Back to School With Good News
Hello, Friends of FirstLine,
All of us at FirstLine schools were thrilled to welcome our students back to school in August. We began the year with some very good news: FirstLine students at all four of our schools made gains in every subject on the state LEAP tests taken last spring. This is a testament to the work of the strong educators in our network and the partnership that our families demonstrated throughout a very challenging year, one that began with three weeks of school closure due to Hurricane Ida and regular interruptions due to COVID quarantines. Here is how our students fared in the face of these challenges:
On average, FirstLine students’ scores in English Language Arts improved 9% in the category of Basic and 7% in the category of Mastery from their 2020-21 scores. This means 52% of our students scored Basic or above and 26% scored Mastery or above. Last year, improving our outcomes in ELA was our primary focus, and this has resulted in both significant improvement and coming close to our pre-pandemic levels.
FirstLine students’ scores in math improved an average of 10% in the category of Basic and 5% in the category of Mastery from their 2020-21 scores, with 39% scoring Basic or above and 13% scoring Mastery.
FirstLine students’ scores in social studies improved an average of 2% in the category of Basic and 1% in the category of Mastery from their 2020-21 scores, with 29% scoring Basic or above and 11% scoring Mastery.
FirstLine students’ scores in science improved an average of 3% in the category of Basic and 2% in the category of Mastery from their 2020-21 scores, with 31% of students scoring Basic or above and 11% scoring Mastery or above.
I am so proud of our children, our educators, and all of you who support our work. The scores clearly show the importance of in-person learning and great teaching. And, while we have had tremendous gains, there is much more work to do, both to achieve recovery from learning loss due to COVID-19, and to move beyond recovery to excellence. This year we will build on our successful work in ELA and focus our attention on improving math achievement in all grades.
We are happy to be able to welcome volunteers and other partners back into our school buildings, now that COVID spread has decreased in our city. We will continue to follow all public health guidelines, but for now, we look forward to seeing you at our school events and celebrations, or to help out in the classrooms and our Edible Schoolyard gardens.
Here’s to a great school year!
Sabrina Pence
CEO
