Waterford Street School
School Improvement Annual Update
June 2006

As the 2006 school year comes to a close, the following update to the school improvement plan highlights the accomplishments of the school year and reviews the needs for the upcoming year. The document that follows reflects the School Improvement Plan that was written and adopted in 2005. Please refer to that document for the specific goals.
The performance goals are an ongoing concern and discussed at grade level meetings and staff meetings. These goals were reviewed with the school council and are monitored regularly through the STAR and DIBELS assessments.
During this school year we are beginning to see a modest improvement in Reading Fluency in first and second grade. The spring scores on all assessments indicate a slow steady improvement in first grade. We attribute this to the small group instruction to Tier III students that has been in addition to the supports that had already been in place. In second grade the progress is not what we had hoped. The addition of the “Read Naturally” program that was purchased through a donation from Hanneford Supermarket has not been fully implemented. We anticipate that by adding this program as a support we may see improvement in scores for all students.
First grade and kindergarten students had displayed a need for improvement in Nonsense Word Fluency. This skill indicates future reading success in that it shows students phonemic awareness. We are very happy with the increase we have also seen. In the fall 40 kindergarten students were at risk in this category. Through teacher interventions and the addition of ERI strategies we have seen this number fall to 15 students. The Early Reading Intervention strategies have proven to be an important addition to the kindergarten program.  In the fall a more concerted effort will be made to provide ERI support in first grade.
The math goals of fluency in recalling math facts and critical thinking skills related to word problems continues to be an area of need. We anticipate that through professional development in differentiating instruction and a more concerted effort within the school, an improvement may be seen.
The early childhood programs in the integrated preschool are fully accredited through NAEYC, The National Association for the Education of Young Children.  This accreditation expires in April of 2007. Therefore, Waterford Street School will once again begin the self- study process for reaccredidation. During this round of accreditation we will include the kindergarten. A major reason to include kindergarten came from the results of a grant application the school submitted for increasing full day kindergarten. The state DOE acknowledged programs that had attained certification through NAEYC in the competitive grant process. We are comfortable that the expected standards are presently being met at WSS and do not anticipate any problems renewing the accreditation. The self-study process is an opportunity for us to reflect on and change our program to benefit the children of Gardner. The culmination of the self-study process will be an NAEYC visit to the school sometime during 2007.
Waterford Street School continues to offer academic support to students in the form of Title I, Early Reading Interventions, and Reading Recovery. Additionally, we were able to offer small group remediation to at risk first graders. These additional services were made available through the addition of two tutors. As we examine and reflect on the needs of the school, we anticipate that the same level of supports will be available with the exception of Reading Recovery. The present model will be revamped, rather than the current program of serving one child at a time, the reading recovery teachers will be Tier III Interventionists and work with groups of 3 children for 30-minute sessions. This DOE recommended model services the lowest 25% of our first graders. In making this change, we will be able to then add additional supports to both kindergarten and second grade students in the form of reading interventions. We continue to maintain that early support of children will translate into success in the future and are learning quickly that it is not always the number of personnel available in the school; it is utilizing people wisely to benefit children.
The staffing and program decisions that are made involve strong collaboration of the staff as well as continued data analysis. The monitoring of STAR, GRADE, DIBELS, and CCC provides the information we need to better service the children. These assessments are proven to be strong indicators of reading success. This information used in conjunction with informal teacher assessments provides a strong and effective curriculum.
Future curriculum issues that will be addressed not only at Waterford but also throughout the district include professional development in differentiating instruction for all learners and developing an ELL program. Many staff took advantage of a professional development opportunity in May that provided practical classroom strategies to meet the needs of various learners. During the summer, some staff will be involved in ELL training that will also provide strategies to meet the needs of this particular population. Other professional development that has occurred this year included the Voyager U course and a math course. Individual teachers participated in workshops, conferences and other professional development opportunities appropriate to their area of certification. Additionally, all staff was involved in Second Step training as a violence prevention curriculum for the school. Second Step supports our “Waterford Way” and has been very successful in building a positive school community. The results we are seeing are very good and we will build on this during the next year.
Of continued importance to the school is the expansion to full day kindergarten. Offering more full day programs will improve the quality of education. The school council recommends that the school continue to pursue funding opportunities that will allow the district additional full day programs that do not rely on tuition. The school council also promotes the idea of a non-tuition preschool that will be available to all children via a lottery.
Other school council recommendations that will be implemented in the 2007 school year are a curriculum night and lunch with a friend. Presently parents are invited to an Open House in the fall and parent conferences in November. A spring curriculum night will be another opportunity for parents to visit the school and see the great things that are happening. The second addition will involve the children inviting a grandparent or other special person to have lunch with them at school one day. Both of these vents will highlight the school and the improvements that have been made in the area of school community.
The School Council spent a considerable amount of time this year discussing the condition of the facility. Waterford was built in the 1950’s and is in need of many repairs. The school council is committed to seeing that the facilities issues remain a focus until funds are found to assist with the improvements. They have developed a priority list for repairs. The list includes updating the plumbing, bringing the fire alarm up to code, replacing the floors throughout the school, repainting classrooms and halls, replacing windows on the first floor and renovating the playground.
An important accomplishment this year was the development of the Waterford Crisis Management Plan. This document was created specifically for Waterford, by Waterford staff and addresses our needs in the event of fire, abduction, weather related issues etc. The PTO has committed funds to the printing of the final document in a form that each staff member can easily use. Time will be devoted next year to implementing the plan and training all staff.
Waterford Street School is making progress and will continue to make progress because it has a dedicated staff and committed parents. This year’s school council has committed itself to another year. This is the first sign of consistency for this school council after several years of changing participants. As we enter out third year since the closing of Prospect School and the merging of two the schools, it is evident that we are now one school with one voice.