Burrillville+High+School


 * Burrillville High School**

**Introduction** Burrillville is a rural town located in the northern part of Rhode Island with a population of 16,480 people; its high school is located in Harrisville RI. Its total child population is 4,043 and out of those children 18% live with a single parent. This 18% is under the state wide average of about 30%. The Burrillville High School has a total of 869 students and a total of 55 teachers. Burrillville High School participates in a variety of sports from hockey too lacrosse. They have both DI football and baseball teams that have recently won championships for their respective divisions. In this overview of Burrillville High School I will attempt to show the pros and cons of this rural school district.

With a total population of 16,480 people Burrillville can be considered a rural community. The community is not diverse and it is reflected within the school. With only 12 children of Hispanic origin, 2 kids of Asian decent and 6 children of African American descent the lack of diversity within the school reflects the lack of diversity in the community. The median household income for Burrillville is $52,587; this is above the nation average of $41,994. Burrillville is above the national income in most categorizes leading to only 3.7% families under the poverty level compared to the nation average of 9.2%.

When it comes to looking at the wellbeing of any community it is important to look at the overall health of the area. In Burrillville 925 of its residents under the age of 19 is receiving medical assistance making up about 1% of the total residents under 19 receiving medical assistance in Rhode Island. Even with the medical advancements of today infant mortality is still present throughout the world. In Burrillville out of 1,000 births 1.3 infants die, this is low compared to the national average of 6.3. When looking at Burrillville’s overall standing as a community we can see that it is above average in most aspects.
 * Community Backround **

Just because Burrillville is above average in most categorizes that I stated above it would be prudent to consider the housing situation before relocation. Burrillville has a surplus of 262 available houses with a total of 5,821 units. From living around Burrillville my entire life it is my experience that if more housing units were needed it could easily be accomplished. Burrillville is a rural community and most areas are sparsely populated. With a population increase of 4.2% since 2000, and an exceptional standard of living Burrillville can only continue to grow in population.

A total of 2,571 students are in the Burrillville School District taught by 224 teaching, making a ratio of 11.5 student to every teacher. The District manages a total of 5 schools taking in a total revenue of $29,535,000, with an expenditure of $28,518,000. Average RI School Districts manage a total of 7 schools and make a revenue of $44,126,000 and an expenditure of $43,899,000. Burrillville receives $11,583 per student and spends a total of $11,166 to educate each child; compared to other RI School Districts Burrillville charges/spends less money to educate each student. This could be due to the fact that the Burrillville School District teaches 828 less students on average than comparable districts. Fewer students comes with many advantages, smaller class sizes, more teacher involvement and reduced costs on heating, supplies, and employee salaries. This could help to explain why the Burrillville School District graduates 85% of its students compared to the average of 77%. Just like all Rhode Island Districts Burrillville supplies free and reduced lunch. 9% of students are eligible for free lunch compared to the RI average of 20%. In the Burrillville School District 5% of students are eligible for reduced lunch, this 5% is the same as the state average.
 * District Summary **

When judging the quality of education in any school district SAT scores always seem to stand out. In each category Burrillville is above the average. In mathematics the average score is 508 compared too 489, the verbal scores are 495 too 483 and the writing results are 491 too 478. Looking at Burrillville’s district reports you can see that most students show proficiency in the categorizes of math, reading and writing.   ** School Analysis **  //“The Mission of the Burrillville Public School System is to provide high quality education to all students in a secure, nurturing environment in which all are challenged to reach full potential as life-long learners, responsible citizens and contributing members of society, recognizing its role as the education center of our unique and evolving community.”//
 * School District: ||  ||
 * School District Name |||| [|Burrillville School District] ||  ||
 * This School's Agency |||| (RI) District Average ||  ||   ||   || ||
 * Number of Schools Managed 5 7 ||  || || ||
 * Number of Students Managed || 2,554 students || //3,382 students// ||
 * District Total Revenue || $29,583,000 || //$44,126,000// ||
 * District Expenditure || $28,518,000 || //$43,899,000// ||
 * District Revenue / Student || $11,583 || //$13,047// ||
 * District Expenditure / Student || $11,166 || //$12,980// ||
 * District Graduation Rates || 85% || //77%// ||  || ||

Burrillville High School enrolls a total of 869 students and employs 86 teachers, a ratio of about 10:1. The principle Mr. Ralph Olsen does his best to adhere to the challenging mission statement above. From 2006-2007 the 11th graders in Burrillville High School SAT scores were above the state average. 508 compared too 489 in Mathematics, 495 too 483 in Verbal and 491 too 478 in Writing. In Performance Progresses taken in Mathematics and English Language Arts from 2004-2007 Burrillville High School preformed above the average in proficiency. In Math: 2004-2005 ( 66 Burr.- 45 State), 2005-2006 (50 Burr. – 42 State), 2006-2007 (55 Burr. – 43 State). In English: 2004-2005 ( 63 Burr. -52 State), 2005-2006 ( 60 Burr. – 54 State), 2006-2007 ( 65 Burr. - 53 State).

Even with these promising scores in the progress reports the NECAP scores tell a different story. Burrillville scored 20% proficiency in math, 64% proficiency in reading and a 28% proficiency in writing. Barrington, the top performing school, scored 63%, 90% and 60% in their respective categorizes. Similar problems are seen when you look at the SALT surveys. Parental Involvement is about 5% lower than average for RI schools, and Instruction is about 3% lower than comparable schools. Also the dropout rate for Burrillville High School is 2% higher than the RI average of 11%. These trends could be due to the lack of parental involvement at home or an lack of teacher involvement. Only 38% of teachers said they weekly examine students work to guide instruction. While plans to implement parental involvement only take place once a year. These deficiencies are not due to a lack of certification, 54 teachers have Bachelors Degrees, 50 have their Masters and 4 have a 6th year certificate.

A truly disturbing fact is that the rate of suspensions in the high school (per 100 students) is 81.6% (55.8% RI). To better comprehend this surprisingly high rate of suspensions I looked at the report, Safe and Supportive Schools: Students Point of View. When the question was asked, if students were robbed one or more times in school, 30% percent said yes. Another question that was posed, if students had tried to sell them drugs in school, 25% said yes. These number coincide with teacher responses about student behavior; teachers gave a dissatisfied rating concerning student behavior.

From looking at all the pertinent information concerning Burrillville High School I have come to the decision that it is an above average school and community. In my personal opinion students within the school seem to be suffering some behavioral problems. I think this can be cured from more family and teacher contribution. But the overall community atmosphere within Burrillville seems to be very appealing to raising a family there. In my opinion the small class sizes and above average test scores makes Burrillville High School an above average school to attend.
 * Conclusion ** ​

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 * References **

2. [|http://factfinder.census.gov]

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