Norton+Elementary+School



School Description of B.F Norton Elementary School Located in: Cumberland, Rhode Island  By: Ariana Grande

B.F Norton Elementary School resides in the small town of Cumberland, Rhode Island. With 8,324 children enrolled in school in Cumberland, B.F Norton is just one option that serves the community. Located on Broad Street, B.F Norton sits right down the road from a neighboring charter school, Blackstone Valley Prep. The idea of this school description, is to give a thorough understanding of B.F Norton, a public elementary school, that serves the community of Cumberland, Rhode Island. [1]

Funding: In the Cumberland, Rhode Island school district, $11,090 per student is spent. This is significantly lower than the Rhode Island funding per student which is $15,173. [1]

Title 1 School: B.F Norton Elementary School is classified as a Title 1 School. A Title 1 School, is one that "meet[s] federal rules related to teacher qualifications as defined in No Child Left Behind. These rules allow you to learn more about your child’s teacher’s training and credentials." (B.F Norton Website) As a Title 1 School, there are certain expectations of teachers that parents can expect to see fit. For example, a parent can ask about the credentials of their child's teacher, what degrees he or she possesses, and if they are emergency certified. [2]

Student Characteristics: Students who attend B.F Norton Elementary School, are made up of a few different racial backgrounds. The two greatest percentages of backgrounds are white, with 69%, and hispanic, with 21%. The remaining students make up a multiracial student body with backgrounds such as African Americans and Asians. With 311 students in the building, 49% of them are eligible for subsidized lunch. This percentage is greater than the state percentage of 46%. With that piece of evidence, it can be inferred that half of the student body most likely lives in a household where money is tight. 18% of the students who attend B.F Norton take advantage of special education services. Along with special education services, ESL services are also offered at B.F Norton. Catering toward 9% of students who attend are ESL students.This percentage beats the state percentage by 3%. Of the 311 students who attend this elementary school, 41.9% of their parents completed college. ‍24.2%‍ of their parents completed some college. In the SurveyWorks survey, given to students at B.F Norton, 86.7 checked the box that they believed that they would finish high school. of the students checked that they believed that they would go on to continue their education through college. [1]

Student Achievement:‍‍ To gain a glimpse of the student's achievement or test scores‍‍, NECAP scores can be examined. More than half of third graders who attend B.F Norton, scored proficiently in math and in reading. In math, 57% of third graders scored proficiently. Compared to the state however, the percentage is a little lower. In reading, 69% of third graders scored proficiently, this percentage tied with the state's. Fourth graders scored proficiently in math reading and science. However, only 29% scored in science proficiently, while the state percentage sits at 45%. Fifth graders scored high in reading and math, and 42% scored proficiently in writing. In no area did B.F Norton score higher than the state percentage. [1]

Teachers: At B.F Norton, the student to teacher ratio is actually lower than the state's student to teacher ratio. B.F Norton sits with a 1:9 student to teacher ratio, while the state sits with a 1:11 student to teacher ratio. Of the teachers who work at B.F Norton, 5% of teachers are emergency certified. This percentage is 4% higher than the state percentage. [1]

Atmosphere of B.F Norton: Chronic absenteeism is not a huge problem at B.F Norton. Only 12% of students could be pined as being chronically absent. Most of the time, 96% of the student body attends school. The state target for attendance is 90%. B.F Norton surpasses this percentage by 5%. In terms of suspension, B.F Norton has no recorded suspensions. This is excellent. [1]

Conclusion: All in all, B.F Norton is not a bad elementary school to attend. The teachers are highly credited and certified, a plethora of resources are available, and test scores are for the most part, decent. The downfall to B.F Norton would be the location. Located on the southern side of Cumberland, housing is more crowded, populations are higher, and money is not as abundent. These facts can be backed up by statistics mentioned earlier in this report, and can be compared directly to other schools within the community.

[1] InfoWorks! Rhode Island Education Data Reporting - RIDE.ri.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://infoworks.ride.ri.go/school/b-f-norton-elementary-school

 [2] Title 1 Information | Cumberland School Department. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cumberlandschools.org/content/title-i-information