Pilgrim+High+School+Fall+2012

Pilgrim High School Steve Connors



111 Pilgrim Parkway Warwick, Rhode Island

Pilgrim High School, founded in 1962, is one of three public 9-12th grade secondary schools located in Warwick, Rhode Island. All three schools are very similar in size, with each having a total enrollment of just over a thousand students. The Pilgrim High School Mascot is a Patriot, with the school's primary colors being black and gold. Pilgrim High's rivals include Warwick Vet and Toll Gates, both Rhode Island public schools. The principal of Pilgrim High School is Marie Cote.

__Pilgrim High School Vision Statement __ "Our vision is to create a school community that collaborates in the best interest for our students, empowering faculty, students and parents to perform at the highest  levels of achievement. Our school will have a culture of high expectations and  rigorous standards where we will encourage students to become increasingly  responsible for directing their personal and collective learning. The leadership team  of Pilgrim High School will provide a clear vision of the goals and the necessary  resources for students, faculty and staff to achieve them. Pilgrim High School will  be an environment offering all students multiple opportunities for differentiated  instruction and assessment, driven by a curriculum supporting the school’s mission.  Communication among teachers, guidance and parents, who will take an active role  in their children’s education, will be timely and consistent. Every student who graduates from Pilgrim will have the ability and confidence to make choices, meet difficult challenges and be of service to the community." __Social Expectation __ A Pilgrim High School student will be a respectful, ethical and self-disciplined individual who is able to work independently and cooperatively. __Civic Expectations __
 * Pilgrim High School students demonstrate the ability to be contributing members of their community.
 * Pilgrim High School students demonstrate a respect for diversity in their school and community.
 * Pilgrim High School students explore and develop life skills and career goals through school programs and community involvement.



Community Background

 The town of Warwick is not a very diverse community, as almost 93% of it citizens are white. That's higher than both the white population of Rhode Island (81.4%), and the entire US (72.4%). Both the median household income and median family income are also above Rhode Islands' average as well as the US. The families and total people below the poverty level are both well below the Rhode Island average, and less than half of that of the National average. Children living in Warwick families below the federal poverty threshold make up 8.1% of the total population, less than half of Rhode Islands rate of 16.7%. Thirteen percent of Warwick students participate in the food stamp program, much lower than the 36% of total students in the state of Rhode Island. With a high school graduation rate of 82%, Warwick is surprisingly just below both Rhode Island's (83.7%) and the National rate of 85%. Below is a breakdown of the Pilgrim High School student body :



District Summary

In general, Pilgrim High Schools NECAP scores were about the same as the state average. Pilgrim High School students were less proficient than the state average on the math, science, and writing portions of the test, but did achieve higher overall scores on the Reading section of the test. The percentage of teachers who were not considered highly qualified for the 2011-2012 school year was three, only one percent more than the statewide average. The teacher student ratio was however lower than Rhode Islands' average, 1:10 compared to 1:11. Twenty percent of Pilgrim students receive special education services, which is a little higher than the sixteen percent of all Rhode Island high school students, which shouldn't come as a surprise, as Pilgrim High School is known locally for its special education services. As the chart below displays, Pilgrim High School Students performed very similar on the 2011-2012 11th grade NECAP assessment when compared to Rhode Island students as a whole.



The attendance rate of Warwick public high schools was the exact same as the state average of 92%. In fact, the attendance rate of all the Warwick public school's was also equal to Rhode Islands' average of 94%. In 2011, Warwick high schools had a higher graduation rate as well as a lower drop-out rate when compared to the statewide average. A lesser percentage of senior Pilgrim students received their GED or were still in school in comparison to all Rhode Island seniors. The higher graduation rate at Warwick high schools is most likely the contributing factor to less Warwick students still trying to attain a degree after four years of schooling.





School Analysis

The students of Pilgrim High School scored within ten points of the statewide average on all three subjects of the SAT exams. They scored above the average on the reading portion of the test, and just below the average Rhode Island student's mathematics and writing score. Out of 94 Pilgrim High School students to take AP exams, 44 achieved scores rated as college-level mastery. However, because some students took the exam more than once, the percentage of students who scored at college-level mastery was only twenty eight, much less than the statewide average of fifty eight percent. The teacher to student ratio at Pilgrim High is 1:10, the exact same as the district as a whole. All three public high schools in Warwick have an enrollment of right around 1000 students, so it is not surprising Pilgrim High's teaching statistics mirror those of the rest of the district.



The overall attendance rate at Pilgrim High School almost mirrored that of the state's average, as it was just one percent lower than Rhode Island's 92% attendance rate. Interestingly, the chronic absenteeism at Pilgrim High was 26%, well above the statewide average of 18%. Apparently the students who did skip school made a hobby out of it. Pilgrim High School's graduation rate is right above Rhode Island's target, and their drop out rate is about one percent less than the state target. In the case of Pilgrim High School's 2011 graduating class, the percentage of those students whom either received their GED or are still in school are both below the start target, as well as the total number students who graduated in five years. The graphs below display information pertaining to the 2010-2011 graduating class.





<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 250%; text-align: center;">Conclusion

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Despite the fact that Pilgrim High School has a higher graduation rate and lower drop out rate than the state target, I believe the student body is overall underachieving when you take into account the economic situations of most Warwick families, and how much money Rhode Island is spending on every student. I know that is a brash statement to make, especially by someone who had no prior knowledge of the district and its schools, but the facts don't lie. The median household income, median family income, and per capita income of the average Warwick family is well above that of both the average Rhode Islander and U.S. citizen. 4.5% of Warwick families live below the poverty level, compared to 8.4% of Rhode Island families and 10.1% of all U.S. families. 7.6% of Warwick citizens live below the poverty level, which is well below both the Rhode Island average of 12.2% and the national average of 13.8%. According to the Rhode Island government website, the state's per pupil expenditure is $15,939. The city of Central Falls, whose median family income is less than half of Warwick's, has a per-pupil expenditure of $14,347. Rhode island is spending over $1500 more on Warwick students who come from affluent backgrounds versus the students of Central Falls, who need all the financial assistance they can get. Between the state spending on students and the wealthy background of the community, one would think the students of Warwick public schools would be much more successful than most other communities in the state. In reality, both Pilgrim High School's graduation rate of 79.5% and the district of Warwick's graduation rate are below Rhode Island's rate of 83.7%, and the national average of 85%.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 170%;">__References__

InfoWorks Live: []

U.S. 2010 Census: www.census.gov

RI Kids Count: www.rikidscount.org//matriarch/default.asp

Pilgrim High School Website: http://www.pilgrimhs.org/

Warwick Public Schools: http://www.warwickschools.org/pilgrim/default.htm

The purpose of the context statement in EDC 102 is to provide each student with an opportunity to demonstrate his or her ability to research a school, its district, and its community in order to better understand its strengths and challenges. Each report should describe their school based solely on evidence that they cite in their Reference section. As a peer editor, your tasks are:
 * Author: (Person who wrote report.) ** ** Editor: Dan Murray **
 * Read author's report.
 * Carefully **evaluate** report by assigning a score for each criterion
 * provide **constructive comments** that will help the strengthen the author's report for each category.
 * Create a link to your evaluation at the end of the report.

Introduction = 5/ 5 pts.
Constructive comments about report's introduction: Excellent set up for what the reader was going to be presented with in the project.
 * 5 - Intro provides an overview of the upcoming analysis, including what school/district/community is being analyzed, what aspects are being analyzed, and who the report is intended to inform. || 4 - Intro names the school/district/community and previews the scope of the report, but does not describe who the report is intended to inform. || 3 - Intro names the school/district/community but not much else. || 2 - Intro fails to name the school, district, and community. || 0 - No introduction section is apparent. ||

Organization = 5/ 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization: The project was organized in a very comprehensive manner.
 * 5 - Report includes an Introduction, a Conclusion, and sections for the School, District, and Community. Within each section, paragraphs logically group the information presented. || 4 - Report includes all of the sections mentioned previously, but does not break down information into paragraphs within each section. || 3 - Report is missing one of the sections. || 2 - Report is missing more than one section. || 0 - Report does not include any sections. ||

Mechanics = 4/ 5 pts.
and There are extremely few typos and misspelled words in the report. || 4 - Most information is cited using APA style. and/or There are a noticeable number of typos or misspellings. || 3 - Some citations in the References section are not in APA style, e.g. URLs are listed without the title of the website. and/or There are many typos, misspellings, or other writing errors. || 2 - Most of the report's information is not cited, or APA style was not used. || 0 - Report does not include a Reference section. || Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization: No in text citations, strong mechanics otherwise.
 * 5 - All information in the report is cited using APA styled- citations after the information and in a Reference section at the end of the report.

Conclusion = 4/ 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about conclusion:
 * 5 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community and describes why findings should be important to reader. || 4 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community. || 3 - Conclusion does not refer back to report findings. || 0 - No conclusion section is apparent. ||

Creativity = 5/ 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about presentation: Very creative diagrams and pictures. Fun to read.
 * 5 - Report is written in an engaging style. || 4 - Report has some interesting sections. || 3 - Report generally reports information without seemingly without purpose. ||

Thoroughness = 10/10 pts
compares each figure with another relevant figure (e.g. state or national average) and states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards. || 4 - Report includes at least eight different facts in each section and compares most figures with relevant values and states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards. || 3 - Report includes at least six different facts in each section and compares some of the figures to other relevant figures || 2 - Report includes at least four different facts in each section and compares some of the figures to other relevant figures. || 0 - Report includes less than four different facts for any section or fails to compare any figures with other relevant figures. || Very Thorough presentation, covered everything in a comprehensive, easy to read manner. **Overall: 33/35**
 * 5 - Report includes at least ten different facts in each section (school, community, district) and