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CONTACTS:
Principal Phil Decker
Swegle Elementary School
4485 Market Street NE
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-399-3191
BACKGROUND
Swegle Elementary School in Northeast Salem had most of the ingredients for school success: innovative ideas, committed staff and parents, and district support for new programs and change. But student achievement slumped. Changes in the school’s population (60 percent minority, 75 percent low income) contributed to Swegle’s sagging achievement scores, but school leaders knew that the root of the problem went deeper.
Time was the missing ingredient that stalled student achievement and frustrated staff at the school. There just wasn’t enough time in the school year for staff to analyze the needs of students and teachers or to take advantage of resources that could address many of those needs.
When students failed for two years to meet state requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP), school staff and families knew that it was time to make time. A Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) grant to the school helped provide the time for a turnaround to success.
IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS
CSR funds allowed Swegle staff to focus on development, teamwork, and new instructional approaches.
“We’re in year three of the three-year grant,” said principal Phil Decker, who arrived at Swegle three years ago. “And we’ve met AYP for the last three years.”
He describes the first year of the grant: “lots of experimentation, lots of kicking up the dust.” He’s said the CSR program allows ideas to percolate up and be tried and adjusted to meet Swegle’s needs.
Topping the successful changes at Swegle is Wahoo Wednesday. (for “Wahoo! School’s out!”) Grant funding allows for early Wednesday dismissal (with added instructional time on other days) for staff development. Staff members put their half-days to work focusing on adoption of a new language arts or math approaches, conducting assessments, or improving school climate. They work in teams to decide what staff development and resources are needed. A team might present staff-development activities to fellow teachers or bring in a local expert.
“With teachers designing staff development programs for themselves,” Decker said, “everyone is involved in improving the school.”
During the second year of the grant, notebooks containing Wednesday activities, schedules, and curriculum maps were created.
Swegle’s strong ties to its community help ensure Wahoo Wednesday’s success. The Boys and Girls Club is next door to the school, so kids have immediate access to homework help and fun activities during their mid-week break.
When Swegle’s teachers needed extra help with the Scott Foresman reading curriculum, CSR funding brought in Nancy Johnson, a professor of English and reading-for-preservice teacher at Western Washington University. She visited the school three times a year for a week at a time to mentor and assist teachers.
Another popular grant-funded innovation is a teacher-exchange program that allows Swegle teachers to have a substitute for two days or four half-days each year so that they can observe other talented teachers in action, at Swegle and in other schools.
PARENT/PARTNER OUTREACH
Steve Chambers, Salem-Keizer School Board chair, believes that involved parents and the school’s neighborhood partners provide the strong foundation that supports academic growth at
Swegle.
“All the programs are wonderful, but if you don’t ‘take it home’, it doesn’t work,” Chambers said. “Phil and his staff have done a good job of engaging parents in the educational process.”
Evening family literacy programs in English and Spanish and a variety of after-school programs for students focus on language and other skills.
THE FUTURE
Swegle students have boosted their achievement scores, but what will happen when CSR grant funding ends this year?
“Of course we’re concerned,” Decker said, “but we’ve clarified our goals and defined our literacy program, and we have a clear strategy for assessment. We’ve built a stronger foundation so we can continue to move forward. We can continue Wahoo Wednesdays — that cornerstone is in place. And we have a more stable staff now that will benefit us. I think people like to stay where there is time for collaboration and teamwork.”
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