Jamestown+Lawn+Avenue+Fall+2013

=JAMESTOWN LAWN AVENUE SCHOOL = A context statement by Matt Rafanelli



INTRODUCTION Jamestown Lawn Avenue School is located on Jamestown Rhode Island, where it serves as the town’s middle school for grades 5-8. Lawn Avenue School strives to enrich their student’s academics while also nursing a strong respect for the community. Jamestown Lawn Avenue’s current principal is Mrs. Deb Dibiase while the districts superintendent is Mrs. Marcia Lukon. Jamestown Lawn Avenue school’s address is 55 Lawn Avenue, Jamestown, Rhode Island, 02835.



BACKGROUND Jamestown is a small island community located in Narragansett Bay and is located just over the bridge from Newport. Jamestown also has an elementary school located just down the road from Lawn Avenue school on Melrose Avenue. Due to the small population on the island, the children of Jamestown attend North Kingstown High School in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The Jamestown School district currently holds a median household income of $77,990 compared to Rhode Island's $55,273. Also, Jamestown has a much higher per capita income (about $44,281) compared to Rhode Island’s per capita income of $28,638. In Jamestown, there are very few families classified as being below the poverty line (about 4.0%). Comparatively, Rhode Island has a poverty rate of about 8.1% while the average for The United States is about 9.9%.  Jamestown Beavertail Lighthouse  Downtown Jamestown

DISTRICT SUMMARY The New England Assessment Program (or NECAP) is a common assessment test that is given yearly to students in the Rhode Island for grades 3,4,5, and 8 for the subjects science, math, writing, and reading. The Jamestown School District consistently receives high scores on the NECAPS from their students every year. Jamestown's NECAP results held a significantly higher proficiency than the Rhode Island average in every subject that they were tested in. Jamestown's fourth graders scored a 77% proficiency in math while the Rhode Island average is only 65%. The fourth graders scored 82in reading while the state average was at 69%. Lastly, Jamestown's 4th graders scored a 71% proficiency in science while Rhode Islands average was at a 45% proficiency rate. The older students also scored significantly higher in all subjects that they were tested in. All 8th graders across the state were also tested in math, reading, writing, and science. Jamestown scored a math proficiency of 82% which was a significantly higher score than the states proficiency rate of 58%. Jamestown's score for reading was 93%, their writing score was 94%, and finally they scored 47% proficiency in science. The Rhode Island averages for eighth graders were a 58% proficiency score in math, 77% proficiency in reading, 65% proficiency in writing, and 27% proficiency in science.

Jamestown Lawn Avenue School NECAP Results  SCHOOL ANALYSIS <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Perhaps the only true way to understand the success of a school is to compare it to a school of similar demographics. For this purpose, Barrington Middle School should suffice as a peer. Barrington has many similarities in respect to Jamestown Lawn Avenue School. Both schools share similar student characteristics and teacher qualifications as seen in the following

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Jamestown middle schools <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> Barrington Middle School <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Jamestown Lawn Avenue NECAP Results <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Barrington Middle School NECAP Results <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">As you can see from the above graphs, Barrington and Jamestown share very similar results on the NECAP assessment for grades 6-8. Both schools score significantly higher than the state average in every category. While Barrington scores a few percentages better than Jamestown in all of the 6th graders NECAPS, in 7th grade the two seem to score more similar and finally in 8th grade, Jamestown outperforms Barrington in every subject the students are tested. Both schools are very good schools academically, and on average they share very similar statistics both academically and demographically. Both schools do an exceptional job preparing their students with the necessary tools needed in order to exceed in high school.

CONCLUSION <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Jamestown Lawn avenue school is an exceptional school for any parent to consider for their children. They generate exceptional results on the NECAP and have a very individualized approach to teaching their students due to smaller class sizes. Jamestown Lawn avenue school prepares their students very well for high school. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 1.5;">Jamestown schools continuously prove themselves not only against the state averages, but often out performs most of the schools in the state.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 170%; line-height: 1.5;">REFERENCES Infoworks. (2012-2013). Retrieved from http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/school/lawn-avenue-school Jamestown lawn avenue school. (2012-2013) retrieved from http://www.jamestownri.com/school/lawnave.htm RI kids count. (2012-2013). Retrieved from http;//www.rikidscount.org