HIGH POINT, N.C.—
While most schools sit empty in the summer months, there's activity at Oak Hill Elementary School. Several teachers at the low-performing school are already organizing their classrooms and attending summer training."The good thing with me being new in town is I have nothing else to do. I don't know anyone," laughs Jeanne Faulkner, a newly hired art teacher from Georgia.
Faulkner is one of many new teachers at Oak Hill hired as part of the "turnaround model" in order to qualify for a federal school improvement grant. Under the turnaround model, Guilford County Schools replaced the principal, rehired no more than half the staff, and hired new bilingual tutors to help kids learn English as a second language.
In addition, Oak Hill Elementary added 10 extra school days at the beginning of the year and every school day will be extended by 45 minutes.
The new principal, Patrice Faison, has hired a new staff, including several new Spanish-speaking teachers. She said she expects these teachers to come in early and stay late to tutor students.
"When we show them the material over and over again -- sometimes it was necessary -- but when we did that, they got it," Faison said, referring to the 71 percent of Oak Hill students who know or are learning English as a second language.
The money for these changes comes from a $2.8 million grant Oak Hill got as one of the lowest performing schools in the state. In 2009, almost 30 percent of Oak Hill students performed on grade level.
But in preliminary test results released Tuesday, Oak Hill showed improvements.In fact, all 10 of the school system's lowest performing schools last year made significant progress.
Montlieu Elementary saw a 17.2 point jump, Oak Hill Elementary grew by 16.1 points, Dudley High grew by 15.8 points, Gillespie Park Elementary grew by 14.3 points, Eastern High grew by 14 points, Hampton Elementary grew by 11.7 points and Hairston Middle grew by 11 points.
To view the entire report on test scores, visit www.gcsnc.com.
But the numbers aren't all good.
"The flipside is, at 45.8 percent (on grade level), that still leaves them in about our lowest performing schools in our district," said Superintendent Mo Green, who hopes to have 80 to 90 percent on grade level in the next two or three years.
The school grant will also fund a new computer lab, projectors in every classroom, new tutors and a parent resource center.
"We're going to be there to assist you. We have to make sure that education doesn't stop when they leave the building," said Faison. "So we're really focusing on the parent piece and making sure the parents are here."
