Still scratching my head!!!

So, I cannot let go of the fact that John B. Kelly Elementary School has lost 6th grade to Mastery Charter School at Pickett, a few blocks away. For the last seven years, John B. Kelly has been a K-6th grade school. Using the district and nation's own provincial measures for academic success, scores, we've managed to raise those from 5th to 6th grade every year that the 6th grade teaching team has been a team; 6 of the 7 years.

The School District of Philadelphia decided that Kelly should be a K-5th grade school and that Mastery at Pickett should take over the 6th grade in their building, beginning September, 2013. I even commented about it while being interviewed for a response to Philly's financial crisis in the Huffington Post.

To end my umpteenth rant about this, here are a couple of pictures. I'll let them speak for themselves.

Perhaps if John B. Kelly doesn't make it this year, we'll get our 6th grade back, since 2 years of no AYP seems to be the prerequisite for expanding. Or maybe we'll do what Universal did at Vare, bring in a grade to teach that is against our "license agreement"; which the CFO admitted to at a recent SRC meeting when Feather Houstoun questioned him....I'm just saying. But wait, didn't they still acquire Alcorn Elementary? Hmm

6th Grade at John B. Kelly Elementary School

John B. Kelly Elementary has had 6th grade classes for seven years.

Each year that this teaching team has had 6th grade (6 of the 7 years), we've managed to maintain the highest of academic and behavioral standards. We've managed to build rapports with our students that remain to this day. We've also managed to tackle the minimal criteria for academic performance, PSSA test scores. Scores do not measure all that a child has learned, the reason for my use of the term "minimal".

Using that minimal standard for academic progress, the standard that the district and others use, we've managed to increase the students' proficiency in reading and math every single year that we've been a team! Some years the increase reflected single digit percentage point increase and other years reflected double digit percentage point increases, but ALL were increases!

From 5th grade to 6th grade, the students' percentage points as a whole class increased each year in both reading and math! In what may be the final year of 6th grade at J.B. Kelly, the preliminary results show us going out with a (((BANG)))!!

34% of the students were proficient/advanced in reading for 5th grade to 51% in 6th grade
36% of the students were proficient/advanced in math for 5th grade to 65% in 6th grade
Note: it was the same group of children from 5th to 6th, PLUS a few from private and charter schools


The result: Mastery Charter School at Pickett, a few blocks away, will now become a 6th - 12th grade charter school and John B. Kelly Elementary School will now be a K-5th grade elementary school.

Why?