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At Second Hill Lane School Success is Everybody's Business

Second Hill Lane School wins 4th Annual Fairfield County Academic Gain Award.

At Second Hill Lane Elementary School, the entire community – teachers, parents, grandparents, high school students, businesses and even the mayor – contribute to the school’s successes, both academically and socially.

The school was recently named the winner of the 4th Annual Fairfield County Academic Gain Award and everyone agreed it was a team effort.

The award was for academic gains made in the academic year 2009-2010, and was announced last Fall by the Lone Pine Foundation, the Philanthropic arm of Lone Pine Capital of Greenwich.

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It recognizes Second Hill Lane School from among 150 public elementary schools in Fairfield County as having made the greatest academic gain in student achievement. 

Second Hill Lane Principal Jamie Palladino credits the collaborative effort of the entire school community. “It’s nice to know I have a team that I can go to and have full confidence [the job] will be done,” he said.  “Everybody has an ownership” stake.

According to Palladino, the school has made “substantial gains” in overall Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) scores.

In just three years, CMT scores in reading for the English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) student population have more than doubled - from 40 percent to 81 percent.

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Palladino, who served as assistant principal for two years before assuming his current position, added, “Second Hill Lane is a good representation” of the positive that is going on overall in the Stratford school district.

The criteria for the award was not just based on the past three years of student assessment data, but also included inspirational and visionary leadership, professional development, parent involvement and community partnerships, among others factors.

ESOL teacher, Edna McLure, said that parents are not only volunteering in their own children’s classrooms, but are helping in other classrooms as well. 
Parent helpers who have been trained are working with kindergartners on reading as part of a new program. “The kids love it,” she said.

Reading Specialist Tricia Jann, who came to the school three-and-a half years ago, points out the notable gains in that time. “It is nothing now like it was then,” Jann said. “There’s a large part of the school population that is really focused on the kids,” and on increasing their academic achievement levels.

As a precursor to the award, a team from Lone Pine and Cambridge Education (www.camb-ed.com) conducted site visits to Second Hill Lane to interview administrators, teachers, students, and staff and submit their results to an advisory board.

Lone Pine Foundation recognizes that every employee, from principal to custodial staff, plays a part in a school’s success.  As a result of its recognition, Second Hill Lane School was awarded $1000, which could be used to enhance the academic program at the school’s discretion.

In addition, every full-time employee received $500; every part-time employee $250.

Students also had a say in how the award money was spent. Among the student suggestions was to fund a summer school program.

For school secretary Arlene Hartley, the award money was a “nice Christmas gift,” part of which went to a new computer.

As for the awards program sponsors, they are pleased to recognize schools that are able to show overall program improvement. “We are especially pleased that in the fourth year of the award we are continuing to see the schools with the highest gains implementing the same best practices,” says Executive Director Lucy Ball of the Lone Pine Foundation.

Ball said the Foundation is committed to breaking the “cycle of poverty” through education and to create incentives for other schools to work toward significant academic gains, and to foster the sharing of effective practices. 

Second Hill Lane School was also featured as a “Success Story” by www.Conncan.org, which gives a yearly report card of all Connecticut public schools.

The school has earned first place for 2010 for Hispanic Student Performance, as it has a minority student population of about 45 per cent. The school has consistently placed among the top 15 public elementary schools in Connecticut in this category.

So, as the school continues its race to the top, the two “words for the week of January 31,” which were prominently displayed in the lobby, sum up the recent efforts appropriately. The words of the week were “frequent” and “remarkable.”

Stratford Patch congratulates the entire Second Hill Lane School community!

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