Achievement First Providence Mayoral Middle School
Providence Public Schools
Providence, Rhode Island
School Information
Achievement First Providence Mayoral Middle School has a population of 200 students between 5th and 6th grade. This is a founding school that grows one-grade level each year. The school will be complete with grades five through eight by 2020. Currently, our school shares a building with two other elementary schools - Achievement First Illuminar Mayoral Academy and Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy. In total, there are over 1,000 students in our school building daily.
As a founding school, Achievement First Providence Mayoral Middle School opened its doors in August 2017 in the previous Oliver Hazard Perry Middle School. As reported by the State of Rhode Island, our school demographics account for 43% Hispanic, 16% two or more races/ethnicities, 15% African American, and 8% white. Of these students, 51% are female and 49% are male. Collectively, 73% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch.
Achievement First Providence Mayoral Middle School operates under Achievement First's Greenfield Model. This model has a greater emphasis on students' social-emotional development and academic independence. Some key features that make our school distinct from the standard model including a split class teaching model, compass work adopted from Valor Collegiate Academies in Nashville, Tennessee, and self-directed learning. For this reason, our establishment is one-to-one, allowing each student to have access to a computer at all times.
Achievement First has an open source curriculum. Although this looks different in each subject, in mathematics, teachers have access to unit plans, scripted lesson plans, and worksheets. Since all teachers are using the same materials there are strict pacing guides embedded with weekly assessments. These assessments are designed by the curriculum development team and aligned to CCSS.
Outside of my classroom responsibilities, I am a goal coach to 12 boys in my homeroom. As their goal coach, I work with them one-on-one to set and achieve goals, stay on pace with their academics, work through a character development curriculum, and maintain open and continuous lines of communication with their families.
Classroom Information
This year I am the lead 5th-grade math teacher. I teach two 100 minute sections and one 80 minute section of math. The 100-minute sections range from 32-34 students while the 80-minute section has 30 students.
According to 2018 RICAS (Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System) results provided to Achievement First, 60% of students met or exceeded expectations in 4th-grade mathematics. With this understanding, roughly 40% of students entered 5th grade unprepared. Of these students 12% qualify for special services. Given that our classes are split, students needs are met within the classroom with limited pull out services. The impact of this is that students are able to stay integrated with their peers.