Forest+Avenue+School

Forest Avenue School Middletown, Rhode Island http://middletown.patch.com/events/forest-avenue-parents-night-out

** Introduction ** This report is an overview of Forest Avenue School in Middletown, Rhode Island. It is meant to provide parents a brief look at the school in order to help them decide if it is the right school for their child. Forest Avenue School is an elementary school located in Middletown, Rhode Island. It has 361 students from preschool to fourth grade and has 34 teachers. It is one of two elementary schools in the district. Overall, Forest Avenue School is a quality school with good teachers and a supportive environment that does a very good job educating children (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

** Student Achievement ** Though Forest Avenue School has only reported the results of its third grade NECAP assessments, its students have done significantly better than the rest of the state. In third grade math, Forest Avenue School has 71% of its students ranking proficient or higher, which is a full 9% higher than the state's proficiency of 62%. The proficiency of Forest Avenue School, however, has slightly decreased over the past few years, from 77% proficient to 71% proficient. This is not a cause for significant alarm yet, because the school is still well above the state average. If the test scores drop further, the school should look into this and figure out why scores are dropping. This could mean that the teaching is insufficient and that the students are really not learning what they should. The percentage of proficient students in third grade math is also significantly higher than the percentage of proficient students in the state. Forest Avenue School has 80% scoring proficient or higher, while the state of Rhode Island only has 71% scoring proficient or higher. Just like in reading, Forest Avenue School's proficiency in math is 9% above the state's proficiency. Alarmingly, the proficiency in reading has dropped 7% in just a year. The fact that the test scores are dropping, even though Forest Avenue School scores higher than the state, should be looked into. Regardless, Forest Avenue School has met all 9 AYP (Average Yearly Progress) targets that it has been evaluated in every year. This is better than many other schools in Rhode Island (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

Parents are very satisfied with the level of achievement their children can attain at Forest Avenue School. 80.7% of parents feel that their children are learning all that they can there and 91.1% agree that the school has high expectations for their child. 98.2% of parents feel that they and the school both have the same goals for their children. Not only do the statistics show that students are achieving at Forest Avenue School, but parents agree, which is even more important (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010-2011).

** Teaching ** The quality of teaching at Forest Avenue School is consistent with the teaching in Rhode Island as a whole. Every teacher at Forest Avenue School has his or her teaching certification instead of his or her emergency certification. This is a benefit because emergency certification is when someone without state teacher certification is allowed to teach because no one more qualified is available. Still, 4% of teachers are not highly qualified. A highly qualified teacher is a teacher who holds a bachelor's degree, has full state certification, and demonstrates full understanding of the subject matter by having a major or an equivalent in the subject. This 4% is 1% higher than the state's percentage of teachers who are not highly qualified at 3%. One percent is not a significant number. Out of the 34 teachers employed at Forest Avenue School, 4% would only be 1.36 teachers, so one or two teachers is not highly qualified. Looking at the data this way, all but a couple of the teachers are really highly qualified. The teacher-student ratio at Forest Avenue School is 1:13 as compared to the 1:11 ratio statewide. Though 11-13 students per class seems like a very good class size, some of the teachers included in this statistic are special education teachers who work more one-on-one with students. Teacher-student ratio really does not say much about a school. Overall, the teaching at Forest Avenue School is very good (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

** Family, Community, and Home Life ** Most of the students at Forest Avenue School come from fairly well-off families. Only 35% of students are eligible for subsidized lunch as compared to the statewide total of 43%. Compared to the 8% eligible for subsidized lunch at Primrose Hill School in Barrington, Rhode Island, which is a nearby elementary school, the students at Forest Avenue School are on the poorer side. Families that are able to afford lunches for their children without help from the government are more likely to be able to afford other necessities and a better life for their children. Though Middletown is a fairly affluent community, it seems that a lot of parents could use some help from the government to feed their children which is a bad sign for the school. Only 1% of students at Forest Avenue School receive English as a Second Language (ESL) services compared to 5% in the state. Most of the students at Forest Avenue School come from families where English is the primary language spoken. They are more likely to receive support from their families in academic subjects because their families are more likely to understand the material. 73% of Forest Avenue's students are white, leaving just over a quarter of the schools population for minority races. Often, though it is not always the case, white families are better off than minority races. Forest Avenue does not need to provide many resources to poor families and students, but they do provide other special education services. 13% of Forest Avenue's students receive special education services, compared to 16% in the state. This does not necessarily reflect on the student's upbringing or amount of support available from their family. Luckily, Forest Avenue has special education services available to its students. Forest Avenue School, for the most part, has students from a fairly good background who have a lot of support from their families or guardians (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010)(Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

Parents at Forest Avenue School are very involved in their children's educations. This is important because children whose parents are highly involved achieve more. Though only about half of parents report visiting their child's classroom regularly, all parents have agreed that they help their child with homework and talk to them about school either daily or weekly. All parents also read with their children at least monthly. 98.2% of parents feel that the community supports the school. Not only are the parents supportive of the school, but the community is supportive as well (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010-2011).

**Safe and Supportive Schools**

Forest Avenue School is a fairly safe and supportive school. Its attendance rate is 95%, with only 6% of students who are chronically absent. The state target for attendance is 90%, so Forest Avenue School is doing well in that aspect, as is the rest of the state, whose attendance rate is just under Forest Avenue's at 94%. The chronic absenteeism in the state, on the other hand, is much higher than Forest Avenue School's, at 16%. Students who are chronically absent have missed 10% or more of the school year, which is 180 days. Somehow, Forest Avenue School, or the parents whose children attend it, are able to keep students going to school in a way that many schools in Rhode Island are not. Students also seem very well behaved. In 2009-2010, only four students were suspended: two were suspended for assault of another student and two were suspended for disorderly conduct. Compared to the numbers of students suspended from other schools and the violations of the rules that caused them to be suspended, Forest Avenue has very well behaved students. Based on the students' behavior, it seems that there is a very positive learning environment at Forest Avenue School.

Forest Avenue School is slightly less stable than other schools in Rhode Island. Stability Index measures the amount of students who stay in the school for a long period of time. Forest Avenue's stability index is 82%, compared to 87% statewide. Mobility Index measures the amount of students who transfer into a school. Forest Avenue's index is again higher than the state's with 20% compared to 13%. The fact that Forest Avenue scored worse on these indexes than the rest of the state means that more students are moving in and out of the school. This is negative for both the school and the students. It causes disruptions in the school since there is not as stable a class and causes even bigger disruptions to the students who cannot continue their schooling with the same students. The mobility of students to and from Forest Avenue School is one of the few factors that harms the education that goes on there (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

Parents whose children attend Forest Avenue School agree that the school is a safe place to send their children. 98.2% of parents either agree or strongly agree that the school is a safe place for their children and 96.4% feel that the school provides a respectful environment for their children. 87.2% disagree with the fact that their are physical fights among the students and 72.5% say that students do not threaten or bully other students. A majority of parents know that Forest Avenue School is a safe place to send their students and they do not fear fights or bullying. A safe learning environment is important for students to get the most out of their education (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010-2011).

** Funding and Resources ** Middletown is a fairly well-off community economically. Per pupil, the district spends $14,890. This amount of money can provide a good education to students. It seems that Forest Avenue is getting a good amount of funding from the town of Middletown (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

**Conclusion** Based on all of the data examined, Forest Avenue School provides a high quality education to its students. Generally, this school scores higher than the state average on the NECAP test, proving that students there are being taught what they need to know. Almost all of the teachers there are highly qualified and are able to provide a supportive environment for their students. In order to continue providing an education like this, the school must look into why test scores have been dropping and find a way to stop that trend. Middletown is a fairly affluent community, so the school is funded adequately. Forest Avenue School provides a good education to its students and is a good choice for parents of students in Middletown. Anyone who is looking to send their child to school in Middletown should give Forest Avenue School serious consideration (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

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