Academy Success Benefits Dickson Elementary

As usual with this time of year, our attention is focused on the Woodland Hills School District budget and school programs. 

This discussion is intensified this year because of the governor’s proposed cuts to education through which Woodland Hills would lose more than $4 million.  That leaves the school board the responsibility to make up this difference in state aid through cuts and/or raising taxes. Considering that Woodland Hills is one of the most highly taxed school districts in Allegheny County, the board is looking at ways to save costs for the 2011-12 school budget without raising taxes.  

There were two public hearings in April for residents to voice their opinions about the budget and possible cuts, and to offer ideas for saving money.  Everyone who spoke, including board members, was very ardent and serious about their ideas and questions. It was clear that all in attendance understood the gravity of the budget shortfall and what it could mean to the district.  There were a few comments made about the Woodland Hills Academy that I would like to comment on in this column today.

First, it was stated that all “the best kids go to the academy.” This is simply not true. Students at the Academy are selected by a lottery because their parents made a choice to try something new in the Woodland Hills School District.  Dickson Elementary – as well as Fairless, Wilkins, Edgewood, and Shaffer – have wonderful children who make great grades, who improve yearly on the PSSAs, who participate in community service organizations, who have dreams and goals, who play musical instruments, sports, and sing in chorus, and who are working hard to be successful. 

Yes, Dickson has students who sometimes make the wrong choices, but these children also have wonderful qualities that can be brought to the forefront with the proper guidance -- which is part of our job as educators.  

Yes, Dickson has students with little resources or support from home, but these children are just as often “the best kids” as those at any other school.  I’ve been at Woodland Hills for 11 years at various grade levels and I can tell you about many children who have overcome early hardships and poor choices to become the “best.”  The “best kids” are at Woodland Hills, in every school, when we, the adults, expect them to be the best. 

Second, it was stated that the Academy was supposed to be a pilot school and its programs would be implemented in the other elementary schools.  The person went on to state that this has not happened in a timely fashion.  I respectfully disagree.  Dickson Elementary has in fact benefited from the success of the Academy over the past two years. The fact that Dickson now has a behavior interventionist, a home school visitor/social worker, a technology coach, and a reading and math coach is all due to the fact that these positions were part of the reason for the success of the Academy.  Superintendent Walter Calinger wisely reallocated funds to bring these positions to the other elementary buildings.  

The behavior interventionist at Dickson has worked with individual students to help them make better choices and learn how to be successful in school.  The interventionist also has collaborated with teachers to help all children and to strengthen classroom management techniques.  The social worker has decreased the truancy rate through immediate contact and meetings with parents of absence students.  The social worker has found resources and agencies for families experiencing hardship and thus has been able to address the physical, emotional, and social needs of our students as necessary. These positions have proven to be invaluable at Dickson and have enabled the administration to concentrate more on instructional matters.  

In partnership with the reading and math coach, the Dickson administrators have been able to plan and present more meaningful and effective professional development for the staff based upon teacher experience and student needs.  The outcome -- as shown by observation data -- has resulted in more time on task and active engagement for students and a greater variety of high-yielding instructional methods being utilized.

Just like the Academy, Dickson Elementary has art, music, physical education, library science, band, chorus, and orchestra. Dickson also now has Keyboarding classes for fourth through sixth grades as a result of the pilot program at the Academy.  It is a very popular class among the students, but, more importantly, the class has enabled more students to effectively utilize technology in their learning.  The technology coach has assisted teachers in incorporating technology in the instruction and Dickson Elementary students have made connections with students from around the world due to the collaboration of teachers with the technology coach.  Every week there are Dickson students learning through web conferencing and the use of technology.  The use of smart boards and the technology coach – piloted at the Academy – have opened up a whole new world of educational experiences for students and teachers.

Like the Academy, Dickson has a 90-minute block of reading for every grade level as well as 90 minutes of math.  Dickson also has a 40-minute Intervention period daily to directly address student needs as indicated by data. We may not have the extended day that allows for some exploration time and/or extracurricular events for Academy students, but Dickson makes great efforts to bring outside programs into the school when possible. We have an annual Career Day as well as guest speakers throughout the year, school-wide projects, educational field trips, a media club, Girls on the Run, and a student leadership group.  All one has to do is visit the Dickson website to see all the valuable programs at our school and experiences we offer the students.

Thus, the Academy may have a few advantages that Dickson Elementary does not -- the foreign language education, swimming, a longer day -- Dickson has in fact benefited from the success of the Academy and has incorporated many ideas piloted at the Academy.  I would go so far to say that the entire district has benefited from the success of the Academy in positive public relations alone.  The Academy is actually an idea that is ahead of the times with its longer school day and longer year.  This is a definite prospect for the future of all USA education judging by the rhetoric of the politicians and our need to compete with the rest of the world. 

More time on task -- daily and yearly – as well as summer and afterschool programs are all supported by research as necessary for the success of students, especially those from low income areas.