August 31, 2010 Visited with Muncipal Court 6 City of FW Judge Sharon Newman-Stanfield. We had a fine visit which culminated in much education for this Trustee!
Post visiting, I dropped by next door to see, Mr. Elvin Bennett, Ms. Harris, and of course, Principal Washington! Now this is one GRAND TEAM and I HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS OF SUPREME SUCCESS FOR THIS HIGH SCHOOL, THIS YEAR! GO HILLS!
August 28, 2010 Visited Eastern Hills High School to find Gloria working on the
week-end, insuring that the school was ready for WEEK 2! What a gift she and her
friend Reba were to EHHS this week-end! Thank you for giving of your time on Saturday!
August 17, 2010 Eastern Hills Homeowners Association Meeting welcomed:
Ms.Cherie Washington, EHHS New Principal for a meet and greet at the HOA Meeting!
A great presentation by Principal Washington, and most importantly a splendid Q&A session was prompted by the dynamicity of our new leader! Principal Washington invited all neighbors to visit the school, assuring them they would be an essential
element in the education of these young students!
August 16, 2010 Meadowbrook United Methodist Church welcomes West and Central Meadowbrook Homeowners Association Members. FWISD Principals from Eastside Schools with their respective Board Trustees, Christene Moss and Tobi Jackson.
FWISD MARKS RECORD TAKS GAINS
Fort Worth, Texas - Students in the Fort Worth Independent School District made record gains in the most recent administration of the Texas TAKS tests.
For the first time since TAKS testing began 2 Fort Worth ISD high schools – Carter-Riverside and Trimble Tech – have received a Recognized rating. Paschal High School met the academic standard for a Recognized rating but was given an Acceptable rating solely because of the School Completion Rate.
Additionally, for the first time, 6 middle schools earned Recognized status. These gains are particularly noteworthy because of new changes that made the Recognized rating harder to attain.
As successful as the schools have been, the more important and promising news is the academic gains made by the students.
“This is phenomenal evidence that our efforts are moving the system in the right direction,” said Superintendent Melody Johnson. “Our goal has always been to improve the academic performance of the individual student and as welcome as the school rankings are, the student gains show that we are providing students with the tools they need to succeed.”
Elementary Reading saw gains at grades 4 and 5 in all student groups. Meanwhile, elementary Mathematics at grades 3, 4 and 5 also show significant gains for all groups.
In middle school Reading, all groups of 8th graders scored high (above 85%). Middle school Mathematics saw gains for all students at every grade with 7th and 8th grade African American students showing the greatest gains. Additionally, all groups made gains in Writing, Science, and Social Studies at the middle school level.
Among 11th graders, all student groups performed at the Exemplary (90% or above) level or had double-digit gains in Math and Science. All groups scored at the Recognized level (80%) or higher in Reading. Gains by African-American students significantly narrowed the achievement gap across-the-board.
“We always frame our internal support for schools based on the raw scores—NOT on the state or federal ratings. So…nothing will change in that regard,” said Chief Academic Officer Michael Sorum. “It’s possible to have an “acceptable” school with two years of strong data trends and strong administration—our level of concern for this school is less than for a school that might be rated Recognized but has a negative trend.”
Despite student academic achievement that was at the Exemplary level for Diamond Hill Elementary School, TEA issued a punitive Unacceptable rating because of a testing irregularity on TAKS re-testers. The re-tester results would have otherwise had no impact on the campus rating.
Polytechnic High School, for the second successive year, had an Acceptable academic performance. Poly’s Unacceptable rating is based only on the Completion Rate. Eight students were removed from Poly by a court and ordered to pursue a G.E.D. Under state law those students are counted as drop-outs.
”There is wide spread acknowledgement that the drop-out evaluation system has to be reviewed for reasonableness,” said Dr. Johnson. “The definition of a drop-out has to be within a district’s ability to address the issue. Right now, we have no recourse where court-ordered G.E.D. participation is involved.”
Meadowbrook Middle School missed being rated Academically Acceptable because of a computer coding error on 3 students. Those students are not drop-outs and can be accounted for. FWISD has appealed both the Meadowbrook and the Poly rankings and expects an answer from the TEA in October.
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Summary of 2010
Accountability Ratings
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|
|
|
|
|
Rating
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District Totals
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High School
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Middle School
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Elementary*
|
|
|
|
Exemplary
|
12
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0
|
0
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12
|
|
|
|
Recognized
|
37
|
2
|
6
|
29
|
|
|
|
Academically Acceptable
|
62
|
9
|
17
|
36
|
|
|
|
Academically Unacceptable
|
5*
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
|
|
|
* 2 campuses under appeal
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|
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-FWISD-
August 23, 2010..FWISD Begins the 2010-11 School Year in FINE FORM!
August 17, 2010..Convocation for the FWISD at Wilkerson - 1 pm Secondary
EHHA Meeting featuring EHHS Principal, Cherie Washington
August 16, 2010..MBUMC welcomes the FWISD
July 29, 2010..Superintendent Melody Johnson, Mayor Pro tem Scarth, and I met to
plan for maximal success at EHHS and all joint FWISD schools. We are
so fortunate to have these two great leaders in our community.
July 22-26......CRSS Training in Santa Fe, New Mexico
I am now a Texas Institute of School Boards Fellow
July 18, 2010.....THE FIRST 56 DAYS NEWSLETTER is Available
July 17, 2010......EHHS ALUMS at MEXICAN INN on East Lancaster! Great fun
at HIGH NOON........I will update all interested on 2 years
of progress that was placed in play in 2 months! Thanks to our
great team of the FWISD, the City of FW, and our AWESOME
CITIZENS! YEAH FW!
Week of July 12, 2010 Mayor Pro Tem Scarth and I met with Principal Cherie Washington today at EHHS!
How fortunate we are to have these two on our team! Plans to improve EHHS
inside and out, mentoring program, Junior College students to mentor, many
ideas and THE SKY IS THE LIMIT! Watch the campus and see HUGE CHANGES
within the next 3 weeks! Be a part of it, call Tobi Jackson 817-296-7721. We want
your energy, ideas, and support!
Week of July 11, 2010 Residents proximal to JT White and Lowery Road provided information that
School Zone Lights were flashing at off hours. Immediate response was made
by Captain Gene Jones of FW East Police Division. Jeanine Ricks of Mayor Pro Tem
Scarth's Office had already contact TPW, the day prior. SEE Synergy between the ISD
and City is occuring. Keep those observations coming our way! THANK YOU!
Week of July 5, 2010
Met with Hank Johnson, CFO FWISD and Dr. Carlos Vasquez to insure that I was up to
speed with protocols, procedures, and algorithms in place to prevent errors in accounting.
Satisfied, NO! Feel adequately briefed, YES! Outlook, GOOD! We are not yet there, but,
Mr. Johnson is getting us THERE! We will support and continue to insure that all tax
dollars are spent with clarity to our taxpayers.
July 03, 2010
Eastern Hills Homeowners Association had a WONDERFUL 4th of July Parade and Social on Saturday, 03 July 2010. Updates were given on the new EHHS Principal, Ms. Cherie Washington, and her request FOR HEAVY COMMUNITY SUPPORT, INVOLVEMENT, and LEADERSHIP!
June 28, 2010 Mayor Pro tem Danny Scarth held an event at Woodhaven Country Club. Many supporters on hand. We discussed synergy between the City of FW and the FWISD. Mayor Pro tem Scarth is exceptionally busy, however, he too makes time to work for the youth of our community and insure they have every possible advantage available to complete their education. Thank you, Mayor Pro tem Scarth.
June 28, 2010 Met with Councilman Sal Espino and discussed synergy between the City of FW and FWISD. For those of you who do not know, Mr. Espino well, you should know this: HE LOVES EDUCATION and is a huge proponent.
We are very fortunate to have this Councilman who works tirelessly, to extend himself further! Thank you, Councilman Espino.
June 11, 2010 June 11, 2010 Eastern Hills High School secures PROVEN LEADER, Principal Cherie Washington to lead the 2010-11 School Year!
Ms. Washington's experience is vast. Having taught at EHHS, then served as Principal at Meadowbrook Middle, turning that school from Unacceptable to Acceptable! Ms. Washington has served at Meadowbrook Middle in the capacity of Principal x 4 years. This allows her to have a familiarity with many of the EHHS students from 9th to 12th grade. As well, she is quite familiar with the Handley Middle School students, as her husband, Mr. Lewis Washington, serves as Principal at Handley. I have HUGE EXPECTATIONS FOR EHHS and it begins with Ms. Washington and her hand selected team. It will take more than just Principal Washington, it will take THE COMMUNITY! NOW LET'S GIVE HER SOME MANPOWER! Ms. Washington has asked for our support, now let's show EHHS we are behind them!
Thank you to Ms. Washington, for agreeing to once again turn around another FWISD school. The challenge now, is to get traction, maintain it, and STOP the UNACCEPTABLE RATINGS in all FWISD school!
May 26, 2010
Shortly after being sworn in Tuesday night, trustee Tobi Jackson thanked longtime trustee Jean McClung
for her 20 years on the school board. Jackson beat McClung earlier this month for the District 2 seat, which represents parts of east Fort Worth.
Jackson suggested trustees consider renaming the new Forest Middle School, set to open in 2011, in honor of McClung. During her time on the board, McClung pushed to establish the district's truancy court and for gender-based schools, the first of which opens in August. Trustee Judy Needham also expressed support for naming the middle school after McClung.
-Eva-Marie Ayala
