Presentation of Mission Academy Community Meeting at Foster Elementary August 2, 2005

Why Build New School? Address student projections from current and potential developments. Reduce student populations at Foster ES, Schenck ES and Connell MS Resolve boundary issues. Retain students within a neighborhood school.

Why the PreK – 8 Model Studies confirm what educators and parents already know about the problems associated with the transition from elementary to middle school: Grades often drop Discipline problems increase Parent involvement decreases A growing body of research show that public schools benefit from an approach long used by private schools – PreK – 8 organizational units

What are the commonalities of PreK – 8 Schools? Greater sense of family and community More opportunities for siblings to attend school together offering internal family support for each child Increased commitment from both students and parents in the life of the school More opportunities for older students to experience positive leadership opportunities Students and teachers get to know the school support staff well, increasing the likelihood of success A small nurturing and supportive environment helps prepare students to make a smooth transition to high school

Ranking of Grade 6 scores Districtwide for 2004 – 2005 TAKS Grade/ Subject Ranking Analysis Grade 6 School Score in Reading SchoolScore in Math Briscoe Academy100%Briscoe Academy94.6% Douglass Academy100%Brewer Academy90.0% King Academy95.0%Douglass Academy85.0% Brewer Academy94.4%Hawthorne Academy84.8% Hawthorne Academy93.2%Baskin Academy77.4% Baskin Academy90.0%King Academy70.0% Lowell Middle School85.0%Austin Academy69.2% Davis Middle School84.4%Rhodes Middle School66.2% Pfeiffer Academy82.4%Mann Middle School65.6% Cooper Middle School78.4%Cooper Middle School64.8% What has the experience of SAISD been with Academies that span grades from PreK – 6, 7 or 8?

Grade/ Subject Ranking Analysis Grade 6 School Score in Reading SchoolScore in Math Cameron Academy100%Cameron Academy88.2% Pfeiffer Academy100%Hawthorne Academy71.8% Hawthorne Academy97.3%Miller Academy62.9% Miller Academy79.4%Cooper Middle School60.2% Gates Academy78.6%Tafolla Middle School56.3% Lowell Middle School73.2%Pfeiffer Academy56.3% Cooper Middle School73.2%Gates Academy56.3% Rhodes Middle School71.4%Carroll Academy55.6% King Academy70.8%Lowell Middle School55.1% Davis Middle School70.7%Rhodes Middle School54.7% Grade 7 School Score in Writing Hawthorne Academy100% Pfeiffer Academy100% Gates Academy100% Cooper Middle School91.7% Carroll Academy88.9% Harris Middle School86.9% Rogers Middle School86.2% Connell Middle School85.8% Longfellow Middle School85.7% Tafolla Middle School84.9% Ranking of Grade 7 scores Districtwide for 2004 – 2005 TAKS What has the experience of SAISD been with Academies that span grades from PreK – 6, 7 or 8?

PreK – 8 Attendance Patterns All of the following PreK – 8 academies had a year end attendance rate of 96% or above (Exemplary by state standards is 95% for such schools): Miller, Austin, Briscoe, Baskin, Hawthorne, Pfeiffer, Brewer, Carroll, Douglass, and Gates Cameron and ML King had an attendance rate of 95% While four middle schools had an attendance rate of 96% or above, average attendance was 94%.

Discipline Referrals and Dropouts at PreK – 8 Schools Principals reported discipline referrals for the upper grades were minimal in the PreK – 8 setting. There were minimual PEIM reportable incidents at these campuses as well as in-school and out of school suspensions. There were no drop outs at these campuses.

For more information For further information: Find prior SAISD presentations at the following website: Includes original presentations on the conditions that led to the PreK – 8 Model, as well as an annotated bibliography on research into this practice.