Pushing Beyond the 20% Barrier

Molly Stark Elementary School has fallen short of its collective potential. We are an under-performing school. Test scores bear this point out.

How can we catch up to where we could be, where we need to be, given the restrictions of time and resources? The school year is similar to every other school throughout the state and country - 6.5 hours for each of 180 days in a school year. Our budget is not likely to rise appreciably within the constraints of the local economy.

Furthermore, when you assume that children sleep for 8 hours a day, out of a calendar year of 365 days (365 x 16 = 5,840 hours) and recognize their time in school (6.5 hours x 180 days = 1,170 hours) you find that children are only in school for 20% (1,170/5,840) of their waking hours. This limits our ability to effect a positive and constructive impact on their pursuit of potential.

Our school has developed and initiated significant changes in our infrastructure (master schedule and space allocations) and staff development (curricular focused PD, issue oriented faculty meetings). Beyond these two vital areas, we have sought to extend our reach and expand our influence without tapping our budget or stretching our work day.

Yesterday capped a lengthy process involving three different entities addressing a perceived need - providing access to books to our learners outside of the school hours. Our school, which provides free and reduced meals to 81% of the children, is located across the street from a public housing project that is home to 13% of our learner population. 

We approached the management of the housing project with the idea of building shelves full of books in their community center in the form of a free lending library. They welcomed the possibility.

Our staff began collecting gently used books. We reached out to the Southern Vermont Career and Development Center and asked if their Buildings and Trades department would be willing to accept the task of constructing bookshelves. They readily accepted after an anonymous benefactor of the school supplied the funds for materials.

All of the participating groups were brought together yesterday morning and started stocking the shelves of the lending library. It was exciting to see the crew of carpenters (headed by their teacher - who grew up in the housing project), together with the superintendent of the CDC,  partner with five of our elementary school learners and the reading teacher who spearheaded the collection of books, and join with the director of the housing project to fill the shelves.

We hope to fill the minds of our learners by increasing their access to literature outside of the school day.