Future of area middle school uncertain

Good Neighbors Committee coordinates tutoring, events

Jen DIxon Staff Writer

The Poughkeepsie Middle School (PMS), located less than one mile from Vassar, is currently one of seven Dutchess County public schools identified by the New York State Department of Education as in need of academic progress.

The school is currently employing various strategies to improve student performance, and students, faculty, and staff from a sub- committee of Vassar’s Good Neighbors Committee are participating in some of those strategies.

PMS was on the state’s “schools in need of improvement list,” until approximately two years ago, when it was designated as a school in need of restructuring. This categorization means that the middle school now has less autonomy and is expected to work with the school district to improve student academic performance.

District leaders announced in October 2005, however, that the school had made enough progress towards the state’s goals during the 2004-2005 school year that if they continue to demonstrate progress during the current school year, they will be monitored by the state for only one more year.

According to the New York State Education Department, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 declares that, “all children deserve a high-quality, challenging education that gives them the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in today’s world. Under the NCLB, the New York State Education Department must make sure that every school is helping its students improve academically.”

The federal law requires that schools demonstrate “adequate yearly progress,” as measured on standardized tests.

As a school classified as “needs restructuring,” a failure to meet the state’s expectations for annual yearly progress would result in state intervention. Should the middle school continue to improve, it will remain under local control.

Such intervention could involve the hiring and firing of teachers and administrators, revising the curriculum, and/or extending the school year.

A draft of the restructuring that would be implemented should the middle school not meet expectations involves a restructing of the school’s governance to better meet requirements.

PMS did not perform comparitively well on standardized tests in language arts and mathematics, according to the State Education Department. Approximately two-thirds of PMS students are currently reading below grade level.

Principal Carl Pabon, who has worked at the school for two years, cited improvements in literacy and the school music program, which the Good Neighbors committee has addressed, as priorities in the years to come.

The school’s situation, according to Pabon, leads to students “lowering their standards.” “Kids stop dreaming at the end of elementary school,” said Pabon. “They start dealing with so many realities.”

The collaboration between PMS and the Good Neighbors Committee is meant to improve students’ peer relationships, social skills, as well as their academic performance.

“I want our kids to feel good, but I want them to feel good while doing well and meeting...expectations,” said Pabon. “It’s not just a feel good thing.”

The Good Neighbors Committee

President Fran Fergusson founded The Good Neighbors Committee four years ago with the goal of developing partnerships between the College and local community organizations. The Committee is comprised of staff, students, faculty and administrators, and its chair is Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Sam Speers.

“While enhancing the efforts of these vital organizations, Good Neighbors provides students at the College with unique opportunities to learn about community organizing and the capacities and limits of local philanthropy,” said Speers. “Our work is guided by an assets-based approach to identifying issues in our local community.”

The involvement of Vassar community members with the middle school is one of the more recent examples of the ways in which the Committee involves itself with the off-campus community.

Using funds from the Office of the President, the Committee provides grants to organizations such as the Poughkeepsie Farm project and the Arlington Branch of the Poughkeepsie Public Library.

These projects encourage Vassar students, faculty, and staff to get involved with local issues, seeking to extend the involvement of the College beyond the typical one to three year funding period of a grant.

The committee has funded a “Digital Tour of Poughkeepsie” DVD, for example, as a joint measure between the Urban Studies Department and the film and technology resources of the College. The educational project about the cultural geography of Poughkeepsie was directed by Ian Burbage ’05.

Since 2004, Vassar’s Good Neighbors Committee has been assisting the school to make the changes necessary to meet its goals. “Good Neighbors is seeking to partner with the middle school in ways that are enriching for both Vassar and the middle school,” said Religious and Spiritual Life Fellow John Delap ’05, who is on the Committee.

In fall 2004, Professor of Film Sarah Kozloff became the Committee’s middle school liason.

“We had tried to get into the middle school before, but it didn’t take off,” said Kozloff. “[The Committee is doing] whatever we can think of…the idea is that Vassar is part of the village that it takes to raise a child.”

“The real value and strength of our partnership comes down to trusting relationships. Part of what’s exciting and promising about our work at the middle school is that we’re getting to know its leaders: Principal Carl Pabon...and many more teachers and administrators,” continued Kozloff.

“By doing projects together, we're learning how much we share in our commitments to the value of education,” said Speers. “At the end of the afternoon tutoring we're bringing Vassar students to each week, I heard a sixth grader say, ‘Now I have a friend from Vassar; I've never had that before.’ This sixth grader reminded me how much it’s new relationships that open up new possibilities.”
“Vassar College is now part of their vocabulary,” said Pabon of PMS students.

Committee focuses on extracurriculars

Last year, the Committee worked with Poughkeepsie’s Promise, an after-school program at the middle school, to hire an artist to paint wall murals in the music wing of the school.

The College donated $2,000 for the finished murals, which featured a portrait of a violinist, George Harrison, and Queen Latifah. The murals were unveiled at a January 2006 reception, which featured a performance by school orchestra members. The Good Neighbors Committee has also donated music stands and invited middle school students to Modfest in an effort to revitalize the school’s music program.

“When a school feels challenged, what tends to get lost are the arts and extracurricular things,” explained Kozloff.

Vassar has also invited faculty from the middle school to the College’s library, offering free library privileges and instructions on how to use the facilities. Computing and Information Services representatives have visited the middle school to help instructors with their computer skills, and they have also donated a laptop.

On Jan. 1, 2006, PMS Principal Carl Pabon wrote a letter to the Poughkeepsie Journal, publicly thanking President Fran Fergusson, Vassar College students, Speers, and Kozloff.

“Their partnership with Poughkeepsie Middle School has provided professional development opportunities for our faculty and an exciting hands-on experience for our students and parents,” wrote Pabon.

Athletic teams get involved

Last semester, the Good Neighbors Committee organized a series of events called “Boys’ Night Out” and “Girls’ Night Out,” which featured a male or female Vassar athletic team who visited the school gym, performed an athletics demonstration, and then dined with the students. The November “Boys’ Night Out” with the men’s soccer team drew more than 70 male students and some of their fathers. The December “Girls’ Night Out” with the women’s cross-country team drew more than 60 girls and their mothers.

This semester, the Committee has plans for a regular after-school tutoring program through Poughkeepsie’s Promise, and has arranged for transportation to the middle school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

“The idea is for Vassar students to go once a week for continuity’s sake,” said Delap.

Becca Weinberg ’06, one of the students on the Good Neighbors Committee, is working to organize a group of students willing to go each week through Community Action.

After a general interest meeting in the beginning of the spring semester, the program had enough interested students to begin sending volunteers to the school almost immediately.

“Vassar students are needed to help the kids keep on task, give personal attention to any homework questions they may have and just hang out as a mentor and friend,” said Weinberg.

The school’s current tutoring offerings include an after school homework center and a “twilight tutoring” program. Each day, the “twilight tutoring” program focuses on a different academic area.

According to Pabon, there are up to 60 middle school students showing up for tutoring every day, a number he called “impressive,” since it involves doing extra work after school hours.

The school still has much to do to meet state standards, as indicated by a 2005 math test, which showed that only 20 percent of eighth grade students met state standards.
According to an October 2005 Poughkeepsie Journal article, however, special education students at the school have been making progress, and the school is seeing far fewer students scores at level one, the lowest possible score.

Kozloff said she was hopeful for the impact that the “funds, energy, and enthusiasm” offered by Good Neighbors Committee can have on the troubled school.