Q&A with Dr. Gallon on Sixth Grade
Schools Superintendent Steve Gallon III has announced that all elementary schools will extend to sixth grade in the 2009-10 school year.
The news follows this year's innovation at Cook and Cedarbrook schools of a sixth grade option to enrollment at district middle schools. The plan is the first step toward a K-8 elementary school configuration that Dr. Gallon says is more cognizant of a young adolescent's needs than the current K-5, 6-8 model with two district middle schools.
Many Plainfield parents have taken their children out of the system rather than send them to district middle schools. The district has experienced a loss of student population to charter schools and other learning settings in recent years. Dr. Gallon has stated a goal of reclaiming these students. Below are Plaintalker's questions and Dr. Gallon's answers on the new proposal. A "critical data point," he says, is the 95 percent retention rate.
Q. How many fifth graders are currently enrolled in the district?
A. 530 fifth grade students are currently enrolled in the district.
Q. How many sixth graders are at Cook and Cedarbrook?
A. 99 grade 6 students at both schools. 39 at Cook and 60 at Cedarbrook.
Q. What number of new sixth graders can the elementary schools accommodate?
A. An assessment and analysis was made prior to the decision. The district can accommodate all 530 5th grade students for sixth grade next year.
Q. What is the projected staff realignment in order to have sixth grades at both middle and elementary schools?
A. The staff alignment will be based on the number of students enrolled at each level (middle and elementary). As we are in the very initial stages, a request from parents to indicate their druthers for the 2009-2010 school will be made to provide data for projected enrollment and staff realignments, where needed.
I have initiated School Budget/Personnel Conferences in the district for all schools. This is a process to ensure efficient, equitable, and effective allocation of district resources, and will involve meetings with building principals and district staff to review enrollment (current and projected) data and align with the fiscal reality of the school. This will result in appropriate reconciliations being made at each school.
I am presently and personally meeting with each school’s entire faculty to discuss and review the School Budget/Personnel Reconciliation process. The first meeting was held at Plainfield High School this past Monday. These efforts, along with the development and adoption of a School Allocation Plan, which Mr. Ottman presented to BOE at Tuesday’s meeting, will strengthen our efficiency and fiscal accountability efforts. These are all reflected in the 2008-2012 District Strategic Plan.
Q. It is just half a year since the innovation at Cook and Cedarbrook. What early results are you seeing? What number of seventh graders do you anticipate at the two schools?
A. The preliminary result/impact has been in the area of student retention and recruitment. Through these models, we were not only able to retain many of students, but actually have parents to return to PPS to enroll their children. An interesting and compelling set of indisputable data speaks to retention. Of the 41 grade 5 students at Cook, 39 remained for grade 6. This is a 95% retention rate. Of the 63 grade 5 students at Cedarbrook last year, 60 remained for grade 6 this year. This is also a 95% retention rate. Additionally, students’ grade, attendance, and performance levels have been able to sustain at higher levels, many of which would often decline upon entering middle school.
The students’ self-esteem and self-efficacy have also improved due to the fact they are leaders in their schools and are able to have a small learning community with familiar adults fostering them during a critical time of personal growth and development.
Click here for Dr. Gallon's Jan. 14 letter on the subject. And make sure to take a look around the district web site for lots of other information.
--Bernice Paglia
The news follows this year's innovation at Cook and Cedarbrook schools of a sixth grade option to enrollment at district middle schools. The plan is the first step toward a K-8 elementary school configuration that Dr. Gallon says is more cognizant of a young adolescent's needs than the current K-5, 6-8 model with two district middle schools.
Many Plainfield parents have taken their children out of the system rather than send them to district middle schools. The district has experienced a loss of student population to charter schools and other learning settings in recent years. Dr. Gallon has stated a goal of reclaiming these students. Below are Plaintalker's questions and Dr. Gallon's answers on the new proposal. A "critical data point," he says, is the 95 percent retention rate.
Q. How many fifth graders are currently enrolled in the district?
A. 530 fifth grade students are currently enrolled in the district.
Q. How many sixth graders are at Cook and Cedarbrook?
A. 99 grade 6 students at both schools. 39 at Cook and 60 at Cedarbrook.
Q. What number of new sixth graders can the elementary schools accommodate?
A. An assessment and analysis was made prior to the decision. The district can accommodate all 530 5th grade students for sixth grade next year.
Q. What is the projected staff realignment in order to have sixth grades at both middle and elementary schools?
A. The staff alignment will be based on the number of students enrolled at each level (middle and elementary). As we are in the very initial stages, a request from parents to indicate their druthers for the 2009-2010 school will be made to provide data for projected enrollment and staff realignments, where needed.
I have initiated School Budget/Personnel Conferences in the district for all schools. This is a process to ensure efficient, equitable, and effective allocation of district resources, and will involve meetings with building principals and district staff to review enrollment (current and projected) data and align with the fiscal reality of the school. This will result in appropriate reconciliations being made at each school.
I am presently and personally meeting with each school’s entire faculty to discuss and review the School Budget/Personnel Reconciliation process. The first meeting was held at Plainfield High School this past Monday. These efforts, along with the development and adoption of a School Allocation Plan, which Mr. Ottman presented to BOE at Tuesday’s meeting, will strengthen our efficiency and fiscal accountability efforts. These are all reflected in the 2008-2012 District Strategic Plan.
Q. It is just half a year since the innovation at Cook and Cedarbrook. What early results are you seeing? What number of seventh graders do you anticipate at the two schools?
A. The preliminary result/impact has been in the area of student retention and recruitment. Through these models, we were not only able to retain many of students, but actually have parents to return to PPS to enroll their children. An interesting and compelling set of indisputable data speaks to retention. Of the 41 grade 5 students at Cook, 39 remained for grade 6. This is a 95% retention rate. Of the 63 grade 5 students at Cedarbrook last year, 60 remained for grade 6 this year. This is also a 95% retention rate. Additionally, students’ grade, attendance, and performance levels have been able to sustain at higher levels, many of which would often decline upon entering middle school.
The students’ self-esteem and self-efficacy have also improved due to the fact they are leaders in their schools and are able to have a small learning community with familiar adults fostering them during a critical time of personal growth and development.
Click here for Dr. Gallon's Jan. 14 letter on the subject. And make sure to take a look around the district web site for lots of other information.
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 10:54 PM
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