2009 No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program s22
2009 No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program
Type of School: (Check all that apply) / [ ]Elementary / []Middle / [X]High / []K-12 / []Other
[]Charter / []Title I / []Magnet / []Choice
Name of Principal: Mrs. Eleanor Matthews
Official School Name: Western High School
School Mailing Address:
4600 Falls Road
Baltimore, MD 21209-4915
County: Baltimore City State School Code Number*: 0407
Telephone: (410) 396-7040 Fax: (410) 396-7492
Web site/URL: http://westernhighschool.orgE-mail:
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge all information is accurate.
Date
(Principal‘s Signature)
Name of Superintendent*: Dr. Andres Alonso
District Name: Baltimore City Tel: (410) 396-8803
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date
(Superintendent‘s Signature)
Name of School Board President/Chairperson: Mr. Brian Morris
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date
(School Board President‘s/Chairperson‘s Signature)
*Private Schools: If the information requested is not applicable, write N/A in the space.
Original signed cover sheet only should be mailed by expedited mail or a courier mail service (such as USPS Express Mail, FedEx or UPS) to Aba Kumi, Director, NCLB-Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Office of Communications and Outreach, US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Room 5E103, Washington, DC 20202-8173.
The signatures on the first page of this application certify that each of the statements below concerning the school‘s eligibility and compliance with U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) requirements is true and correct.
1. The school has some configuration that includes one or more of grades K-12. (Schools on the same campus with one principal, even K-12 schools, must apply as an entire school.)
2. The school has made adequate yearly progress each year for the past two years and has not been identified by the state as “persistently dangerous” within the last two years.
3. To meet final eligibility, the school must meet the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirement in the 2008-2009 school year. AYP must be certified by the state and all appeals resolved at least two weeks before the awards ceremony for the school to receive the award.
4. If the school includes grades 7 or higher, the school must have foreign language as a part of its curriculum and a significant number of students in grades 7 and higher must take the course.
5. The school has been in existence for five full years, that is, from at least September 2003.
6. The nominated school has not received the No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools award in the past five years, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, or 2008.
7. The nominated school or district is not refusing OCR access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a district-wide compliance review.
8. OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the school district concluding that the nominated school or the district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if OCR has accepted a corrective action plan from the district to remedy the violation.
9. The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that the nominated school or the school district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution‘s equal protection clause.
10. There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the school or school district in question; or if there are such findings, the state or district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings.
PART II - DEMOGRAPHIC DATAAll data are the most recent year available.
DISTRICT (Questions 1-2 not applicable to private schools)
1. Number of schools in the district: / 76 / Elementary schools24 / Middle schools
0 / Junior high schools
37 / High schools
58 / Other
195 / TOTAL
2. District Per Pupil Expenditure: 12542
Average State Per Pupil Expenditure: 11398
SCHOOL (To be completed by all schools)
3. Category that best describes the area where the school is located:
[ X ] Urban or large central city
[ ] Suburban school with characteristics typical of an urban area
[ ] Suburban
[ ] Small city or town in a rural area
[ ] Rural
4. 3 Number of years the principal has been in her/his position at this school.
8 If fewer than three years, how long was the previous principal at this school?
5. Number of students as of October 1 enrolled at each grade level or its equivalent in applying school only:
Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade Total / Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade TotalPreK / 0 / 7 / 0
K / 0 / 8 / 0
1 / 0 / 9 / 0 / 224 / 224
2 / 0 / 10 / 0 / 236 / 236
3 / 0 / 11 / 0 / 198 / 198
4 / 0 / 12 / 0 / 189 / 189
5 / 0 / Other / 0
6 / 0
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL / 847
6. Racial/ethnic composition of the school: / 0 / % American Indian or Alaska Native
1 / % Asian
86 / % Black or African American
2 / % Hispanic or Latino
0 / % Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
11 / % White
0 / % Two or more races
100 / % Total
Only the seven standard categories should be used in reporting the racial/ethnic composition of your school. The final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic data to the U.S. Department of Education published in the October 19, 2007 Federal Register provides definitions for each of the seven categories.
7. Student turnover, or mobility rate, during the past year: 6%
This rate is calculated using the grid below. The answer to (6) is the mobility rate.
(1) / Number of students who transferred to the school after October 1 until theend of the year. / 16
(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 33
(3) / Total of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)]. / 49
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1. / 808
(5) / Total transferred students in row (3)
divided by total students in row (4). / 0.061
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100. / 6.064
8. Limited English proficient students in the school: 0%
Total number limited English proficient 2
Number of languages represented: 1
Specify languages:
Spanish
9. Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: 52%
Total number students who qualify: 443
If this method does not produce an accurate estimate of the percentage of students from low-income families, or the school does not participate in the free and reduced-price school meals program, specify a more accurate estimate, tell why the school chose it, and explain how it arrived at this estimate.
Data is for 2008-09.
10. Students receiving special education services: 1%
Total Number of Students Served: 5
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Do not add additional categories.
0 / Autism / 0 / Orthopedic Impairment0 / Deafness / 1 / Other Health Impaired
0 / Deaf-Blindness / 4 / Specific Learning Disability
0 / Emotional Disturbance / 0 / Speech or Language Impairment
0 / Hearing Impairment / 0 / Traumatic Brain Injury
0 / Mental Retardation / 0 / Visual Impairment Including Blindness
0 / Multiple Disabilities / 0 / Developmentally Delayed
11. Indicate number of full-time and part-time staff members in each of the categories below:
Number of StaffFull-Time / Part-Time
Administrator(s) / 4 / 0
Classroom teachers / 40 / 5
Special resource teachers/specialists / 2 / 5
Paraprofessionals / 5 / 0
Support staff / 4 / 2
Total number / 55 / 12
12. Average school student-classroom teacher ratio, that is, the number of students in the school divided by the Full Time Equivalent of classroom teachers, e.g., 22:1 20 :1
13. Show the attendance patterns of teachers and students as a percentage. Only middle and high schools need to supply dropout rates. Briefly explain in the Notes section any attendance rates under 95%, teacher turnover rates over 12%, or student dropout rates over 5%.
2007-2008 / 2006-2007 / 2005-2006 / 2004-2005 / 2003-2004Daily student attendance / 95% / 94% / 94% / 94% / 94%
Daily teacher attendance / 94% / 95% / 94% / 96% / 95%
Teacher turnover rate / 13% / 16% / 14% / 18% / 11%
Student dropout rate / 1% / 0% / 1% / 0% / 0%
Please provide all explanations below.
· Western’s attendance rate, between 94 and 95% every year since 1999–2000, compares favorably with a district-wide high school rate that reached a high of 84% last year. Many Western students commute to school from distant areas of the city and, relying on public transit, encounter difficulty reaching school in severely inclement weather, when City schools often remain open while surrounding districts close.
· Over these years seventeen teachers retired. The 18% rate of 2004–05 largely results from staffing cuts imposed by Baltimore City Public Schools that year.
14. For schools ending in grade 12 (high schools).
Show what the students who graduated in Spring 2008 are doing as of the Fall 2008.
Graduating class size / 172Enrolled in a 4-year college or university / 90 / %
Enrolled in a community college / 3 / %
Enrolled in vocational training / 1 / %
Found employment / 3 / %
Military service / 1 / %
Other (travel, staying home, etc.) / 2 / %
Unknown / %
Total / 100 / %
PART III - SUMMARY
In January 1844 Baltimore's School Board declared that a "higher grade of school" was "very much required" for females and Western High School came into being. Now, 165 years later, Western continues to serve the young women of the Baltimore area, providing what the 1865 School Board deemed the "higher branches" of study. Now as then, the school's motto Lucem accepimus, lucem demus ("We have received light, let us give forther light") has lighted the way of students and staff. Western prepares her graduates for the challenges that await them, no matter their background or status.
Western welcomes girls with varying levels of skill development and ensures their college readiness by commencement. For years 100% of Western seniors have graduated with college acceptances in hand; since 2006, every graduate has been accepted into a 4-year college or university. Graduates have always received a bounty of scholarships and grants. In 2008, graduates received $4,000,000 in scholarships; two seniors were awarded early admission and full tuition to Johns Hopkins University. A College Bound study reported that Western has the highest percentage of Baltimore City School students who go on to attend college.
A recipient of the U.S. News & World Report Bronze Medal two years running and fully accredited, Western has met AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress, Maryland's school performance standard) since its inception and currently has the highest percentage of Baltimore City Schools students who have met the State's HSA (High School Assessment) requirements for graduation. The school's college preparatory program continues to develop in response to the needs of its students, who come from every one of Baltimore's diverse communities. Minority groups make up 89% of Western's student body, and more than half of Western's students live at or below the poverty level. All members of the school community work together to make certain that, even with limited resources, the students receive the best possible instruction and co-curricular experiences. All students are encouraged to take on the challenge and experience of advanced studies; enrollment in AP classes has increased steadily in the past five years.
Western students excel beyond the classroom. The FRC FIRST Robotics Team won numerous trophies for excellence and was featured in a PBS documentary on high school robotics. Last year they competed in VEX International Competition in California; this year they travel to Dallas. Last year five students won medals at the Maryland Spoken Russian Olympiad and three gold or silver medals in the National Russian Essay Contest. Five students earned prizes in the Morgan State University Science Fair and competed at national and international competitions in Atlanta and Houston. Western students earn Urban Debate League trophies, athletic and dance competition awards, are finalists in the "Champions of Courage" essay contest, and one student is representing the City at the state-level Poetry Out Loud competition.
Western partners with a range of institutions. The University of Maryland School of Mental Health provides supplemental student support services, while the University of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, Morgan State, and Towson Universities offer academic support services. Western received grants from NASA, Eagle Alliance, and Northrop-Grumman to support its STEM program, which includes a college credit technology class. Private high schools also are partners. Students traveled on last year's Civil Rights Journey with the Cardin School, and a young women's leadership program with St. Paul's School for Girls is in its fourth year.