Tech school starting freshman academy
Posted: Friday, August 19, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 9:31 pm, Thu Aug 18, 2011.
Pumping up state test scores and improving overall academic performance are two of the main reasons for a new freshman academy at Bucks County Technical High School in Bristol Township.
Connie Rinker, supervisor of curriculum, instruction and assessment at the school, said 208 of the 390 incoming freshmen will enter the academy when school starts Aug. 30.
The technical school is a full-time comprehensive facility offering both academic and vocational instruction to students drawn from the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts.
While BCTHS students score very well on vocational tests, according to officials, low scores on the state's PSSA academic tests administered in the 11th grade had the school failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks for the third straight year.
Rinker hopes the new freshman academy helps break that streak.
"The purpose of the academy is to look at students coming to Bucks County Technical with academic deficiencies that are impeding their ability to perform at a high school level," she said. "We are looking for a transition that will strengthen a student's math and reading skills headed into the rest of high school."
Students entering the freshman academy are ones who have scored two or more years below grade level on standardized tests in math or reading, or both, said Rinker. Of the 208, more than a third — 80 — are special education students, she added.
Freshmen at BCTHS normally spend roughly half their time on academics and the other half in a vocational exploratory program during which they receive instruction in various vocational fields offered at the school to help them decide which one to concentrate on starting in 10th grade.
But students in the freshman academy will double their time on academics and spend much less time in the vocational exploratory program, said Rinker.
"However, being in the academy will not prevent a student from getting his or her top choice for a technical program," she added.
The academy will be run by eight BCTHS teachers split into four-person teams. There will be an English, math, social studies and science teacher on each team, said Rinker.
English teacher Jenny Naylor will teach at the academy and also be its coordinator.
"There will also be reading specialists and special education teachers working with the students when appropriate," she said. "Obviously, one of the goals in any good teaching situation is you want to make sure the students are performing at their grade level. We've met a few times over the summer and worked hard to prepare for this, and we're very excited about working closely with the students and parents to make sure these students are successful."
WHO'S WHO IN THE SCHOOL
Joint School Board Committee:
Bruce Prendergast Jr. (president), Angela Nober, Helen Cini, Bristol Township; Ralph Douglass, Harry Kramer, Wayne Lewis, Bensalem; John Doyle, Bristol; John Buckman, Morrisville; Richard Eccles, Kim Koutsouradis, Mike Morris, Neshaminy; Gene Dolnick, Gary Sanderson, Wayne DeBlasio, Pennsbury
Administrative Director: Leon Poeske, 215-949-1700, ext. 2914
Supervisor of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment: Connie Rinker, 215-949-1700, ext. 2813
Supervisor of Pupil Personnel Services: Kevin Gentilcore, 215-949-1700, ext. 2977
Business Administrator: Sharon Rendeiro, 215-949-1700, ext. 2916
Co-Principal: Henry DeGeorge, 215-949-1700, ext. 2357
Co-Principal: Mary Kelly, 215-949-1700, ext. 2349
2011-2012 SCHOOL CALENDAR
Aug. 29 — Teacher in-service day
Aug. 30 — First day of school for freshmen
Aug. 31 — Second day for freshmen and first day for all other students
Sept. 2 and 5 — Labor Day holiday break, no school
Sept. 29-30 — Rosh Hashanah holiday break, no school
Oct. 18 — Teacher in-service day, no school for students
Nov. 8 — Teacher in-service day, no school for students
Nov. 11 — Veterans Day holiday, no school
Nov. 23 — Teacher in-service day, no school for students
Nov. 24-25 — Thanksgiving holiday break, no school
Dec. 22 — Half-day of school for students
Dec. 23-Jan. 2 — Christmas and winter recess, no school
Jan. 16 — Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, no school
Feb. 7: Teacher in-service day, no school for students
Feb. 20 — Presidents Day holiday, no school
April 5-6 and 9 — Spring recess, no school
April 24 — Teacher in-service day, no school for students
May 28 — Memorial Day, no school
June 12 — Last day of school for students (half-day)
June 13-14 — Teacher in-service days
10 comments:
The fact that some freshman will have less time in the Vocational classes doesn't help strengthen their case to keep freshmen at LBTH.
Do you think our Tech rep should vote yes to cutting 9th Grade Tech?
YES! stop paying for kids from otehr towns to go to school. let there hometowns pay for them. we pay too much for tech anyway.
(Anonymous 1 replying to Jon) That's a hard call. I've heard a lot of good things from parents and students about the 9th grade Tech program. Trying out the different shops. At the same time, if you want to go to the Tech School, shouldn't you kind of know what you want to go for?
Lot's of people change majors in college and a lot of people go in undeclared. Unfortunately both of these situations often times cost the person a lot of money (extra semester or wasted courses). The 9th grade program at the Tech school costs the home district a lot of money.
If it is ended it would save us money, but it's not going to change the funding formula as Anonymous 2 sort of indicates.
Let's not forget what our kids are actually getting for the money spent on the 9th grade program at the tach school. Deciding a career is difficult at best. I'm almost 50 and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up :) If kids can get their hands into a couple of career paths, leading to the beginning of an education that sees them beyond high school and into their future then I say take my money.
Another point to be made is about the education itself. I love Morrisville, I love our school district - well the idea of our school district. That having been said look at the educational opportunities available to Morrisville's children in the tech school that simply are not available to Morrisville students. The honors program alone is a fantastic opportunity for our kids that we would not have otherwise. Think about when the kids move on to college and the difference it will make having gone through the 9th grade honors classes at the tech school.
Chipping away from a fat budget is one thing, but chipping away at a child's education when you can do better is another. As you can see, I am totally for taking my money and continuing to send Morrisville's children to the tech school beginning in 9th grade.
Isn't the idea behind the Tech School that you don't need college after the education you get there? Are there a lot of Morrisville Kids at tech taking honors so they can go to college? Lots of MHS kids get into the college they want by going to the regular High School. I'm not knocking the Tech School... I think it's a great program.
Let's face it, who trusts the MSD school board to make a good, well-informed decision?
I don't. I think it will be a knee-jerk bean- counting decision based more on misconceptions and ideology rather than facts. I don't even trust them to count the beans properly.
I would love to be wrong.
As the MSD board continues cutting offerings in the home district, there is more incentive to go to Tech.
"Isn't the idea behind the Tech School that you don't need college after the education you get there?"
I believe that when we were young the idea behind what tech schools offer was just as was said above. Someone could get a job working on cars etc right out of tech school. I believe over the years things have changed. In the building trades, what the tech school offers is considered a pre-apprenticeship program. It gets a kid's feet wet and give him/her the edge toward being chosen for further education in their desired field. I would think that no longer is a high school tech school education the end all to getting a job in the desired field and rather an invaluable stepping stone.
"Are there a lot of Morrisville Kids at tech taking honors so they can go to college? Lots of MHS kids get into the college they want by going to the regular High School."
I don't know what a lot means - would it matter - would say two not be enough but five be okay - sorry I don't get the question. Both of the children that I have sent to the tech school have gone through the honors program. One went on to trade school and one to college. I believe the excellent opportunities afforded to the kids attending tech school as compared to MSD absolutely does make a difference when attending college. Although I'm sure this can be twisted around to suggest that I'm saying kids attending the MSD cannot go to college, which was not at all what I said.
Unfortunately, yours or anyone else's personal experience with the Tech School doesn't matter nearly as much as Buckman, Hellmann, Mihok etc's lack of it.
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