Huntington Herald

Administrators thanked for leading schools to success

Written by Kate Czaplinski, Herald Editor
Friday, 03 February 2012 16:16

Staff and administrators of Perry Hill and Sunnyside schools were recognized by the Board of Education last Wednesday for work that earned each school a top ranking by education advocacy group Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN).

Based on Connecticut Mastery Test data, ConnCAN ranked Perry Hill sixth in the state for Hispanic student performance and Sunnyside eighth in low-income student performance. Sunnyside Principal Darlene Tickey and Perry Hill Principal Lorraine Williams went to the recent board meeting to discuss how the schools work with all students.

“Good teams don’t win championships without great quarterbacks and here, tonight, we have two of them,” board member James Orazietti said of Tickey and Williams.

Orazietti said the honor was particularly impressive since Perry Hill School opened last year and Sunnyside absorbed many of the students from the former Lafayette School. He said the success shows that the district made the right decision in closing Lafayette and opening Perry Hill as a 5/6 school.

“You did an excellent job proving us right,” Orazietti said to Tickey.

Tickey said staff members make a great team at Sunnyside and meet regularly in data teams to hone in on students who need extra help.

“We form flexible groups based on regular assessments,” Tickey said.

A small group of students who need improvement in certain areas meet for a few weeks until tutors see improvement.

Tickey said that while ConnCAN recognized improvement with low-income students, she believes the school has made improvements in other areas, too, and that it will be evident in this year’s test results.

Principal Williams also said staff members work together well in teams that study school data, grade-level data and individual student data to see which students need intervention.

“A big part is our academic support center,” Williams said. “We have a time each day where there is no new instruction and students go to the support center.”

Superintendent Freeman Burr said he recently did a walk-through of the school and was impressed with the teaching in the math classrooms, where students work in small groups collaborating to solve problems.

“When we see students struggling, we have a propensity to help them, and often in doing so we give them the answer,” Burr said. “These students are working in collaboration, thinking and talking about a problem.”

Burr said it’s OK for students to struggle in the classroom sometimes and that they learn from the process.

“In some ways, I think the struggling forces them to think and pay attention,” board member Mark Holden said.

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