Blue Ridge Elementary earns way off lowest achieving schools list

WALLA WALLA - On December 19, State Superintendent Randy Dorn released the names of the lowest achieving schools in the state and Blue Ridge was not included. Last year, Blue Ridge Elementary was on the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's list of low-achieving schools based on federal performance criteria linked to state assessment scores over the past three years.

The list is composed of the five percent of schools receiving or eligible to receive federal Title I funds that are identified as the "persistently lowest achieving schools" in the state. In 2011, 57 schools from 38 districts were identified.

Based on Blue Ridge's inclusion on the lowest achieving schools' list in 2010, Walla Walla Public Schools volunteered to participate in a third-party Academic Performance Review and then developed a school improvement plan in collaboration with staff and the community.

The school improvement plan was designed to better align curriculum, enhance instructional practices, plan focused professional development and promote high levels of family and community involvement. As part of the plan, Blue Ridge also expanded its dual language program and continued an academic program known as "platooning" in which teachers focus on one or two content areas serving multiple grade levels. The school also started kindergarten four weeks earlier than other schools and has an extensive afterschool program focused on the development of mathematics.

Blue Ridge Elementary School's state assessment scores on the Measurement of Student Progress soared following the Spring 2011 testing cycle. Blue Ridge improved its math, reading and writing scores and posted the top scores in 5th grade science in the district. Blue Ridge has more than 90 percent of its students living in poverty and most come to school with English as their second language.

"Blue Ridge staff and students are to be commended for embracing the opportunity for an outside perspective," said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Linda Boggs. "Interestingly, this outside view served to affirm the leader, Kim Doepker, her staff and families were on the right track and had many viable strategies already in place. With that vote of confidence, the staff, with Kim's leadership, continued to work their plan. In two years' time, student achievement has risen."

State Superintendent Dorn explained only four of the 57 schools on this year's list have fewer than 50 percent of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches. "These schools are dealing with very challenging populations. I know we're in the middle of an economic crisis, but the past three years the Legislature has chiseled away at basic education resources. Those schools -- in fact, all schools -- need additional resources."

Schools on the list are identified using a variety of factors, including test scores in reading and math from 2009 to 2011, graduation rates and whether federal Adequate Yearly Progress requirements have been met. For the 2012-13 school year, however, no additional federal school improvement grants to support newly identified schools/districts will be available.

For more information, contact Communications Director Mark Higgins at 509.526.6716 or by email at: mhiggins@wwps.org.