Reply to Replicating ATS success — what are exact differences

Forum Index » VA Public Schools other than FCPS

Reply to "Replicating ATS success — what are exact differences "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is from ATS.

Great schools don't happen by chance, they happen by design. ATS has been guided by 7 traditional tenets since 1978:

1. Teacher-guided instruction in self-contained classrooms 
2. Emphasis on basic education in the core academic areas
3. Regular homework assigned at all grade levels
4. Weekly written summary of student progress communicated to parents
5. Promotion based on grade level mastery
6. Behavior, dress and grooming standards
7. Weekly assembly programs reinforces philosophy and build community

Additional philosophy that sets us apart from other schools include:

* Every child participates in the hallmark Summer Reading Challenge of reading 50 books
* Every child in grades 1-5 performs a class play at a Friday assembly
* Every child in grades 4 and 5 learns to play a musical instrument and plays in the beginning or advanced orchestra/band  and performs at an assembly and in the evening twice a year
* Every child in grades 4 and 5 sings in a grade-level chorus and and performs at an assembly and in the evening twice a year
* Every child in grade 5 is a school safety patrol modeling leadership and assisting children before/after school
* Sister school, Arlington Junior school, in Uganda, Africa

[/quote]

We're not at ATS but this is the best list I've seen.  It actually identifies things that I could see making a difference, vs. the standard "tuck in your shirts" and "cares about behavior" and "teaches citizenship" nonsense that people usually cite as the differences.  (Nonsense because all APS schools care about behavior and teach citizenship).

That said, #4 and #7 are the only two in the numbered list that I don't think are universal across APS, which begs the question of whether/how APS is implementing everything else differently from other schools.  Requiring all students to play instruments, sing in choir, be part of safety patrol is different from other APS schools, and I could see it being a positive but am not sure that alone explains the differences.  Maybe it is the cumulative impact of everything ATS does? (aside from tucked in t-shirts.  that one is nonsensical. Then again, I don't tuck in my t-shirts either so maybe I just don't get it).  My teacher friends who have taught at private and public say the biggest differences there are the number of involved parents.  Maybe ATS just attracts more type A+++ than other schools too and their kids would do just as well anywhere.  Just my speculation here.  Carry on DCUM![/quote]

Every school should do weekly progress reports. I don't know how teachers find time to do them, but I learn so much about my kids and we deal with issues before they become problems for either the teacher or my kids.

Weekly assembly is big part of the culture and creating community.

The other things are about helping develop the whole student. Giving ALL kids leadership opportunities and opportunities to perform and speak in public. Good life skills.

It used to be school uniforms, now it's tucked in shirts.

All kinds of families are there but parent involvement is expected. 37% FRL. 34% EL with 24 different languages. 12% SWD and home to a countywide autism program and VPI classes. [/quote]

Those demographics are similar to Abingdon. FRM  lower than abingdon which is a title 1 school but pretty close. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics