I've been pretty negligent in checking out the borough website at http://morrisville-boro-gov.com.
Please bookmark this site and make sure you check it out for all the things going on that make Morrisville a community.
This weekend on the calendar:
Saturday, August 16th
Come and strut with the "Uptown String Band"
Williamson Park Stage Pavilion 6-8pm
Bring a blanket or chair Rain date August 17th
No charge for this event
On deck:
Friday, August 22nd, and Saturday, August 23rd
The "Heritage Theater" presents "1776"
Raindate is August 24th
Williamson Park Stage Pavilion
Info call Joe or Cheryl Doyle @ 215-295-8181
No charge for this event
More info: visit www.actorsnetbucks.org
Friday, August 15, 2008
Neshaminy flunks scholastic goals
The 2008 PSSA scores are starting to emerge. The horrible, terrible, stupendously bad education that Morrisville provides? Well, not so bad after all.
2008 PSSA RESULTS
Neshaminy flunks scholastic goals
All other public school districts in Lower Bucks achieved No Child Left Behind benchmarks in this year’s state PSSA tests
By JOAN HELLYER
Seven out of eight school districts in Lower Bucks County earned Adequate Yearly Progress status on the 2008 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, according to information released Thursday by the state education department.
The Neshaminy School District is the lone public school system in the area that did not achieve AYP on the standardized mathematics and reading tests as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
The tests are administered each spring to students in third through eighth grade and 11th grade.
In order to achieve AYP, at least one of the three grade spans identified by the state needs to meet specified performance and participation targets, state education officials said. The three grade spans are third through fifth grade, sixth through eighth grade and ninth through 12th grade. None of Neshaminy’s grade spans were able to meet every target, according to state information.
In addition, several Neshaminy schools are either in Corrective Action or School Improvement status or received a warning because not enough economically disadvantaged or special education students achieved proficiency on the PSSA tests.
Those schools are: Neshaminy High School, Carl Sandburg and Neshaminy middle schools and Albert Schweitzer, Oliver Heckman, Samuel Everitt, and Walter Miller elementary schools.
The state warning comes as Neshaminy is trying to reach a new contract agreement with its teachers union.
School board President Richard Eccles declined Thursday to comment about how the PSSA results will affect contract talks until the board has a chance to review the data. The Courier Times was unsuccessful Thursday in reaching Louise Boyd, the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers leader, for comment after leaving a message at the union office.
Neshaminy Superintendent Paul Kadri said he doesn’t think the PSSA results will have an impact one way or another on the negotiations. “Student achievement is a focus onto its own,” Kadri said.
Most of the warnings have to do with special education students, he said. The district has already implemented a reading intervention program to address the issue.
Other area schools also received a warning or were put into School Improvement or Corrective Action status because either not enough of the overall student population achieved proficiency or because not enough minority, special education or economically disadvantaged students performed at grade level on the tests.
Those schools include: Bucks County Technical High School, Samuel K. Faust, Benjamin Rush, and Valley elementary schools in Bensalem; Bristol Borough Junior/Senior High School; Clara Barton, Lafayette and Abraham Lincoln elementary schools in Bristol Township; Centennial’s Log College Middle School and Willow Dale Elementary School; the Center for Student Learning at Pennsbury and Fallsington and Penn Valley elementary schools in the Pennsbury School District.
Fewer schools across Pennsylvania earned AYP status this year than in 2007, said Gerald L. Zahorchak, the state secretary of education, during a conference call with reporters Thursday morning. That’s because the proficiency rate targets were increased from 54 percent to 63 percent in reading and 45 percent to 56 percent in math, he said.
In 2007, 77 percent of schools across the state achieved proficiency. That dropped to 72 percent in 2008, Zahorchak said.
The state is slowly increasing the proficiency rate targets to ensure that all students achieve proficient or better on the PSSA tests by 2014, as required by No Child Left Behind. The current thresholds will be in place until 2011, and the education secretary said he expects a greater number of schools will achieve proficiency by then.
The focus needs to be on high school students, he said, because two out of every five Pennsylvania juniors are performing below grade level on the tests.
“Clearly, we need to do more to improve the high school experience and ensure those students stay engaged and challenged through graduation,” Zahorchak said. “We simply cannot afford to be content with the status quo.”
2008 PSSA RESULTS
Neshaminy flunks scholastic goals
All other public school districts in Lower Bucks achieved No Child Left Behind benchmarks in this year’s state PSSA tests
By JOAN HELLYER
Seven out of eight school districts in Lower Bucks County earned Adequate Yearly Progress status on the 2008 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, according to information released Thursday by the state education department.
The Neshaminy School District is the lone public school system in the area that did not achieve AYP on the standardized mathematics and reading tests as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
The tests are administered each spring to students in third through eighth grade and 11th grade.
In order to achieve AYP, at least one of the three grade spans identified by the state needs to meet specified performance and participation targets, state education officials said. The three grade spans are third through fifth grade, sixth through eighth grade and ninth through 12th grade. None of Neshaminy’s grade spans were able to meet every target, according to state information.
In addition, several Neshaminy schools are either in Corrective Action or School Improvement status or received a warning because not enough economically disadvantaged or special education students achieved proficiency on the PSSA tests.
Those schools are: Neshaminy High School, Carl Sandburg and Neshaminy middle schools and Albert Schweitzer, Oliver Heckman, Samuel Everitt, and Walter Miller elementary schools.
The state warning comes as Neshaminy is trying to reach a new contract agreement with its teachers union.
School board President Richard Eccles declined Thursday to comment about how the PSSA results will affect contract talks until the board has a chance to review the data. The Courier Times was unsuccessful Thursday in reaching Louise Boyd, the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers leader, for comment after leaving a message at the union office.
Neshaminy Superintendent Paul Kadri said he doesn’t think the PSSA results will have an impact one way or another on the negotiations. “Student achievement is a focus onto its own,” Kadri said.
Most of the warnings have to do with special education students, he said. The district has already implemented a reading intervention program to address the issue.
Other area schools also received a warning or were put into School Improvement or Corrective Action status because either not enough of the overall student population achieved proficiency or because not enough minority, special education or economically disadvantaged students performed at grade level on the tests.
Those schools include: Bucks County Technical High School, Samuel K. Faust, Benjamin Rush, and Valley elementary schools in Bensalem; Bristol Borough Junior/Senior High School; Clara Barton, Lafayette and Abraham Lincoln elementary schools in Bristol Township; Centennial’s Log College Middle School and Willow Dale Elementary School; the Center for Student Learning at Pennsbury and Fallsington and Penn Valley elementary schools in the Pennsbury School District.
Fewer schools across Pennsylvania earned AYP status this year than in 2007, said Gerald L. Zahorchak, the state secretary of education, during a conference call with reporters Thursday morning. That’s because the proficiency rate targets were increased from 54 percent to 63 percent in reading and 45 percent to 56 percent in math, he said.
In 2007, 77 percent of schools across the state achieved proficiency. That dropped to 72 percent in 2008, Zahorchak said.
The state is slowly increasing the proficiency rate targets to ensure that all students achieve proficient or better on the PSSA tests by 2014, as required by No Child Left Behind. The current thresholds will be in place until 2011, and the education secretary said he expects a greater number of schools will achieve proficiency by then.
The focus needs to be on high school students, he said, because two out of every five Pennsylvania juniors are performing below grade level on the tests.
“Clearly, we need to do more to improve the high school experience and ensure those students stay engaged and challenged through graduation,” Zahorchak said. “We simply cannot afford to be content with the status quo.”
WOW!! The PSSAs Are In!!!
From the Inquirer. Congratulations to Dr. Yonson, the staff, and the Morrisville class of 2009. Great work in spite of the distinct lack of support from your board of education!
"In Bucks County's 900-student Morrisville School District, this year's 11th-grade scores were a cause for celebration. They were among the top 10 most improved in the Philadelphia suburbs. In math, the students improved by 26 percentage points in one year.
Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson said that the focus was on quarterly reviews of student performance, with "focused instruction on what they had not learned.""
Here's the link to the scores.
Phila. region improving its report card
By Dan Hardy, Kristen A. Graham and Dylan Purcell Posted on Fri, Aug. 15, 2008
Inquirer Staff Writers
Even as standards rise, more schools in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs are making the grade in reading and math.
Still, weak spots remain. Across the state and around the region, high school scores and scores in underfunded districts continue to lag.
The region's gains buck a statewide trend. Overall, fewer Pennsylvania schools are reaching state goals - 72 percent of public schools passed, down from 78 percent last year, according to state data released yesterday.
In Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, 79 percent of all schools made the mark, up from 78 percent last year.
City scores also improved. Of the Philadelphia School District's 265 schools, 113 - 43 percent - made the grade, up from 40 percent last year.
When charter schools are added to the mix, the overall city number rises to a 45 percent passing rate.
Still, the majority of Philadelphia schools - 57 percent in the school district, 55 percent overall - failed.
"We are pleased overall, but there is much more work to do," said Fernando Gallard, a district spokesman. Beginning next month, the district is dedicating $12 million to its 23 lowest-performing schools.
Students in third through eighth grade, plus 11th graders, take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment in reading and math annually.
To make "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools must have 56 percent of students scoring at proficiency in math, up from 45 percent; 63 percent for reading, up from 54 percent.
To pass, all students must score at grade level, including those in special-education classes, poor and minority children, and those who speak limited English.
Gerald Zahorchak, state education secretary, noted that the number of students who passed the tests statewide was up 29 percent since 2002, the first year of the law.
But, he said, efforts must be made "to bring students to grade level, as many low-income and minority students still lag behind academically."
There is good news, though. The region - city schools included - dominates the top-10 statewide list.
Masterman and Central Highs topped 11th-grade reading and math lists.
Sharon Parker, superintendent of the Unionville-Chadds Ford District, which also made both math and reading top-10 lists, said there is no complacency in the wealthy, high-achieving district.
The high school failed to meet state standards last year because of the performance of special-education students, and "it was a startling moment for us," Parker said. "We did a good bit of revision in instruction, looking at reinforcement of basic skills."
This year, all groups at the high school met the standards.
Schools with significant funding gaps fared poorly overall, Zahorchak said.
The districts with the largest funding gap, for instance, average 78 percent more students performing below grade level, compared with districts with adequate resources.
The solution is for the state to follow through on a six-year plan proposed by Gov. Rendell that would send more dollars to underfunded districts, Zahorchak said.
High schools remain the state's "greatest challenge," Zahorchak said, with 42 percent not making the grade.
In the region, 46 percent, or 72 of the region's 158 high schools, did not pass the state exams. In the suburbs, 35 percent of 82 high schools failed.
In the suburbs, Pottstown and Bristol saw the biggest declines in 11th-grade reading and math scores - Pottstown's math scores dipped 13 percent, and Bristol's reading dropped 16 percent.
Simon Gratz High in Philadelphia saw sharp declines, 24 points in math and 17 percent in reading.
"At the current pace, without significant intervention, it would take 40 years for all of our 11th graders to meet state standards," Zahorchak said.
To address the problem, the education secretary called for schools to "provide a rigorous curriculum . . . regardless of where the student lives."
That's in keeping with Rendell's stalled plan to require all students to pass tests to graduate.
Gallard, the Philadelphia spokesman, said that the district would attempt to address high school scores by adding an office devoted specifically to the city's large, comprehensive high schools, many of which did not pass the state exam.
And though some laud the progress made by Pennsylvania students, Ted Hershberg, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Center for Greater Philadelphia and Operation Public Education, said the gains are "not good enough, not fast enough. Far, far too many kids are not getting the quality of education they need."
The state is not providing the kind of education needed to compete in a global economy, he said.
"There is no place for complacency here, yet that is what we find everywhere," Hershberg said.
Some schools that had not met the standards last year made the grade in 2008.
William Tennent High School, in Bucks County's Centennial School District, hit its goals for the first time in six years.
Jenny Foight-Cressman, Centennial's director of teaching and learning, said that the key was the work with special-education students, who raised their reading score at the high school by 18 percentage points. Data were monitored every two weeks, she said, and shared with students.
"That helps them set goals for themselves," she said. "They have responded very well; they have taken greater ownership over their own education. That's really exciting."
In Bucks County's 900-student Morrisville School District, this year's 11th-grade scores were a cause for celebration. They were among the top 10 most improved in the Philadelphia suburbs. In math, the students improved by 26 percentage points in one year.
Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson said that the focus was on quarterly reviews of student performance, with "focused instruction on what they had not learned."
Even with the gains, the district still barely met proficiency standards on reading and was just below the benchmark in math. But Yonson said that for a district with high poverty and many transient students, "we're doing a great job, and we will continue to get better."
Montgomery County's Jenkintown district, which has an even smaller enrollment - 600 students - was among the top 10 in the suburbs for fifth grade, with increases of more than 30 percentage points.
"We say each individual child has to be accounted for and when a child is not getting it, we say, 'What are we going to do about it?' " said Superintendent Timothy Wade.
"In Bucks County's 900-student Morrisville School District, this year's 11th-grade scores were a cause for celebration. They were among the top 10 most improved in the Philadelphia suburbs. In math, the students improved by 26 percentage points in one year.
Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson said that the focus was on quarterly reviews of student performance, with "focused instruction on what they had not learned.""
Here's the link to the scores.
Phila. region improving its report card
By Dan Hardy, Kristen A. Graham and Dylan Purcell Posted on Fri, Aug. 15, 2008
Inquirer Staff Writers
Even as standards rise, more schools in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs are making the grade in reading and math.
Still, weak spots remain. Across the state and around the region, high school scores and scores in underfunded districts continue to lag.
The region's gains buck a statewide trend. Overall, fewer Pennsylvania schools are reaching state goals - 72 percent of public schools passed, down from 78 percent last year, according to state data released yesterday.
In Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, 79 percent of all schools made the mark, up from 78 percent last year.
City scores also improved. Of the Philadelphia School District's 265 schools, 113 - 43 percent - made the grade, up from 40 percent last year.
When charter schools are added to the mix, the overall city number rises to a 45 percent passing rate.
Still, the majority of Philadelphia schools - 57 percent in the school district, 55 percent overall - failed.
"We are pleased overall, but there is much more work to do," said Fernando Gallard, a district spokesman. Beginning next month, the district is dedicating $12 million to its 23 lowest-performing schools.
Students in third through eighth grade, plus 11th graders, take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment in reading and math annually.
To make "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools must have 56 percent of students scoring at proficiency in math, up from 45 percent; 63 percent for reading, up from 54 percent.
To pass, all students must score at grade level, including those in special-education classes, poor and minority children, and those who speak limited English.
Gerald Zahorchak, state education secretary, noted that the number of students who passed the tests statewide was up 29 percent since 2002, the first year of the law.
But, he said, efforts must be made "to bring students to grade level, as many low-income and minority students still lag behind academically."
There is good news, though. The region - city schools included - dominates the top-10 statewide list.
Masterman and Central Highs topped 11th-grade reading and math lists.
Sharon Parker, superintendent of the Unionville-Chadds Ford District, which also made both math and reading top-10 lists, said there is no complacency in the wealthy, high-achieving district.
The high school failed to meet state standards last year because of the performance of special-education students, and "it was a startling moment for us," Parker said. "We did a good bit of revision in instruction, looking at reinforcement of basic skills."
This year, all groups at the high school met the standards.
Schools with significant funding gaps fared poorly overall, Zahorchak said.
The districts with the largest funding gap, for instance, average 78 percent more students performing below grade level, compared with districts with adequate resources.
The solution is for the state to follow through on a six-year plan proposed by Gov. Rendell that would send more dollars to underfunded districts, Zahorchak said.
High schools remain the state's "greatest challenge," Zahorchak said, with 42 percent not making the grade.
In the region, 46 percent, or 72 of the region's 158 high schools, did not pass the state exams. In the suburbs, 35 percent of 82 high schools failed.
In the suburbs, Pottstown and Bristol saw the biggest declines in 11th-grade reading and math scores - Pottstown's math scores dipped 13 percent, and Bristol's reading dropped 16 percent.
Simon Gratz High in Philadelphia saw sharp declines, 24 points in math and 17 percent in reading.
"At the current pace, without significant intervention, it would take 40 years for all of our 11th graders to meet state standards," Zahorchak said.
To address the problem, the education secretary called for schools to "provide a rigorous curriculum . . . regardless of where the student lives."
That's in keeping with Rendell's stalled plan to require all students to pass tests to graduate.
Gallard, the Philadelphia spokesman, said that the district would attempt to address high school scores by adding an office devoted specifically to the city's large, comprehensive high schools, many of which did not pass the state exam.
And though some laud the progress made by Pennsylvania students, Ted Hershberg, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Center for Greater Philadelphia and Operation Public Education, said the gains are "not good enough, not fast enough. Far, far too many kids are not getting the quality of education they need."
The state is not providing the kind of education needed to compete in a global economy, he said.
"There is no place for complacency here, yet that is what we find everywhere," Hershberg said.
Some schools that had not met the standards last year made the grade in 2008.
William Tennent High School, in Bucks County's Centennial School District, hit its goals for the first time in six years.
Jenny Foight-Cressman, Centennial's director of teaching and learning, said that the key was the work with special-education students, who raised their reading score at the high school by 18 percentage points. Data were monitored every two weeks, she said, and shared with students.
"That helps them set goals for themselves," she said. "They have responded very well; they have taken greater ownership over their own education. That's really exciting."
In Bucks County's 900-student Morrisville School District, this year's 11th-grade scores were a cause for celebration. They were among the top 10 most improved in the Philadelphia suburbs. In math, the students improved by 26 percentage points in one year.
Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson said that the focus was on quarterly reviews of student performance, with "focused instruction on what they had not learned."
Even with the gains, the district still barely met proficiency standards on reading and was just below the benchmark in math. But Yonson said that for a district with high poverty and many transient students, "we're doing a great job, and we will continue to get better."
Montgomery County's Jenkintown district, which has an even smaller enrollment - 600 students - was among the top 10 in the suburbs for fifth grade, with increases of more than 30 percentage points.
"We say each individual child has to be accounted for and when a child is not getting it, we say, 'What are we going to do about it?' " said Superintendent Timothy Wade.
Re-register at your peril
Kate Fratti and the Re-Registration Blues
Re-register at your peril
The latest insult added to injury in Morrisville — where recent school budget cuts still sting for parents — is a student re-registration under way.
As in 2005, parents must prove residency with multiple documents. The purpose is to ensure that children living across the river in Trenton aren’t enrolling illegally in the Morrisville system. School board member Joe Kemp believes it is a myth that numerous city kids are being dropped off here for school. The re-registration could serve to dispel the myth or correct the problem if it exists.
What’s bothersome is that the reregistration is being conducted by community volunteers and not school staff. You must hand over personal information — a driver’s license number, a mortgage payment stub, your utility bill, a lease agreement, bank statement, tax return, etc. — to a virtual stranger selected by the school board president. No background check, no clearances, no assurances your information is safe from thieves or gossips.
The information-taker will record your driver’s license number and have your home, work and private cell phone number. He or she will know if you have a custody issue. Perhaps that you were late with payment of your electric bill, and that you lease your home, don’t own it.
Do you care? There’s been no mass protest of the process. Of course, parents are not informed that the person taking their information is not on staff.
By law, there is no need for formal clearances of volunteers because parents are not asked to provide details about their children other than the school they will attend.
Still, there is the possibility that you might reveal to the information taker that while your child’s home school is, say M.R. Reiter, he attends some other school to deal with a disability. Do you care who knows about your son’s or daughter’s learning challenges?
I would not hand over my papers or information about my child’s condition to just anyone, particularly not in the rotten climate that pervades the borough these days.
This school board president demanded at one point in the budget process to know the addresses and specific needs and services provided special education students.
Why?
Bill Hellmann said he wanted to protect against administrators padding the special education budget. The release of confidential kid information is illegal, however. Mr. Hellmann was told that repeatedly and still insisted on it.
In the end, the board was provided only information that did not impinge on a child’s privacy rights. Which is to say Mr. Hellmann was blocked from knowing that Johnny Doe at 123 Civil Liberties Street is challenged by severe autism and goes to Hope For Tomorrow School. He was provided the total cost.
That’s as it should be. The specifics of Johnny’s educational needs, and whether his parents live in a house or a subsidized apartment, are none of Mr. Hellmann’s business. Johnny’s entitled to an education under the law.
Nor is it my neighbors’ business whether I own my home or lease it or from whom. I’d prefer my being on welfare not be up for chit-chat at a bridge club meeting.
I don’t mean to demean volunteers, who for one reason or another feel strongly enough about re-registration to help with it. They may be very nice people. But they were organized by leaders who think privacy laws are a nuisance. Do they feel the same way?
You have to ask why this re-registration was not voted on or discussed publicly. It was merely a directive from the majority.
A defender of the volunteer process opines that if one has nothing to hide, one would cheerfully hand over his papers to anyone who wished to see them. That kind of logic isn’t just dangerous, it’s un-American.
Trust just anyone with my personal information? Not a chance. And surely not this crowd.
Kate Fratti, whose column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, notes that if you ask that a district staff person handle your re-registration, the request will be granted.
Re-register at your peril
The latest insult added to injury in Morrisville — where recent school budget cuts still sting for parents — is a student re-registration under way.
As in 2005, parents must prove residency with multiple documents. The purpose is to ensure that children living across the river in Trenton aren’t enrolling illegally in the Morrisville system. School board member Joe Kemp believes it is a myth that numerous city kids are being dropped off here for school. The re-registration could serve to dispel the myth or correct the problem if it exists.
What’s bothersome is that the reregistration is being conducted by community volunteers and not school staff. You must hand over personal information — a driver’s license number, a mortgage payment stub, your utility bill, a lease agreement, bank statement, tax return, etc. — to a virtual stranger selected by the school board president. No background check, no clearances, no assurances your information is safe from thieves or gossips.
The information-taker will record your driver’s license number and have your home, work and private cell phone number. He or she will know if you have a custody issue. Perhaps that you were late with payment of your electric bill, and that you lease your home, don’t own it.
Do you care? There’s been no mass protest of the process. Of course, parents are not informed that the person taking their information is not on staff.
By law, there is no need for formal clearances of volunteers because parents are not asked to provide details about their children other than the school they will attend.
Still, there is the possibility that you might reveal to the information taker that while your child’s home school is, say M.R. Reiter, he attends some other school to deal with a disability. Do you care who knows about your son’s or daughter’s learning challenges?
I would not hand over my papers or information about my child’s condition to just anyone, particularly not in the rotten climate that pervades the borough these days.
This school board president demanded at one point in the budget process to know the addresses and specific needs and services provided special education students.
Why?
Bill Hellmann said he wanted to protect against administrators padding the special education budget. The release of confidential kid information is illegal, however. Mr. Hellmann was told that repeatedly and still insisted on it.
In the end, the board was provided only information that did not impinge on a child’s privacy rights. Which is to say Mr. Hellmann was blocked from knowing that Johnny Doe at 123 Civil Liberties Street is challenged by severe autism and goes to Hope For Tomorrow School. He was provided the total cost.
That’s as it should be. The specifics of Johnny’s educational needs, and whether his parents live in a house or a subsidized apartment, are none of Mr. Hellmann’s business. Johnny’s entitled to an education under the law.
Nor is it my neighbors’ business whether I own my home or lease it or from whom. I’d prefer my being on welfare not be up for chit-chat at a bridge club meeting.
I don’t mean to demean volunteers, who for one reason or another feel strongly enough about re-registration to help with it. They may be very nice people. But they were organized by leaders who think privacy laws are a nuisance. Do they feel the same way?
You have to ask why this re-registration was not voted on or discussed publicly. It was merely a directive from the majority.
A defender of the volunteer process opines that if one has nothing to hide, one would cheerfully hand over his papers to anyone who wished to see them. That kind of logic isn’t just dangerous, it’s un-American.
Trust just anyone with my personal information? Not a chance. And surely not this crowd.
Kate Fratti, whose column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, notes that if you ask that a district staff person handle your re-registration, the request will be granted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)