover, or mobility rate, during the past year: 1 %
(This rate should be calculated using the grid below. The answer to (6) is the mobility rate.)
(1) / Number of students who transferred to the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 2(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 5
(3) / Subtotal of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)] / 7
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1 (same as in #5 above) / 736
(5) / Subtotal in row (3) divided by total in row (4) / .01
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100 / 1.05 %
8.Limited English Proficient students in the school: 0 %
0 Total Number Limited English Proficient
Number of languages represented: 12
Specify languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Rumanian,
Spanish, Filipino dialects, Vietnamese
9.Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: 0 %
Total number students who qualify: 0
If this method does not produce an accurate estimate of the percentage of students from lowincome families or the school does not participate in the federallysupported lunch program, specify a more accurate estimate, tell why the school chose it, and explain how it arrived at this estimate.
10.Students receiving special education services: 8 %
62 Total Number of Students Served*
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
0 Autism 9 Orthopedic Impairment
0 Deafness 22 Other Health Impaired
0 Deaf-Blindness 12 Specific Learning Disability
_2 Hearing Impairment 25 Speech or Language Impairment
0 Mental Retardation 0 Traumatic Brain Injury
1 Multiple Disabilities 2 Visual Impairment Including Blindness
* 28 students are included in the above “Total Number of Students Served” who do not meet the LEA’s requirements for having a “specific learning disability” but who need additional services in order to be successful in school. These students are not included in the SLD numbers above.
- Indicate number of fulltime and parttime staff members in each of the categories below:
Number of Staff
Full-timePart-Time
Administrator(s) 3 1
Classroom teachers 35 11
Special resource teachers/specialists 2 4
Paraprofessionals 4 4
Support staff 8 8
Total number__52___ 28
12.Average school student-“classroom teacher” ratio:__18:1___
13.Show the attendance patterns of teachers and students as a percentage. The student dropout rate is defined by the state. The student drop-off rate is the difference between the number of entering students and the number of exiting students from the same cohort. (From the same cohort, subtract the number of exiting students from the number of entering students; divide that number by the number of entering students; multiply by 100 to get the percentage drop-off rate.) Briefly explain in 100 words or fewer any major discrepancy between the dropout rate and the drop-off rate. (Only middle and high schools need to supply dropout rates and only high schools need to supply drop-off rates.)
2003-2004 / 2002-2003 / 2001-2002 / 2000-2001 / 1999-2000Daily student attendance / 97% / 97% / 99% / 98% / 98%
Daily teacher attendance / 96% / 96% / 96% / 97% / 98%
Teacher turnover rate* / 15% / 19% / 4% / 17% / 9%
Student dropout rate (middle/high) / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Student drop-off rate (high school) / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
* Turnover rate is mainly affected by maternity leave, retirement, and out of state transfers.
1
PART III SUMMARY
St. Laurence Catholic School in Sugar Land, Texas has a history of setting high expectations, then meeting and exceeding those goals. From its beginning in 1992 to the present 2004, this young fully accredited school has continued to evolve in the areas of enrollment, physical growth, communication with its constituencies, and in its educational and extracurricular programs. The diversity of our student body also reflects the culture and identity of the surrounding community which we serve. As the largest Catholic school in the greater Houston area, enrolling 740 students, St. Laurence employs only degreed certified teachers and administrators, 51% of whom hold advanced degrees. Our reputation for spiritual development and academic excellence so enhancesthe school’s desirability that we do not advertise for enrollment.
The school offers a developmentally appropriate, enriched curriculum in language arts, math, science, social studies, and religion to students enrolled from preschool through eighth grade. An emphasis on fine arts, Spanish, physical education, and technology contributes to the strong core curriculum. Our educational mission centers on spiritual development and direction, strong academics, social skills and relationships, and community involvement and service. We nurture our students in the Catholic faith, instill values, and teach spirituality in a secure, responsive environment much like that of an extended family. The school establishes such an environment based on its mission to live as and extend to others a community of faith beginning with our youngest preschool students. At the heart of St. Laurence is the well being of its educational community as we live our trinity of parent, student, and educator.
At each grade level, teachers encounter bright students with special learning needs. Their teaching routines accommodate very bright children, children of average ability, and children who require special consideration every day. Our expressed goal to keep families together at our school has led to the decision to make available to our students our own resource team of speech pathologist, occupational therapist, two remedial instructional specialists, two counselors and two nurses. The benefit to these children and their families is that resource personnel can collaborate and support classroom teachers as children receive services at our campus.
A dynamic creative faculty offers instruction in special interest areas through after school enrichment programs. Our middle school Leos Club, led by a very creative teacher, is visible throughout our Sugar Land community, extending Christian service to many charitable projects. Faculty members participate in diocesan presentations and on curriculum committees. Several have presented at the Texas Computer Educators Conference. We share our resources with other schools. Last year, St. Laurence inaugurated the PaideiaKids summer program to provide in-depth subject exploration for gifted and talented children from our school as well as the archdiocese.
Our award-winning School Board is exceptional in its dedication to the school. Twice during the past six years, our boards have been awarded national recognition by the National Catholic Educational Association. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston has also recognized the board’s excellence. Community means that we involve parents as participants in our school. Thousands of volunteer hours are accrued annually through PTO participation in support of teacher projects and school events. Along with the faculty, PTO volunteers promote families, even drawing grandparents and senior citizens into our school community.St. Laurence continually evolves from the dialogues, surveys, and interactions of its parents and faculty who work together in decision-making processes that strategize growth and vision for our future. Parishioners are financially supportive of many school events, including the auction gala and golf tournament. Parishioners donate to the school’s fund for tuition scholarships.
In 2004, 51 seventh graders (or 65%)were recognized as Duke TIPS scholars. From the school’s beginning, our students have distinguished themselves by winning high school scholarships. Our students shine in academic competitions and are well received by area high schools, both Catholic and public, where they consistently excel. Many of our graduates matriculate to accelerated and honor level classes in high school. More importantly, they measure up to our primary goals by becoming good young people—moral, spiritual, mannered, and hard working.
PART IV – INDICATORS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Since its opening in 1992, St. Laurence Catholic School students have taken the Stanford Achievement Tests. The school has employed this instrument to gain information regarding topics or areas that students have yet to master. In conjunction with the SAT, students in grades one, two, four, and six also take the OLSAT (Otis Lennon Cognitive Abilities Test) which provides insight as to the ability level of students at these specific grade levels. These two assessment tools allow teachers and administrators the opportunity to evaluate student learning compared to student ability and to adjust instruction for each student accordingly.
For the past several years, we have graphed each student’s SAT results on a cumulative grid allowing us to have a snapshot view of individual progress year-to-year. Careful analysis reveals trends such as students who maintain a steady learning pattern; students who need to be enriched; students whose performance erratically changes; and students who suddenly appear to be having difficulty in a particular area. We look also for our brightest students who continue to excel and who need to be consistently and appropriately placed in challenging learning environments. SAT testing is also used to determine which students are not scoring at the levels of their classmates and who may need special consideration with regard to instructional needs. At St. Laurence, all of our students are tested including those who have been identified as having a learning disability. These students, accounting for 1.7% of our population, are allowed a special testing environment with the approval of our archdiocese. As we have increasingly become an all-inclusive parish school, our demographics have changed. We have enrolled more students with special learning needs as well as an increasing number of Asian and Hispanic students reflective of the changing area demographics. In keeping with our philosophy of individualized instruction for all children, subgroup children receive the personal assistance they require.
The school’s administration reviews test results in depth, noticing both national and local testing comparisons. Test results over time indicate that our students perform very well on SATs. St. Laurence students consistently perform better than our archdiocesan averages (and our scores are averaged into their totals). In the areas of reading and math, our students average approximately 16 percentile points higher than the archdiocesan (or local) average. Score averages show that our students have performed as well as or better than 89.3% of students across the nation in both reading and mathematics. These scores lead us to conclude that our teachers are doing a very fine job in delivering instruction and in challenging our students. A final discussion point is that not only do St. Laurence students perform exceptionally well nationally, but they also outperform students in their local area who attend schools similar to ours and who follow the same curriculum governed by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. It should further be noted that we do not spend time preparing for these tests, and never “teach the test.” Class time is not spent in weeks of prior review nor are sample tests or test preparation materials purchased.
We recognize that excellent standardized test scores present but one component piece of information about individual students and about our school. These scores help to assess individual success as well as the overall success of the school’s educational programs. As has been reported in the accompanying review of standardized test scores, St. Laurence has successfully prepared students academically for the challenges of each subsequent school year. It pleases us when our students take advanced placement courses as high school freshmen, or when they win scholarships and academic competitions, or when as seventh graders they are recognized through the Duke University Talent Identification Program. Then we feel confident that we have done our job well enough in helping children learn and excel as we continue to direct our energies towards always serving as master teachers.
Item 2
Various forms of assessment are used to determine individual student profiles of strengths and weaknesses. Teachers assess student mastery of specific objectives in a variety of ways including textbook-generated and teacher-designed quizzes, tests, and projects. This data is used in comparison with information from standardized testing so that teachers can adjust or personalize instructional methods and goals appropriately for each child. This information is communicated to parents who are invited to be a part of the instructional team in order to understand and support their child’s learning efforts within the context of our curriculum and their child’s performance. Teachers also design annual academic achievement goals in mathematics and reading, based on target areas for mastery. Each quarter, students are measured against these goals and, based on their performance, may be referred for remedial instruction through the school’s Skillbuilder Program.
Special programs at St. Laurence strive to meet the needs of all students, both the academically able and talented children as well as the children who require additional instructional support in order to succeed in an academic school where instruction is geared to average and above average learners. Last summer, St. Laurence introduced its own summer program PaideiaKids in order to challenge our students through enrichment and in-depth exploration of specific topics. Children may be nominated based on SAT scores and teacher recommendation. The Campus Student Support Team (CSST) comprised of teachers, administrators, counselors, and resource specialists uses assessment data in conjunction with classroom observation and teacher appraisal to identify students with possible learning differences and refers for further specialized testing. In this way, we strive to improve student learning through the supportive services available on our campus.