north grade on the rise1

8/2/2019 North Grade on the Rise1

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Chapter 1: Where Icame from

Once upon a time ina town called LakeWorth stood a

small one roomschool house. Thisschool house helpedthe children in thetown to read, writeand do math. Theschool attracted somany children thatthe town had to build2 12-room schools.One school wasnamed South Gradeand the other school

was named NorthGrade.


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.

Im not so sure

what happens inSouth Grade sinceI dont get the

chance to venture out

that way. I do havethe chance to seewhat goes on inNorth GradeElementary since Iam the resident

gargoyle. I sit ontop of the school, Ihear theconversations and Isee the studentsevery single day.

North Grade is thebest school eventhough its the only

school I know.


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I do have myreasons why Iconsider this place awonderful thing.Many, many years

ago when there weretwo majorhurricanes thatpassed our town,this place opened itsdoors to the people

as a hospital and ashelter. Theworkers in thatschool helped thetown as best as they

can.


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Chapter 2: The PalmBeach Reeves

The town of Lake

Worth was watchedover by the PalmBeach Reeves. ThePalm Beach Reeveswere in charge of theschools. They aretown officials whowere appointed by thetowns people. One

day, these officialsdecided that theywanted to close downNorth Grade because

it was too small andthe cost to have it openwas a lot.


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.

The workers atNorth Gradefought to stayopen. They

proved that thestudents neededthem. After along and hardconvincing, thePalm BeachReeves allowedNorth Grade tostay open. Theworkers, parentsand children wereall relieved.


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The towns people,who came to love thisschool was relievedas well. Do youknow who was the

most relieved? Me!What would I do ifthe school wasdestroyed? Wherewould I go?

Chapter 3: MyNew Home

One day, I sawThe Palm Beach

Reeves visit myschool. I didnt

know what toexpect but I heardthem say that theyknew a lot of good

things werehappening inNorth Grade. Iwas obviouslyproud but I didnt

expect what they

had planned.


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They moved theschool! Hundreds ofquestions were runningthough my hollowhead? Was I going?

Where am I going?Alas, a humongousschool was built. Iwas relieved to begoing with the school.That building where

we stood is nowcalled the AnnexBuilding. It stillstands there until now.Im just glad that

Im still part of my

school.


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Chapter 4: The GreatOfficers of State ofFlorida

As the years passed,

I heard more and moreof these people calledThe Great Officers ofState of Florida. Iheard that these peoplewho used to be jesters

and minstrels are tellingthe Palm BeachReeves and the schoolswhat to do. There wasa time when they saidthat all these students

were to take theseFCAT tests.


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.

These tests weresupposed to provehow smart thestudents are. Thestudent scores willdetermine how goodor how bad a schoolis. The state haspaid a huge amount ofmoney to administerthis test. The statetruly believes in this

test and they talkabout the test like its

the end all be all.

My people wereworried. The parentsand children were

worried. Theyscrambled to do theirbest and Im

proud to say that myschool did wonderful.In the last 3 years,they were consideredan A school.

Thats the highestmarking you can get!


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Chapter 5: My schooltodayNorth Grade has comea long way from when itwas just a one roomschool house. My

school is made up of52% Hispanic, 26%Caucasian, 16 %African American and6% other races. Theschool is offering

various programs suchas free/reduced lunch forthose who qualify, freebreakfast for allstudents, an LEPprogram which stands

for Limited EnglishProficiency, ESEprogram for ExceptionalStudents Education anda gifted program.

Aside from theseprograms, the schoolhas implementednumerous programson a day to day basisto help all our

students to succeed.


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Chapter 6: TheResultsThis past year, 80 %of their students fromgrades 3 to 5 wereconsidered proficient inboth reading and math.A whopping 96% ofthe 4th graders wereconsidered proficient inwriting and 71% of the5th graders were

considered proficient inscience. That is anoutstandingachievement since 68%of their students madelearning gains from the

prior year in readingand 55% learning gainsin math.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011

Reading

Math

Writing

Science


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.

If thats not good

enough, 58% of thelowest 25 percentile ofthe students madelearning gains inreading and 50% of the

lowest 25 percentile ofthe students madelearning gains in math.What anaccomplishment! Fora gargoyle who does

not really know muchabout the FCATand learning gains, Iwould think thatNorth Grade is doinga pretty good job. The

Great Officers ofState of Florida feltlike that they needed todo more!


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Looking at the resultsof North Grade lastyear, they are aneffective school but theGreat Officers ofState of Florida is

saying that they leftsome children behind.

Since North Gradedid not have 86% oftheir students proficientin both reading andmath, then the state issaying that they did notmeet the qualificationsof adequate yearlyprogress. So whatdoes the state do?They mandate that

North Grade create aSchool ImprovementPlan (SIP) andcreate a document

that plans out what theschool is going to do thisyear in order to raisestudent achievement. Ithink thats a reasonable

request, but thats not

alltheyre saying thatthis school year, 96% oftheir students should beproficient in reading andmath. Well now thats

unrealistic I might say!But who am I to havean opinion? I am just agargoyle.


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Chapter 7: What todo? What to do?

North Grade acceptedthe challengethey

didnt really have much

of a choice but theyre

doing it with a lot ofenthusiasm andmotivation. Theworkers, students andparents are all workingtogether to make sure

that they dont leave anymore children behind. Iobserve many things butthese are some of thethings I see them do ona regular basis. The

media center is openbefore and after schoolso the students haveaccess to a lot of books.


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The school is open onSaturday for thestudents who were notconsidered proficient ingrades 3-5 for Saturdaytutorial in both reading

and math. NorthGrade is participating inthe battle of the bookswhere theyre getting

their students to read acertain amount of booksand competing with otherschools to see how wellthey know the stories.I wish I could go tothat competition! Thestudents are doing thisThink, Pair, Share

strategy wherestudents are given timeto think of a topic, pairup with other studentsand formulate ideas andthen share the ideas to

their peers.


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The school is alsomaking sure that thestudents are getting theright books into theirhands. This isimportant! I feel the

same way since I onlylike to read books that Ican understand. WhenI peek into theclassrooms, there are alot of visuals and graphicorganizers to helpstudents understand whattheyre learning. Those

bubbles are cute! In themornings, theres morning

math tutorials where thestudents read and

understand mathproblems. They also usetimed drills andworkstations to improvethe basic facts.


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On Fridays, the 4thgrade students go tothis after school clubcalled the Blue Planet.This is a writingworkshop where thestudents write withtheir friends in Hablaschool in the Yucatan.They talk through thecomputer! They writepoems, stories, and

letters through thiscomputer that all thekids at North Gradeseem to love. Yearsago, they used to mailletters, now theyre

talking through thisscreen and typing.How neat!


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Chapter 8: What do Ithink?

Even though Im only a

gargoyle, as you cantell, I have a lot ofopinions. I think that

they should keep usingthese interventions. Ithink theyre all working

because the students aregetting smarter andsmarter. The school

workers tried to trackthe economicallydisadvantaged studentsand tailor theirinstructional practicesto meet the needs of

these students but Ithink the teachers needmore training in thispart.

Its hard to

understand the needof these studentsunless someone whos

been in thesestudents shoes tells

the teachers.


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Ruby Payne is atraining that I feelwould benefit theteachers. This trainingfocuses on the needs ofchildren in poverty. It

gives the workersawareness on what todo in order to reach theeconomicallydisadvantaged students.Having a focus

calendar would helpalso since not all theworkers are working onthe same thing.Theres even this

Sunshine Math

Program that wouldbenefit the students.Its being offered but

not throughout theschool.


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Only the workers, whowant to use it, use it. Ifeveryone used this, thatwould be so beneficialbecause this programteaches responsibility and

it helps the students usetheir problemsolving/critical thinkingskills. The Saturdaytutorial is a greatprogram but not all thestudents who need to gocan go. Sometimes theirparents cant take them!

If only I could pickthem up and fly them tothe school, I would!


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Chapter 9: My finalrecommendations

I believe that NorthGrade is on the riseever since the day whenwe were just a oneroom school house.The students and theworkers at NorthGrade are workingtogether in order tokeep up with the

expectations of ThePalm Beach Reeveand the Great Officersof State of Florida.The Palm BeachReeve and the Great

Officers of State ofFlorida really need tocome to

North Grade to seeall the wonderful thingsmore often. What Isee every day at thisschool cannot be

graded.


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A letter cannotrepresent how good thisschool is. SometimesI feel down when I

think of all the workthat the workers,students and parents dofor this school and arenot viewed as goodenough!

Chapter 10: Whats to

come?

I have now beenconverted to a pineapple

and I still sit on top ofthe school. Im okay

with that. I get morepleasant looks ratherthan those confusedstares. I even haveanother companion to myside. Shes another

pineapple. Now Ihave someone to talk to.


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I might talk a lotabout the schoolwell

its the only thing I

talk about but Im

passionate about it. Isee good things

happening and Imconfident to say thatIll be sitting atop this

school for a very, verylong time. Watch out!My North Grade

family will keep goingup and up and up


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A framework for understanding poverty. Retrieved from:http://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/21_02/fram212.shtml.

Assessment and accountability briefing book. Retrieved from:http://fcat.fldoe.org/pdf/fcataabb.pdf.

Current Student Demographics. Retrieved from:http://www.edline.net/files/_UOCqZ_/16eb12fca4e5d05b3745a49013852ec4/Demographic_North_Grade_2011.pdf

History of North Grade. Retrieved from:

http://www.edline.net/files/_lZImX_/09656571ca9fc12e3745a49013852ec4/History_North_Grade.pdf.

North Grade Elementary School Website. Retrieved from:http://www.edline.net/pages/North_Grade_Elementary_School.

Welcome to Sunshine Math. Retrieved from:http://www.lcps.org/cms/lib4/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/8733/sunshinemath.pdf.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/21_02/fram212.shtmlhttp://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/21_02/fram212.shtmlhttp://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/21_02/fram212.shtmlhttp://fcat.fldoe.org/pdf/fcataabb.pdfhttp://fcat.fldoe.org/pdf/fcataabb.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/files/_UOCqZ_/16eb12fca4e5d05b3745a49013852ec4/Demographic_North_Grade_2011.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/files/_UOCqZ_/16eb12fca4e5d05b3745a49013852ec4/Demographic_North_Grade_2011.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/files/_UOCqZ_/16eb12fca4e5d05b3745a49013852ec4/Demographic_North_Grade_2011.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/files/_lZImX_/09656571ca9fc12e3745a49013852ec4/History_North_Grade.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/files/_lZImX_/09656571ca9fc12e3745a49013852ec4/History_North_Grade.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/pages/North_Grade_Elementary_Schoolhttp://www.edline.net/pages/North_Grade_Elementary_Schoolhttp://www.lcps.org/cms/lib4/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/8733/sunshinemath.pdfhttp://www.lcps.org/cms/lib4/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/8733/sunshinemath.pdfhttp://www.lcps.org/cms/lib4/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/8733/sunshinemath.pdfhttp://www.lcps.org/cms/lib4/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/8733/sunshinemath.pdfhttp://www.lcps.org/cms/lib4/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/8733/sunshinemath.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/pages/North_Grade_Elementary_Schoolhttp://www.edline.net/files/_lZImX_/09656571ca9fc12e3745a49013852ec4/History_North_Grade.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/files/_lZImX_/09656571ca9fc12e3745a49013852ec4/History_North_Grade.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/files/_UOCqZ_/16eb12fca4e5d05b3745a49013852ec4/Demographic_North_Grade_2011.pdfhttp://www.edline.net/files/_UOCqZ_/16eb12fca4e5d05b3745a49013852ec4/Demographic_North_Grade_2011.pdfhttp://fcat.fldoe.org/pdf/fcataabb.pdfhttp://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/21_02/fram212.shtmlhttp://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/21_02/fram212.shtml

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