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Lower Kennebec Region RSU 1: Bath, West Bath, Woolwich, Phippsburg, Arrowsic, and Georgetown*

Lower Kennebec Region RSU 1: Bath, West Bath, Woolwich, Phippsburg, Arrowsic, and Georgetown*. Lauren Andrews Samantha Burdick Dave Gagne. Georgetown is not officially part of the district but most children attend Middle and/or High School in Bath.

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Lower Kennebec Region RSU 1: Bath, West Bath, Woolwich, Phippsburg, Arrowsic, and Georgetown*

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  1. Lower Kennebec RegionRSU 1:Bath, West Bath, Woolwich, Phippsburg, Arrowsic, and Georgetown* Lauren Andrews Samantha Burdick Dave Gagne

  2. Georgetown is not officially part of the district but most children attend Middle and/or High School in Bath. • RSU 1 has a new superintendent for the 2011-2012 school year—Pat Manuel. About RSU 1

  3. Sagadahoc County, Maine • RSU 1 towns include: • Bath • West Bath • Woolwich • Phippsburg • Arrowsic • Georgetown residents have the option to send students to various school districts, including RSU 1.

  4. Dike-Newell School  K-2 • Fisher-Mitchell School  3-5 • Bath Middle School  6-8 • Morse High School  9-12 • Bath Regional Career and Technical Center  9-12 Bath Schools

  5. West Bath Elementary School - K-5

  6. Woolwich Central School - K-8 Woolwich is currently renovating its Central School, which serves K-8.  The school has temporarily relocated to the Huse School building in Bath until the project is completed.

  7. Phippsburg Elementary School - K-5

  8. Arrowsic and Georgetown Arrowsic is does not have a school of its own.  Georgetown is not a member of RSU 1, but proudly maintains a K-6 school.  Some Georgetown students do elect to attend Bath Middle School beginning in 7th grade.

  9. RSU 1 Demographics

  10. Demographics Continued…

  11. School Enrollment: • Bath Middle School: 345 (nces.ed.gov)  • Morse High School: 706 (nces.ed.gov) •  Language Spoken at Home: • English only: 94.8% • Other Language: 5.2% Education Statistics

  12. The ocean plays an important role in life in the Midcoast region of Maine.  Commercial fishing is still a common career, as is shipbuilding at BIW, in the background.

  13. Tourism is a large part of the economy of Midcoast Maine.  Among popular attractions in the RSU 1 area are Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg and the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.

  14. US Route 1 leads thousands of tourists through RSU 1 on their way to vacations throughout the coast of Maine.  This is the famous Taste of Maine Restaurant, "Route 1 Woolwich, jus' North of Bath," as the commercial says.

  15. Bath is the largest municipality in RSU 1 and serves as a service center for the area.  The ever-present cranes of Bath Iron Works serve as a reminder that the region's economic health is tied to the large employer.

  16. While Bath offers the services and amenities of a small city, the remaining towns in RSU are rural in nature.  Photos of the Phippsburg (left) and Arrowsic Town Halls suggest a slower pace of life than in the city.

  17. Unemployment Statistics by Town

  18. Median Income by Town

  19. Housing in RSU 1 varies widely, representing the whole socio-economic spectrum.  Bath has the lowest average income in the RSU.  It offers subsidized, low-income housing. Housing in RSU 1

  20. Housing in RSU 1 Housing in RSU 1 also includes historic houses from Bath's past and high-value vacation property common on the scenic Maine coast.

  21. (TANF) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

  22. School % Sagadahoc County % State Total %

  23. RSU 1 All Summed UpCommunity Questions: 1. What are the geographical, cultural, political, and economic circumstances of the people in the communities served by the school? • Many people especially in the Bath area are in need of government assistance.  • Many students receive Free or Reduced Lunch  2. What is the cultural, structural, economic landscape of the school?  • The school reflects the communities as a whole, the statistics of the school are even more troublesome than those of just the community, showing large amounts of students on Free/Reduced lunch, and living at or below the poverty level.  3. What are the challenges of fostering equitable, inclusive education in this school/community? • Budgetary problems, lack of services and resources • BMS is completely inclusive (talk about differences between BMS and MHS)

  24. Lauren's Critical Questions • How does the socioeconomic differences among families in the Bath community create an educational gap between students in the classroom? • How does the emphasis placed on education in the family change among different families in the community and what does this mean for the students trying to receive an equitable education?

  25. Morse High School Bath, Maine “Bath Built is Best Built.” Shipbuilders Student Population: 98% Caucasian 1% Hispanic 1% African-American

  26. Morse High School

  27. Challenges • Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) • Free PSAT testing • Alumni Association • Vocational Programs • The Academy • Independent Study Program • Summer School • Advanced Placement (A.P.), Honors and College Preparatory • Special Education Services • Read 180 • Budgetary Constraints: • MLTI • NWEA • Economic • Attendance Opportunities

  28. >50% live within  3500 feet of MHS 63% live within  6500 feet *Does this correlate  to the emphasis that parents place on their child’s education? Attendance Issues at MHS 12% of students with  attendance issues live  at Maritime Apartments Thanks David Ingmundson!

  29. 56% Yes 27% No 17% Kind of/Maybe Attendance is a big issue for many students attending Morse High School, about 12% of the student population.  The students with the biggest issue with attendance live within 3500 feet of the Morse High School building.  It’s not the kids that have to travel over an hour to get to school that have a problem with showing up to school, it’s the students that live in the Bath downtown region.  About 12% of the students with attendance problems live in the Maritime Apartments, a low-income housing unit.  Is there a correlation between a families socioeconomic status and the type of education that student receives?  

  30. Bath Middle School Serves the towns of Bath, West Bath, Woolwich,  Phippsburg, Arrowsic, and Georgetown Opportunities at Bath Middle School:  • Exploratory Learning Education • Crew • Fully inclusive school atmosphere • MTLI program  Challenges at Bath Middle School:  • Budget shortfalls • No Language Arts Teachers • No Foreign Language Teachers • Large range of student abilities • Large class sizes • No Home Economics class

  31. Bath Middle School BMS is one of two middle school options for RSU 1 students, along with Woolwich Central School.

  32. Sam's Critical Questions How do the socioeconomic lines influence the Bath Middle School students' funds of knowledge? How do the students' previous schools (and the town that they come to BMS from) influence the funds of knowledge?  • I measured Familial Capital, Aspirational, Social Capital, and Linguistic Capital.  • Surveyed my 23 of the students on my team, I also made observations of the other students on my team as well and looked at students' "All About Me" posters that we made in literacy class.  • "Graded" students on 1-3, three being high amounts of capital, 1 being very little. I gave no one a zero because I felt that everyone has at least some capital in every fund of knowledge.

  33. Sam's Findings

  34. Dave's Critical Questions • Demographic data suggests there may be socio-economic and cultural differences between the various municipalities, particularly between the City of Bath, which is the larger service center and source of employment in the district, and the other four towns, which are much smaller and more rural in nature. • I have heard some anecdotal evidence suggesting there may be disparities in student preparedness among the elementary schools feeding Bath Middle School.

  35. Dave's Critical Questions 1.Do the municipalities of RSU 1 have individual cultures that may result in non-uniform preparation for the middle school level? 2.Are there issues, either at the student level or the school community level, that arise when these students are integrated into the classrooms of Bath Middle School?

  36. Dave's Critical Questions I used the following sources to collect information to answer my critical questions: • Online survey of students asking their opinions of their transition into Bath Middle School • Informal interview with two students about their transition experiences • No Child Left Behind school performance data comparing 2008/2009 fifth grade scores with 2009/2010 sixth grade scores • Interviews with Bath Middle School officials • Bud Solebello, Principal • Ross Berkowitz, Assistant Principal • Matthew Hamilton, Guidance Councilor in charge of sixth grade transition • Dave Cowie, sixth grade teacher

  37. Dave's Critical Questions The results of my survey of Humanities A students did not show a widespread issue with the transition from the town elementary schools to Bath Middle School. Of the four students who had a difficult transition, two live in Bath, two live in Phippsburg.

  38. Dave's Critical Questions At left are No Child Left Behind (NCLB) scores for the fifth-grade RSU 1 students in 2008/2009.  On average, West Bath, Georgetown, Woolwich outperformed Phippsburg and Bath (Fisher-Mitchell). At right are NCLB scores for the same class of students, but for 2009/2010, their sixth grade year.  BMS scores are equal or below previous year scores for the non-Bath elementary schools.

  39. Dave's Critical Questions Final Conclusions • The four students who reported having a tough transition live in Bath and Phippsburg, the two RSU 1 towns with the lowest fifth-grade NCLB scores.  The term "transition" is broad, and may or may not relate to what NCLB measures. • My interviews with students found no preparedness issues. • My interviews with school administrators did not indicate there were issues that could be tied to specific schools.  In recent years, RSU 1 has coordinated the curricula of the various elementary schools.  For example, Everyday Math was only used at some schools until this coordination effort.  It is now used at all of the elementary schools.  The Expeditionary Learning model in use at BMS is beginning to trickle down to the elementary schools, but it not making inroads at the high school. • Dave Cowie, a sixth grade teacher of twenty-two years at Bath Middle School, says he doesn't, and hasn't seen any preparation issues tied directly to the elementary school attended.  He has observed connections to a particular fifth grade teacher's style or to family background, but not to a specific school or socioeconomic status.

  40. Questions???

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