Teacher teamwork helps trump 800 mark

After years of consistent increases, Westfield Elementary School has passed the state-mandated 800 Academic Performance Index mark by a full ten points.

Though they’re not competing against any other school, the atmosphere at Westfield seems as if they have just won the championship game.

API scores are determined by standardized tests given to students from second to 11th grade; the state has determined each school should meet a score of 800.

Parents, teachers and administrators all agree that without collaboration and camaraderie, students would have been hard pressed to achieve such lofty scores.

“Westfield teachers are like one great big team,” Parent Teacher Organization member and former president Jeff Stockton said.

Stockton, who has two fifth graders attending the school, said collaboration keeps teachers knowledgeable about individual student needs.

“A third grade teacher will talk with a second grade teacher so that when second graders go to third [grade], they’re better prepared,” he said.

Stockton said he expects the school’s API score to continue its steady climb, based on the previous years’ showings.

Parents like Stockton make up another collaborative community supporting student achievement at Westfield.

Fifth grade teacher Cindy Ervin said visitors to campus will witness parent volunteers helping out on a regular basis.

Parents, in turn, are made to feel comfortable and welcome on campus by teachers, Stockton said.

Westfield teachers are almost like “an extended part of your family,” he said.

The efforts made by teachers to guide students are simplified by parental preparation, principal John Buckley said.

“Students come to school ready to learn because their parents encourage them to learn,” Buckley said.

PTO support has been an invaluable resource at the school, he added.

A celebratory assembly Sept. 28 awarded nearly 300 students who demonstrated “significant improvement” in their test scores newly designed Westfield T-shirts.

The shirts, emblazoned with “We believe we can achieve,” reflected an aspect of the school’s motto: “Pride in achievement.”

“[A score of] 800 has been our goal for several years and we hit it and everyone’s excited,” Buckley said.

-- Contact Sarah de Crescenzo at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or sdecrescenzo@portervillerecorder.com.