Providence Elementary Courtesy photo
Providence Elementary School (PES) principal Jesse Kraft presented his seventh State of the School report to the City of Fairfax School Board on Monday, Feb. 1.
The presentation addressed the 2015 Standards of Learning scores, technology integration, enrichment programs and the connection between the City of Fairfax and Providence Elementary.
Assistant Principal Dan Phillips presented information about the PES Standards of Learning scores for the 2014-2015 school year in a variety of scores in different subgroups. In English/Reading, the state accreditation benchmark is 75 percent with Providence ES scoring 88 percent. The Federal AMO is 72 percent in Reading with Providence scoring 81 percent. In math, the state accreditation benchmark is 70 percent with Providence ES scored 90 percent, while the federal AMO is 68 percent with Providence AMO at 81 percent meeting all objectives in each subgroup except with students with disabilities. Phillips addressed how Providence ES is supporting these students with intervention plans for each students, dedicated planning time for resource and classroom teachers and personalized instruction in small groups or one on one.
“We won’t rest until we can help our students grow as learners and to help them meet those specific needs that they have,” said Phillips.
Assistant principal Janice Suitte presented technology integration and student use of personal technology or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). At Providence, students may bring personal devices to enhance learning. Suitte reported that there were over 120 devices registered at PES including laptops, smartphones and tablets. The majority of the use is for research according to teachers.
Principal Kraft reviewed some of the many enrichment programs at Providence including the award-winning and nationally recognized STEM Lab. In addition, Providence offers a summer programming/coding three week course, advanced academic programming and will be incorporating a new math program. Kraft credited the support for the City of Fairfax for many of these additional services.
“The connection between the City of Fairfax and Providence is really, really strong,” said Kraft. “We are able to think big and act on big ideas because of the city connection.”
Kraft listed a number of support systems in place he is able to provide due to the extra support from city funds including additional planning time for teachers, financial support for field trips, technology, doubling the amount of students for summer programs and the dedicated teachers in the STEM Lab.