Aquidneck+School

Aquidneck School

Introduction
Aquidneck School is an elementary school located in Middletown, which is a part of southern Rhode Island. Aquidneck is a school that is made up of a majority of white students. It consists of all grades between preschool and fourth grade. The school is small, containing only 405 students and 35 teachers. Aquidneck School is, overall, an extremely prosperous and successful school.

Aquidneck Elementary School is a very successful school in the Middleschool town district. It is shown to have met all of the target areas that America deems necessary to demonstrate AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress. Although Aquidneck Elementary School only provides the results from the third grade NECAP tests, it is clear that the students are very successful. 69% percent of the children who took the third grade math NECAP assessment were rated as proficient or higher as compared to the state's 62% of students rated as proficient or higher. The reading scores were similarly competent. The majority (77%) of third grade students in Aquidneck scored proficient or higher on their reading NECAP test as compared to the state's rate of 71%. The kids at Aquidneck Elementary school reach very high levels of achievement as compared to the general population of students in Rhode Island (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010) (Rhode Island Department of Education 2011).[1]

Teaching
Aquidneck employs very successful teachers. None of the teachers possess emergency certification. This means that none of the teachers were chosen without a full teaching degree due to a shortage of MORE QUALIFIED teachers. Only 4% of Aquidneck's teachers are not highly qualified, as opposed to the state's 3% of not highly qualified teachers. A teacher who is not highly qualified still possesses a Bachelor's degree, a state teaching certificate, and competency in a THE subject that THEY are teaching. However, this does not mean they demonstrate full competency in all subjects that they are teaching. It is somewhat surprising that while the school does not have any teachers possessing an emergency certification, the percentage of teachers who are not highly qualified is higher than that of the state. Although Aquidneck's teachers are not all highly certified, Aquidneck does provide relatively small class sizes with a ratio of 1:12. This does not mean there are twelve children to a class because some teachers educate individual students. However, Aquidneck does boast a successful team of teachers and an average teacher-student ratio (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

Family, Community and Home Life
The students at Aquidneck School seem to be very happy and cared for by their families and communities. Only 23% of students at Aquidneck school are eligible for a subsidized lunch, meaning that they are eligible for a lunch provided with state money. This is a very low number compared to the statewide percentage of 43%. Although there is a low percentage of students eligible for subsidized lunches, the percentage of students in Aquidneck who are receiving bilingual education services (8%) is higher than that of the state (5%). A good percentage of students (16%) are also receiving special education services. The fact that Aquidneck School and families are able to provide these services shows that the students have a supportive community and home life(Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

Safe and Supportive Schools
Aquidneck is very good at keeping its students in school. The school has a 95.5% attendance rate, which is higher than the state's attendance rate of 94.5% and is above the target attendance rate that is needed to prove annual progress. Only 4% of students are chronically absent, meaning that they are absent for 10% of the school year. The majority of students (87%) are stable, meaning that they stay in the same school for long periods of time. This data is also reflected in the mobility index. Only a small percentage of the students (15%) are mobile, meaning that they do not switch from school to school. Aquidneck has a very consistent and successful student population (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010) (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2011).

Funding and Resources
The Middletown community is very well off. Middletown is able to give a good amount of money to its public schools, therefore bettering students' education. The Middletown district is able to spend $14,890 on each student's education. Middletown is also one of the more heavily taxed districts in Rhode Island, which makes any money that they are able to dedicate to their students' education all the more valuable (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2010).

Conclusion
This information shows that Aquidneck School is a very successful elementary school. It boasts test scores above the norm and a healthy community for its students. Aquidneck and its students are headed down a good path and are heading towards a impressive future.



^ 1. Rhode Island Department of Education. (2010). Aquidneck School. //InfoWorks LIVE!// Retrieved October 31, 2011, from [] 2. Rhode Island Department of Education. (n.d.). 2011 School Report Card. //Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education//. Retrieved November 9, 2011, from []