To:

Members, Board of Education

From:

Eric J. Becoats, Ed.D., Co-Interim Superintendent
Sharon Ozment, Co-Interim Superintendent

Date:

March 14, 2008

RE:

Update on Guilford Newcomers School

The information contained in this memo provides a synopsis of how the Newcomers School is handling high school course credit, scheduling, and the impending transition of our students to their base schools next year. 

High School Credit: 
Our students are receiving high school credit for courses they are taking here.  This does count as their first year in high school.  Students will leave here with 5 credits. Following is a breakdown of credits they will receive:

• 1 Math Credit: All students will leave with 1 math credit.  33 students are in algebra 1, 4 are in algebra 2, and the remaining students are taking Tech Math 1. 
• 1 English 9 or 1 Elective Reading Credit:  Students taking English 9 have to pass the EOC or the alternate assessment (NCCLAS).  The standard for passing even the alternate assessment is high.  Our students not only have low English proficiency, they also have large academic gaps, and many can’t read in their native language.  Some students are in English 9.  The remaining are taking a reading course offering as an elective credit in order to give them more of a foundation for success in English 9 next year.
• 2 ESL Credits: One course offers basic language instruction, the other offers English instruction through Science and Social Studies.  These content ESL classes are meant to provide academic language to help students be successful next year in main content courses.
•  1 Elective Credit: Our elective period offers classes in PE, Art 1, guided studies computers, and Success 101.  25 students are in PE, 21 in Art 1, 19 in computers, 40 in success 101, and the rest take an extra reading course to overcome their large academic gaps.

Transition Plan- A team from the Newcomers School met with representatives from receiving high schools, Samarra Johnson, and Debra Barham on February 4th.  We discussed our current course offerings, philosophy of providing a basic linguistic foundation before placing students into high level content courses until they are ready, and I shared a list of students returning to the base schools next year.  No schools raised concerns at that time.  We developed a plan for receiving schools to send representatives to the Newcomers school to meet with our counselor, an ESL teacher and each student to develop a plan for graduation based on the needs of that student and the schedule/courses offered at the receiving school.  Our long term goal has always been for students to graduate.  Those transition meetings are currently taking place.

Plans for Next Year- Our plan for high school is to move to block schedule  which would enable us to offer 2 math credits, provide extra support in the first semester in hopes of raising the number of students taking English 9 second semester, and hiring a science or social studies teacher to offer one more content area credit.  This would have students earning 8 credits: 2 math, 1 science or social studies, 1 English 9 (for those who are ready or 1 reading elective for those who are not) and 4 ESL.  This provides a good middle ground for offering the linguistic foundation students need as well as meaningful content credits that will enable students to graduate on time.  The big question lies in whether our students are ready for EOC level courses.  They only have 2 years of eligibility to take NCCLAS, however if they are not at a certain level of proficiency in English then we need to limit the number of EOC courses they take until they have a better language foundation.  The proposal mentioned above provides a good balance.   

Attachment - Presentation