Rotolo Middle School Didn't Meet AYP Targets For 3rd Straight Year

had some explaining to do on Friday.

“For the 2011-2012 school year, we did not meet the adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets for all subgroups,” Rotolo Principal Steve Maciejewski said. A letter was sent to parents about the progress status at the end of last week.

The subgroups that did not meet the target of 85% proficiency in reading or math included students with disabilities and African American students. Additionally, economically disadvantaged students did not meet 85% proficiency in math.

Rotolo Middle School has not met AYP for the past three years. However, according to Maciejewski, 93 percent of students currently meet or exceed state standards.

“Rotolo’s AYP status is not an indictment of the whole school, but an indication that we need to do better in certain areas,” said Brad Newkirk, chief academic officer for . “I believe the collaborative structures we now have at the middle school will facilitate improvements in student performance.”

To comply with the No Child Left Behind Act, the district’s only middle school must offer school choice and provide supplemental educational services.  Administrators have contacted neighboring districts to request that they provide a school that they can offer parents as an option. However, neighboring school districts are not accepting choice students or are also in a similar AYP status.

“We are working to improve the school’s academic program by providing identified students with specific interventions and targeted curricular materials, by providing professional development to their teachers, and by regularly progress monitoring student growth,” Maciejewski said.

Other interventions include: additional class time, the addition of a Special Education teacher, movement toward a co-teaching model with a specialist, specialized ‘skill development’ classes, and continued interventions with a math specialist.

The 2011 and 2012 report cards for BPS101 and the most recent AYP status report for Rotolo Middle School shows how the school compares to other schools in the district and state.  These reports are available on the Batavia Public Schools district website.