Notice of Adequate Yearly Progress

Please Read: Important Information Affecting Your Child

August 2010

Dear Parent or Guardian,

We would like to make you aware of the choices and resources available to you based on the progress of your child’s school under the guidelines of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

What are the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)?

The PSSA is an annual exam given to Pennsylvania students at various grade levels to measure their academic progress.  The state uses the PSSA to determine whether New Hope Academy Charter School is making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).  AYP is determined by how successful districts and schools are in meeting state goals for attendance, graduation rates, test participation and academic progress. 

To make AYP, a school must meet the state goals for the student body as a whole as well for each subgroup of students.  A subgroup consists of 40 or more students in a school in the following categories:  ethnicity, socio-economic status, Individual Education Plan (IEP) – Special Education, and English Language Learner (ELL) status.  The number of subgroups that a school has determines the number of “targets” that it must meet to make AYP. For the prior 2009-2010 school year, students at New Hope Academy Charter School made remarkable progress in Reading and Mathematics proficiency on 22 of the 25 targets within the preliminary data.  This data is currently under review through the appeals system. 

New Hope Academy Charter School met 92% of AYP targets in 2009.  Below are highlights of reading and mathematics achievements:

                Reading

·         In Grades 6, 7, 8, and 11 the percentage of students scoring at proficient or advanced decreased from 36.7% in 2009 to 34.4% in 2010.  However, using the growth model, our students made AYP overall in both reading and math.  This was an improvement in 2009 over AYP status.

Mathematics

·         In Grades 6, 7, 8, and 11 the percentage of students scoring at proficient or advanced increased from 22.4% in 2009 to 31.5% in 2010.  Using safe harbor our students met AYP overall and in all subgroups with the exception of our IEP student subgroup.

However, based on the performance of some subgroups, New Hope Academy Charter School has been identified in School Improvement II by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).  New Hope Academy Charter School’s PSSA results indicate that the school did not meet the state’s academic achievement targets for the second year in a row, based on 2009-2010 PSSA results. 

Please review the attachment for an explanation of school improvement and more information on how New Hope Academy Charter School compares to other Pennsylvania schools. 

Action Plan for Improving Student Achievement

As a result of an in depth needs assessment, New Hope Academy Charter School has identified the following areas as key strategies for instructional improvement:

• Remedial Programs such as Study Island and Plato will be used in both Math and Reading to improve students’ basic skills.
• Teachers will use data from 4 Sight assessments to align their instruction.
  
  

As outlined in our school improvement plan, the school district and the Pennsylvania Department of Education will be offering New Hope Academy Charter School assistance to implement these strategies by partnering with Pennsylvania Department of Education and IU#12  to revise our Getting Results Plan. 

Explanation of School Choice Option

According to NCLB, New Hope Academy Charter School must offer students the choice to transfer to another school in the district not in School Improvement however New Hope Academy Charter School does not have another school building available to offer the choice to transfer.

How parents and Families Can Help Improve Student Achievement

Parent support is essential to the success of New Hope Academy Charter School.   Communicating with your child’s teachers, making sure your child attends school regularly, helping your child with homework, monitoring your child’s television time, volunteering in the classroom, and participating in school decision-making are important.

The district-wide parent involvement policy will be updated this fall.  If you are interested in providing input for this policy, please call Rachel Cannon, 717.845.4046 ext. 1304.  In addition, New Hope Academy Charter School will have its annual meeting to revise our school parent involvement policy and parent compact and to review parent rights under Title I.  This meeting will be scheduled soon and a notice will be posted on our website.  Please call Rachel Cannon at the phone number above for more information.

The many successes at New Hope Academy Charter School cannot be measured in one test and we appreciate your continued support.  NHACS has shown tremendous growth over the past three years.  We have moved from meeting 8 out of the 14 original AYP targets to meeting 22 out of the 25 targets overall in three years.

We must admit, however, that if ALL of our students are not doing well, we are not as good as we can be.  That is our challenge, our goal and our commitment.  Please continue to work with us to make sure that we achieve success for every student.

Sincerely,

Karen Schoonover, Principal