Mount+Pleasant+High+School+Fall+Fall+2014

Prisca Yangambi

Providence, RI 02908


 Introduction To the parents who are looking into this high school, Mount Pleasant High School is a pubic high school in Providence, Rhode Island.This high school was built in 1938 and since then has been preparing students academically and socially.Mount Pleasant is surrounded by various athletic fields all around the school and offers other programs as well as athletics. Mount offers regular education, Special education, English Language Arts, Newcomer, Advanced and CTE programs. They have a mission statement of "Our purpose is to prepare all students for colleges, universities and their chosen professions by engaging them in a personalized 21st century education." Mount Pleasant just wants to be a model for urban school reforms. It is one of 12 high schools in the Providence school district.The capital of Rhode Island; Providence has 25 official neighborhoods, these neighborhoods are grouped together and are separated my roads and highways.

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 Community Background Since we are talking about the community we must understand the city of Providence itself. Providence is said to be the third largest city in the New England region. Providence has a city population of 177,994 with 162,389 households, and 35,859 families. Providence is a very compact area. The city has a total area of 20.5 square miles, 18.5 square miles is consumed of land while 2 square miles is consumed by water. Now lets look at things from a closer and more specific look.

This table represents The Income/ Poverty comparing Providence to Rhode Island and The U.S. Providence is not wealthy compared to Rhode Island and The U.S overall. This shows that Providence is a city of lower income where some families struggle to get by; just look at the 27.90% of people below the poverty level. It is difficult to raise a family in these poor circumstances which may affect the childs' behavior.
 * Income/Poverty |||||| Year Data Collected '08-'12 ||
 * ||  || Providence || Rhode Island || US ||
 * Median Household Income || $38,243 || $56,102 || 53,046 ||
 * Median Family Income || $43,378 || $72,872 || $64,585 ||
 * Per Capita Income || $21,512 || $30,005 || $28,051 ||
 * All Families Below Poverty Level || 23.50% || 9.20% || 10.90% ||
 * All People Blow the Poverty Level || 27.90% || 13.20% || 14.90% ||

They are a lot of different races in Providence.
 * Race/ Ethnicity |||||| Year Data Collected '10 ||
 * ||  || Providence || Rhode Island || US ||
 * White ||  || 49.80% || 81.40% || 72.40% ||
 * Black/ African Americans || 16% || 5.70% || 12.60% ||
 * Asian ||  || 6.40% || 2.90% || 4.80% ||
 * Hispanic or Latino || 38.10% || 12.40% || 16.30% ||
 * American Indian and Alaska Native || 1.40% || 0.60% || 0.90% ||

In Providence there is high percentage of White people in the population. With Hispanic/Latino being the second highest population it is even higher that the Rhode Island and US percentages such as the population of Blacks/ African Americans. The only population that is close to the Rhode Island and US population is the American Indian, which is still higher than Rhode Island and US. It seems like compared to Rhode Island and the U.S, Providence is diverse because it has higher percentages in all racial categories than Rhode Island and US.

Lets look at the Health now Providence has a high teen birth rate compared to Rhode Island. Women having kids before they graduate high school percentage is 27% compared to Rhode Island's 15%. The health of Providence with women and their pregnancies isn't good for the community. We have to factor in the fact that if you come from a low income family a student will not have the money to take care of herself the way she should and she might have to get a job to support herself. If a students has to work to get by then school may not be an option because their might not be enough time in the students schedule to get an education.Explaining why the infant birth rates might be high compared to Rhode Island ( 9.10% vs. 7.80%) Speaking of Education lets look into those statistics. Providence has a good graduation rate compared to Rhode Island's 80%. Providence also has a low percentage of 11th grades above the math proficiency and a high suspension rate. If these students live in a urban areas and live in poverty they might have a low self esteem thus causing themselves to believe that their is no point in trying in school because they will not get anywhere in their life. Why not act out in school especially if you don't believe you need it. Students should be motivated to excel in school, not acting out or getting suspended because there is nothing better to do in classes.
 * Health |||| Year Data Collected '13 ||
 * || Providence || Rhode Island ||
 * Teen Birth Rate || 34.60% || 23.30% ||
 * Births to mothers with less than a high school diploma || 27.00% || 15% ||
 * Women with delay prenatal care || 19.20% || 13.70% ||
 * Infant born with low birthweight || 9.10% || 7.80% ||
 * Newborn infants exclusively breastfed || 53% || 62% ||
 * Education |||| Year Data Collected '13 ||
 * || Providence || Rhode Island ||
 * Children Enroled in Headstart || 641 || 2040 ||
 * 11th grade at or above math proficiency || 14% || 36% ||
 * Students who are English Language Learners || 21% || 7% ||
 * Suspension Rate || 35% || 23% ||
 * High School Graduation Rate || 71% || 80% ||

 District Summary Lets look at the District Summary. These are all comparisons from Providence, Barrington, Central Falls and Rhode Island. Providence has an extremely high percentage of students eligibility for subsidized lunch which possibly has to do with the income of the family. A high level of ESL in Providence has to do with the high racial diversity of the place thus meaning that most of the people who make up the population were not born in the US. As far as the Students Receiving Special Education Providence has around the same percentages as the State and Barrington.
 * Student Characteristics’ || State || Providence || Barrington || Central Falls ||
 * Student Eligibility for subsidized Lunch || 47% || 80% || 6% || 81% ||
 * Students Receiving ESL/Bilingual Educational Services || 6% || 20% || 1% || 17% ||
 * Students Receiving Special Education || 15% || 16% || 11% || 20% ||

The Attendance is Important in schools.
 * Attendance || State || Providence || Barrington || Central Falls ||
 * Attendance Rate (Elementary Schools) || 95% || 93% || 96% || 93% ||
 * Attendance Rate (Middle Schools) || 94% || 92% || 96% || 92% ||
 * Attendance Rate (High Schools) || 92% || 87% || 95% || 88% ||
 * Attendance Rate (All Schools) || 94% || 91% || 96% || 92% ||
 * Chronic Absenteeism || 24% || 42% || 7% || 40% ||

The attendance rate K-12 was in a good high percentages throughout all the grades. When it gets to high school the percentages start to drop a little bit. For the most part the attendance is high in all 4 districts which is really good. Due to the attendance a person would think that the graduation rate would be high because every student is going to school right?

The percent graduation rate is not bad compared to Rhode Island and Central Falls. The Drop out percentage ties with Central Falls but is not a good percentage it is extremely high compared to Barrington's (1.60%). These percentages go back to the mindset of some of these students who do not want to try because they do not believe that school can benefit their lives. The GED rate is at an average between the 4 districts but the percentage still in school is at its highest in the Providence district.
 * Four Year Graduation Rate || State || Providence || Barrington || Central Falls ||
 * Percent Graduated || 79.70% || 71.40% || 95.30% || 73.70% ||
 * Percent Dropped || 9.10% || 15% || 1.60% || 15% ||
 * Percent Received GED || 2.90% || 2.20% || 0.40% || 1.90% ||
 * Percent still in school || 8.30% || 11.40% || 2.70% || 9.40% ||

The number of suspension is high in Rhode Island and Providence but you can't really expect anything else because Providence is a urban district where kids are not motivated to do good in school so getting suspended doesn't phase these kids especially if they are in school because they have to be. Even though Providence has lower rates than Rhode Island it is still fairly high because Providence is just one district with these high numbers compared to the whole state of Rhode Island which should have high numbers.
 * Incidents of Suspension || State || Providence ||
 * Number of Incidents (Elementary Schools) || 2815 || 1302 ||
 * Number of Incidents (Middle Schools) || 11537 || 5131 ||
 * Number of Incidents (High School) || 17944 || 1879 ||

 School Analysis  In comparison to Rhode Island, Barrington High School, and Central High School, Mount Pleasant High School has the highest percentages in all three categories above. Because of the poverty rate in the Providence district is the percentage rates are higher for students eligible for subsidized lunch. Barrington is not in a district that struggles with poverty so it makes sense that they would have 6% of students eligible for subsidized lunch.
 * Student Chararcteristics || State || Mount Pleasant High School || Barrington High School || Central Falls High School ||
 * Student Eligibility for Subsidized Lunch || 47% || 74% || 6% || 72% ||
 * Students Receiving ESL/Bilingual Education Services || 6% || 23% || 1% || 15% ||
 * Students Receiving Special Education Services || 15% || 28% || 11% || 25% ||

57% of students graduate at Mount Pleasant withing 4 years. Mount pleasant students, most of them, are not motivated to excel in school therefore which explains the 26% drop out rate. Mount Pleasant has a 2.80% rate of receiving their GED because it is easier to drop out and get your GED than staying in school all four years.
 * Four Year Graduation Rate || State || Mount Pleasant High School || Barrington High School || Central Falls High School ||
 * Percent Graduated Within 4 Years || 79.70% || 57.40% || 95.60% || 73.80% ||
 * Percent dropped out || 9.10% || 25.70% || 1.20% || 14.80% ||
 * Percent received GED || 2.90% || 2.80% || 0.40% || 1.90% ||
 * Percent still in School || 8.30% || 14.10% || 2.80% || 9.50% ||



The number of incidents of High School in Mount Pleasant is the highest compared to Barrington and Central Falls High School. Mount Pleasant is in a low income community and with low income communities there is always behavioral problems. Mount Pleasant and Providence had the lowest percentages and numbers of all mostly all these categories.

Conclusion Mount Pleasant is a school that under all sorts of unfortunate circumstances is still school trying to excel in their academics.They might not have the best motivated children and they might not be in the best district but they still want the best for their students. Mount Pleasant is a school that wants to help students move on with their lives and go on to graduate and attend college, not all of them do, but the ones who do make them proud. Being apart of a bad community doesn't make you a bad student. Mount Pleasant is a school where students don't feel academic insecurities because teachers will accommodate to a child's needs. Having your child build long lasting friendships and teachers who genuinely care for their students is what you will get by sending your child to Mount Pleasant.

References

RI Kids Count. (2012-2013). Retrieved from []

United States Census Bureau. (2010). Retrieved from []

Votta, P. (2013). Info works! Rhode Island Education Data Reporting. Retrieved from []

Providence, Rhode Island (2014) Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providence,_Rhode_Island

Providence Public School District (2014) Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/rhode-island/districts/providence-public-school-district