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Its VERY sad to see so many High Point middle and elementary schools on this list. A whole generation of children with no future.
It’s a good job we have a superintendent that specializes in turning around failing High Schools.

What I really think is that the school board should look at this list as a clear result of their labors from the last several years. Most of the long turn members should be ashamed of themselves.

Talking to Dot Kearns one evening after on of those famous redistricting forums I told her that efforts need to be made at elementary level to solve the problem of these struggling children.
She then rattled off a whole host of programs that were going on in the schools and tried to persuade me that all was in place.

Yes Dot, we can really see that these programs work. Must be some those Grier programs that he invents and then drops like a hot potato after a couple of years.

They dont work.

JENNIFER,

With regard to tutoring of only "select students" how can they use the FRL figures? I thought the Dept of Agriculture said this could only be used for lunch purposes??

So Jennifer based on your last paragraph, on the one year pilot program, if you are not FRL, are a struggling student you have NO OPTIONS - no tutoring and cannot transfer out? You are stuck in a school that is considering failing. Am I reading this correctly?

If this is the case what happens to this particular group of students if they are continually passed to higher grades and cannot read? By high school they are lost and we have the the same problems we have now.

Barbara Ann,
It is a conflict about the FRL, if no one is suppose to know who they are, then how can we identify them to tutor, and what about the students that might have failed in another subgroup? Do they not receive help? My guess is the district will opt for tutoring as it is cheaper than transportation, adding trailers, transferring teachers etc. My hope is that they will be able to actually HELP those students.

Jennifer,
Please define "select students".

i can't believe it!!! every day I think that things in GCS can't get worse, but Grier and the bored just seems to rise to the challenge!! Now we only ofer tutoring to the poor. Guess those struggling middle class kids will just have to suffer. this kind of thinking only reinforces my thankfulness that I've moved my children to private school. I feel for those that don't have that option. GCS sinks lower every day.

Jennifer,

Great post. Thanks for the in-depth information - it certainly answers many of my questions.

There are 22 middle schools in Guilford County; 4 are in High Point.

18% of all middle schools in Guilford County are located in High Point.

50% of all middle schools in Guilford County facing sanctions are in High Point (3 out of 6).

What does that tell you?

Tells me that I need to follow my neighbors to the private schools in High Point.

Frank: This is in the first paragraph of Jenn's article:

(For the purposes of this list, "select students" is shorthand for "those poor enough to qualify for federally subsidized meals"):

It tells ME that Dot needs to work a little harder to make them ALL suck.

I know she's trying.

Barbara Ann,

Actually, I think I posted in another strand that the district still has tutoring options for students who are struggling, but don't qualify for this particular program. There are schools that aren't poor enough to qualify for Title I money, but the district gives them money to work with Level I and II students, regardless of income level.

I believe the intent of NCLB's tutoring provision was to give poor kids a chance at getting extra help that they couldn't afford to pay for themselves.

Jennifer,

I am all for giving extra help to poor kids who can't afford otherwise, however according to one of your previous post, I thought you reported that GCS has already been providing tutoring. If this is the case, do you know (or could you find out)what the difference is in this "new" tutoring and what is being done to make sure that more students are going to take advantage of it than have in the past?

Thanks

Kay,

One difference in the new tutoring is that it is mostly provided by outside tutors, many of them companies with longstanding reputations such as Sylvan. Districts, including Guilford, can also provide some of the tutoring.

There are regulations regarding assessments of the students before and after the tutoring to see if they have progressed.

The schools send letters home to parents with eligble children letting them know their child can take advantage of the help. They're invited to vendor fairs where they can meet representatives from the different tutoring providers.

One aspect of the one-year pilot program is to get more families to take advantage of the help. Only about 10-20 percent have gotten the tutoring in the past nationwide. Guilford reported between a 25-26 percent participation rate last year.

Jennifer,

Please check your info on Penn-Griffin. I don't think they have to offer transfers out.

Also, is the tutoring for "select students" only a requirement of NCLB or yet another interpretation of GC of the NCLB rules?

Amy,

On your question about Penn-G transfers is that because it is now an Arts Magnet?

Regarding the tutoring and NCLB I believe that information is on a link where the State Dept. of Ed decided this. It is the article that describes the counties in the Pilot program. Jennifer can confirm that.

JENNIFER,

You mentioned places like Sylvan for extra tutoring above and beyond what is currently offered in school.

Who is going to provide transportation to Sylvan, etc. if parents follow through?

Remember the Parkview parents on the news. They were concerned about lack of transportation to SW for sports practice, parents conferences, etc.? Wouldn't "poor" students who need tutoring have this same dilema? Or will Sylvan and other tutoring establishments offer tutoring at the school site? I had read that tutoring was outside of school time. If the tutoring is at school after hours, will GC be providing buses to the tutoring?

For the tutoring option to work at all parents must first agree to it, follow through with the plan and thirdly have a way to get to and from the tutoring. If they are working during tutoring hours how will this happen?

I mentioned Penn-Griffin because they have not had to offer opt out previously. Ferndale was only HP middle school offering opt out (SW in the past; Allen Jay going forward - still don't understand how you offer opt out to a school that didn't make AYP??? (no disrespect to AJ)and has a lower % passing for certain "groups")

Under the old guidelines, P-G would have offered opt out for 06/07 if they didn't make AYP. They made AYP for reading and are waiting on math.

Amy,

You're right about Penn-Griffin. The school does NOT have to offer transfers for 06-07.

However, PG would be in the first year of sanctions if it fails to meet math goals, so under the pilot program would be required to offer tutoring to eligible students.

I'm sorry for the mix up. I was looking at the old list of sanctions before the switch was approved and combined it with the new version. I corrected the information in the post above.

Actually, some tutoring is always provided by the schools for all children, so nobody is falling through the cracks. NCLB requires SES be limited to FRL students and that it supplement what tutoring is already going on in the schools. Also, SES is much more expensive per child than transportation to another school and much more academically helpful, probably. The rules for SES-costs and who gets it, are set by NCLB law, not the district. The state department of public instruction has a great "facts" sheet" that explains it pretty well.

I recently heard that "Phase 2" of the recent redistricting in High Point is to move students from Southwest Elementary to Montlieu (a school that has failed to meet AYP for the last few years). Will those students be able to opt out? Or be forced to stay in a failing school?

This does not personally affect us, but I'm still appalled that this scenario could possibly play out.