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Saturday, December 20, 2014
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Late work ... We have a problem New PHS policy causes reaction By Zita Henneberry zhenneberry@bcrnews.com.
PRINCETON — The room was packed at Wednesday night’s Princeton High School Board meeting. Recent policy changes have caused a community backlash. The board faced scrutiny as multiple members of the public questioned the recent policy changes. The new policy at PHS, which allows for late assignments to be turned in for full credit, has received a variety of reactions from the public. Those present questioned the time frame of the decision, reasons it was necessary, and the overall productivity of the policy. “A problem of 247 plus failing grades, 25 percent of seniors failing required classes, and an 83 percent graduation rate did not happen overnight,” said Laurie Bonucci, a Princeton resident and an Illinois Valley Community College (IVCC) Board member, who had students in the PHS District. “This is not the time to wax on about philosophies; it is the time to roll up your sleeves and get to work.”
Bonucci has found as an IVCC Board member, a clearly defined time frame and structure for expectations is key to helping chronically failing students achieve. She proposed multiple methods for improvement, “Has PHS considered exploring community partnerships ... Could PHS create a formal longer term graduation track ...” and more. In her conclusion, Bonucci said, “This new policy is confusing at best, and it undermines the ideals we teach our kids at worst ... Let’s turn this thing around.” Princeton resident Steve Bonucci thanked the board for its service and suggested the board look take a closer look at who is struggling to meet their goals. “I think that because of the fact that there’s a lot of kids having a hard time, the board has to look at this from top to bottom and separate out the people that maybe aren’t getting the goals met,” he said. Bonucci offered an analogy explaining that anything can be taught with enough work, and urged the board to re-evaluate their staff. PHS parent Jay Alter also spoke to the board. “I can’t identify what the
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BCR photo/Becky Kramer
Candy Land comes to life for area children The Princeton Public Library hosted a life-sized Candy Land holiday party for preschool through fourth-grade children on Thursday evening. Participants were urged to come in their pajamas, as the popular children’s game was brought to life by costumed characters from the game, like Queen Frostine (aka Ellie Andresen) who is pictured reading to the children. The children took a walk to King Candy’s Castle, the Peppermint Forest, Gumdrop Mountain, Lollipop Forest and the Gingerbread House, where they earned candy treats. Other activities included a story time and the opportunity to decorate cupcakes.
A new home for students? SVE looks at options By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — After a couple months of discussing the possibility of taking over Ohio’s behavior disorder program, Spring Valley Ele-
mentary School District has decided to pass on the opportunity. At Wednesday’s school board meeting, Principal Kim Lisanby-Barber explained how she had researched what the building accessibility needs would be and talked with a couple staff members about the possibility of moving over to work with the program. She confirmed some
remodeling would be needed in the John F. Kennedy School building if they took on the program. Also, she said staff members were hesitant about the idea of working with the program. Barber confirmed there is another location the program is now looking at, and also the possibility of moving with the BEST program in Manlius is being discussed.
The BEST program, which is also looking for a new home for next year, includes fifth- through eighth-grade students. Ohio’s program includes kindergarten through fourth-grade students. Barber mentioned Spring Valley also sends special education students to Henry’s behavioral disorder program,
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Ohio: Small but mighty ‘We have a great staff, student body, and community that has supported this small town’ By Zita Henneberry zhenneberry@bcrnews.com
OHIO — The Ohio High School’s Illinois State Report Cards have been distributed to all residents of the Ohio District in the school newsletter, said Superintendent Sharon
Sweger. “It (Ohio High School report card) includes a wealth of information. But no matter how much information it gives you, the test scores reflect how a student performed on a given test, on a given day,” said Sweger, “Personally, I do not feel one single test
reflects what a student will be able to accomplish.” Ohio students, however, surpassed the state average on the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE). In the state average, 54 percent of students met or exceeded the state standards; 60 percent met or exceeded in Ohio. “Not only did our PSAE scores top area schools
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Enrollment score. The Post Secondary Enrollment Score indicates the percentage of students who graduated with their high school diploma and enrolled in college within 16 months. The Ohio Post Secondary Enrollment was 29 percent, while the state’s was 73 percent, keeping in mind Ohio’s small enrollment can change a percentage very quickly with just one or two students. Sweger explained, “In the graduating class this data represented, two stu-
dents went directly to college, three went into the military, and one completed a certification program and went to work.” Sweger noted many young people get their college training through the armed services and questioned if the state board tracked college courses taken by those in the military. “How many schools can say 100 percent of the males in the graduating
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this year, we also had two students receive gold ratings and the remaining eight students received silver ratings in National Career Readiness, resulting in 100 percent of our students meeting and exceeding the Career Readiness standards,” said Sweger. While the school exceeded the state’s PSAE scores, Ohio fell behind the state in their Post Secondary
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