Globe+Park+Elementary+School+Fall+2013

=Ben Richter=

Globe Park Elementary School Woonsocket, RI =Introduction=

Woonsocket is a city located in northern Rhode Island. The population of the city is just over 41,000 people, making it the sixth largest city in the state. It is a very populated city, however it is not a large city land mass wise. It only consists of a total of 8 square miles, this compares to Providence that consists of 25.5 square miles. The city of Woonsocket borders Massachusetts along with three Rhode Island towns, Cumberland, North Smithfield, and Lincoln. It was incorporated as a town in 1867, then later incorporated as a city in 1888. This context statement is based for people looking to move into Woonsocket with elementary age children. It is especially designed for children that will attend Globe Park.



Globe Park Elementary School is an elementary school in Woonsocket. Globe Park is a school that holds kindergarten through fifth grade. The principal at Globe Park is Rob Desrosiers. There are two kindergarten classrooms and three classrooms for grade one through grade five. In Globe Park Elementary school there are 460 students in a total of 17 classrooms. The school is located at 192 Avenue A in Woonsocket right off Rhode Island 146A in North Smithfield. The school is in a residential area of the city with many families being very local and involved with the school.

=**Community Background**= As a community outlook, Woonsocket is on the lower side of the spectrum financially. The median household income in Woonwocket is $39,329, which is nearly $15,000 less than the median household income in Rhode Island. The median household income in Rhode Island is about $3,000 more than in the United States. All of the incomes in Woonsocket are lower than the Rhode Island and national averages. In Woonsocket nearly 20% of families are below the poverty level, where as in Rhode Island it is just below 9% and in the United States it is 10.5%.
 * || **Woonsocket** || **Rhode Island** || **United State**s ||
 * **Median Household Income** || $39,329 || $55,975 || $52,762 ||
 * **Median Fa**** mily Income ** || $50,095 || $72,724 || $64,293 ||
 * **Per capita Income** || $21,316 || $29,685 || $27,915 ||
 * **All families below Poverty Level** || 18.2% || 8.9% || 10.5% ||
 * **All people below Poverty Level** || 22.2% || 12.8% || 14.3% ||
 * **Percent in Labor Force** || 61.3% || 66.3% || 64.84% ||
 * || Woonsocket || Rhode Island ||
 * White || 74.1% || 81.4% ||
 * Black/African Americans || 12.5% || 5.7% ||
 * Asian || 4.7% || 2.9% ||
 * Hispanic or Latino || 16.1% || 12.4% ||
 * American Indian & Alaska Native || 0.8% || 0.4% ||

Woonsocket is also a very diverse community. The white population in Rhode Island is 81.4% whereas in Woonsocket it is 74.1%. That leaves over 25% of other races in Woonsocket. The other races include, black/African-Americans, Asian, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native. The majority of the other races are the black/African-American at 12.5% of the people in the city and Hispanic or Latino is 16.1%.

In Woonsocket there is a child population of 9,888. Of those 9,888 children 46% live with single-parents. In the state of Rhode Island only 31% of children live with single parent. In Woonsocket a very high number of students in the school systems live with only one parent. In 7% of the households in Rhode Island there are grandparents who are financially responsible for the children.

All of the percentages in the above table show that the in the city of Woonsocket the stats are higher than the average rates in the state of Rhode Island. These are all rates that are considered negative and Woonsocket does not want to have them this much higher than the state average because of the negative influence it can have on the children in Woonsocket and families looking to move into Woonsocket. These statistics are either from 2012 or 2011, showing that these events have been very recent. The child abuse and neglect rate per 1,000 children in Woonsocket is 27.5% whereas in Rhode Island it is 13.9%. That is 13.6% higher than the state average. Child neglect and abuse can result in physical or emotional damage to a child or put the child at risk of harm. The rate of children with incarcerated parents in Woonsocket is 22.5% compared to 11% in Rhode Island, which is 11.5% higher than the Rhode Island average. In Woonsocket, 37% of children were present in a domestic violence incident, which is 8% higher than the state average of 29%.
 * (Stats from 2012) || Woonsocket || Rhode Island ||
 * Child abuse and neglect rate per 1,000 children || 27.5% || 13.9% ||
 * Rate Children with incarcerated parents || 22.5% || 11.0% ||
 * Domestic Violence Incidents with children Present (from 2011) || 37% || 29% ||

=District Summary= The percentage of students that are eligible for subsidized lunches in Woonsocket is much higher than other towns. The subsidized lunch program is a program that gives free or reduced-priced lunch to students who are eligible based on their household income. In the state of Rhode Island 46% of students receive subsidized lunches, in Woonsocket 72% of children receive subsidized lunches. Barrington is a community in Rhode Island that is upper class based on household median income, it has 46% of students on the subsidized lunch plan. West Warwick is a town in Rhode Island that is more comparable to Woonsocket in the middle class, and 50% of their students receive subsidized lunches. A much higher percentage of students receives subsidized lunches in Woonsocket than in other surrounding districts.
 * **Student Characteristics** || **State** || **Woonsocket** || **Barrington** || **West Warwick** ||
 * Student eligibility for subsidized lunch || 46% || 72% || 46% || 50% ||
 * Students Receiving ESL/Bilingual Education Services || 6% || 8% || 6% || 2% ||
 * Students Receiving Special Education Services || 15% || 20% || 12% || 18% ||


 * NECAP Assessments || Rhode Island || Woonsocket || Barrrington || West Warwick ||
 * 3rd Grade Math || 60 || 50 || 78 || 54 ||
 * 3rd Grade Reading || 70 || 56 || 86 || 70 ||
 * 4th Grade Math || 65 || 56 || 85 || 55 ||
 * 4th Grade Reading || 69 || 55 || 91 || 72 ||
 * 4th Grade Science || 45 || 24 || 77 || 38 ||
 * 5th Grade Math || 62 || 54 || 87 || 53 ||
 * 5th Grade Reading || 72 || 60 || 93 || 73 ||
 * 5th Grade Writing || 59 || 46 || 84 || 58 ||



The three districts that are being compared here are Woonsocket, Barrington, and West Warwick. The median family income in Woonsocket is $38,353, in Barrington it is $84,657, and in West Warwick it is $54,119. On the NECAP state assessment third grade students are tested in math and reading. In these two subjects Woonsocket has the lowest scores with a 50 in math and a 56 in reading. In West Warwick, a comparable town to Woonsocket, they received an average of a 54 in math and a 70 in reading. In the town of Barrington, the students heavily outperformed Woonsocket as they received a 78 in math and an 86 in reading. The state averages are a 60 in math and a 70 in reading. When viewing the bar graph below it is clear that there is a general pattern where Barrington scores are the highest, then the Rhode Island state average is above Woonsocket and West Warwick. West Warwick generally performs above Woonsocket.

There are of course a few exceptions to the patterns. In 4th grade math Woonsocket was able to score a point higher than West Warwick, a 56 compared to a 55. Also in 5th grade math Woonsocket scored one point higher than West Warwick with a 54 compared to a 53. Even when the pattern was not followed, Woonsocket would just barely edge out West Warwick, and generally the pattern is followed throughout all of the assessments.

School Analysis

 * **Qualifications and Teacher-student Ratio** || **Rhode Island** || **Globe Park Elementary School** || **Sowams Elementary, Barrington** || **Wakefield Hills, West Warwick** ||
 * Teachers with Emergency Certification || 1% || 2% || 0% || 0% ||
 * Not Highly Qualified Teachers || 3% || 2% || 0% || 0% ||
 * Teacher-Student Ratio || 1:11 || 1:12 || 1:11 || 1:12 ||

Throughout the school analysis, Globe Park Elementary School will be compared to Sowams Elementary in Barrington and Wakefield Hill Elementary in West Warwick. In the state of Rhode Island only 1% of the teachers are emergency certified. At Globe Park Elementary School 2% of the teachers have emergency certification. At both Sowams Elementary and Wakefield Hills there are 0% of teachers with emergency certification. In Rhode Island 3% of the total teachers are not recognized as qualified. Globe Park is less than the state average as 2% of the teachers are not recognized as qualified. At both Sowams and Wakefield Hills have 0% of teachers that are not highly qualified. In Rhode Island the average teacher-student ratio 1:11. At both Globe Park and Wakefield Hills the teacher-student ratio is 1:12. At Sowams the student-teacher ratio is the same as the Rhode Island average at 1:11.





The above table shows a comparison of NECAP scores at different elementary schools throughout Rhode Island. Globe Park Elementary School is a school in Woonsocket. Hampden Meadows is a school in Barrington, that does not have the 3rd grade, and Greenbush is a school in West Warwick that does not have the 5th grade.

As a school, Globe Park Elementary improves in math as the school years progress. The Rhode Island average for 3rd grade is 60, Globe Park scores 8 points below at a 52. In 4th grade the average is 65, at Globe Park they only score a point below at 64. Hampden scores very highly at an 85 and Greenbush scores a 65, more similar to Globe Park and the state average. In the 5th grade the state average is 62, and Globe Park is 5 points higher at 67. Hampden in Barrington has another high score of 85. In 3rd grade reading Globe Park has a score of 62, which is also 8 points lower than th state average of 70. Greenbush has a score closer to the state average at 69. In 4th grade reading Globe Park has a score of 57, well below the state average of 69, Hampden has a score of 91 and Greenbush has a score of 81. In the 5th grade Globe Park does much better with a score of 69, close to thestate average of 72, and Hampden has a score of 93. In the 4th grade science Glove Park has a score of 41 which is 4 points below the state average of 45. Hampden scores 78 and Greenbush has a score of 38. In the 5th grade writing Globe Park scores a 60 which a point higher than the state average of 59, Hampden scored an 84.

Conclusion
Woonsocket is a very diverse city in Rhode Island. It is a city that has its struggles financially and with crime, but it is a very close knit city. Being a close-knit city there is a strong community background. Also, the teachers at Globe Park Elementary really care about their students and are willing to go the extra step for the students. The student-teacher ratio is one student higher than the Rhode Island average but at Globe Park Elementary the teachers are willing to go the extra step for their students. Globe Park is a school that struggles to receive proper resources for their students, but the teachers do the best they can with the resources supplied.

In Woonsocket there are many museums to see or a person can take a canoe trip down the Blackstone. If you walk down Main Street one will find several attractions. There are not many attractions in Woonsocket, but it is located in a great area near many means of transportation. Only two towns over from Providence. Also, it is not far from Boston, about an hour. Other things nearby are Rhode Islands lovely beaches with ferry access to Block Island and Martha's Vineyard. With many surrounding attractions, Woonsocket and Globe Park Elementary are a city and school with potential for a positive experience for students.

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