Friday, Jan. 22, 11 a.m.
Daniel Wertz Elementary School, 1701 S. Red Bank Road
In the past three years, Daniel Wertz has improved its pass rate on ISTEP, and Principal Doug Mills wants to celebrate that success – even though greater improvements are coming! Going from one of the schools scoring in the lower third of EVSC schools to this year scoring in the upper third (65.2% pass rate on English/Language Arts; and a 64.2% pass rate on Math) in a year when pass rates dropped dramatically across the state –Mills is pleased with the hard work of his students and staff. In addition to doing better on ISTEP, the school has greatly improved its overall growth on the test – a figure that is used in the calculation of School Accountability Grades, which will be approved by the State Board of Education on Tuesday. Each year, Mills challenges each grade to set a high pass rate goal. This year, he said if a grade meets the goal, he would dress as a mime and not speak for the day. This year’s fifth graders (last year’s 4th graders) met his expectations and their goal! Mills will be ‘talking’ as only a mime can ‘talk’ to students during their lunch periods.
