Warrington Middle's next chapter
- May 15, 2015
- / Reggie Dogan
- / education
James Young has a track record of turning around struggling schools across the country.
As principal, Young brought a high school in Jacksonville from the bottom to the top in three years.
Now the president and CEO of Jacksonville-based Turnaround Solutions Inc., Young looks to make a mark at Warrington Middle School.
The Escambia County School District hired Young’s firm for $375,000 to improve the perennially low-performing school.
Working with first-year Principal Regina Lipnick and her staff, Turnaround’s goals were twofold:
— Increase reading, math and science proficiency by 40 percent, and
— Substantially improve behavioral problems.
The results, so far, show promise.
— Student referrals and suspensions were cut in half — from 1,400 days of suspension to 700 days.
— Seventh and eighth graders had the highest increases in math proficiency among all middle schools.
At the beginning of the school year, 7 percent of seventh graders were proficient at math; by February, 38 percent were proficient.
— Warrington is the only middle school in the district to exceed FCAT 2014 proficiency in the third assessment period of the year.
“We justify our work based on student performance,” says Young, sitting in a dimmed room converted to an office at the school off Old Corry Road. “Our primary focus is student achievement."
Escambia County Schools Superintendent Malcolm Thomas says the data show promise.
“They had a great year,” Thomas says. “We certainly have enhanced our ability to turn around the school.”
Thomas cautions that because the state standardized test this year is new, year-over-year comparisons may be difficult to make.
Nevertheless, Thomas says he will recommend bringing Turnaround Solutions back next year.
Patty Hightower, Escambia County School Board chairman, also likes the work Turnaround has done.
She visited the school several times this year, read progress reports and watched a PowerPoint that highlighted the school improvements.
“We’ve tried a lot of things to find something successful at Warrington Middle and it looks like things have improved,” Hightower said. “We’re building trust in the community, and of course, we want students to be successful.”
Warrington Middle School Principal Regina Lipnick and Assistant Principal Derrick Thomas welcome the assistance and support from Turnaround Solutions.[/caption]
Lipnick has seen the culture of failure and hopelessness fade as teachers and students taste success in the classroom.
“Teachers have bought into the program and the kids, too,” Lipnick says. “The cloud over the school is gone. It’s positive and uplifting.”
Creating success at Warrington Middle School by improving student achievement has been on Thomas’ agenda since becoming superintendent six years ago.
Warrington Middle began the 2014 school year on the brink of failure.
Under the state’s grade system, Warrington got a D in 2012, an F in 2013, and a D last year.
All of its 670 students qualified for free or reduced-price meals, an indicator of the poverty level in and around the school.
The middle school saw some improvement last year, posting some of the largest numeric gains in scores of any middle school in the county.
That was a good starting place for Young, who usually begins with schools at rock bottom, mired in a culture of failure and labeled with the scarlet “F” letter.
Young was principal for 13 years at four schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels in Jacksonville.
Three of the schools had received F’s on the state report cards when Young took the helm. Within three years all three failing schools improved to an A, B or C.
His crowning achievement came at Jean Ribault High School, a perennial failure in an impoverished community.
With 12 consecutive years of receiving D’s or F’s on the school’s annual report card, the school made the state’s intervene list.
After two years under Young’s leadership, the school earned its first C. The grade rose to an A during his third year as principal.
Young, along with a reading coach and math coach, now have teamed up with Warrington’s Lipnick to help students and teachers take Warrington Middle to the top of the state grading list.
“We just bring in our model,” Young says. “Anything we can think of to help that kid while he’s here, we try to do it.”
Youmone Berrien with Turnaround Solutions helps Casey Kramer’s seventh grade class at Warrington Middle School in Pensacola, Fl. Thursday, May 14, 2015.(Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
Nolte and Berrien split classroom time coaching new teachers and helping students. They spend hours after school analyzing and breaking down data.
Berrien worked part time for Turnaround at charter schools for three years. She’s worked at affluent schools, but her passion is working with students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“I love working in this environment,” Berrien says. “Their obstacles help my instruction, because I can use relevant issues to teach them.
As a reading coach, Berrien says she uses current events like the incidents in Ferguson, Miss., the Trayvon Martin shooting and the Baltimore riots to grab the students interest and encourage reading.
Berrien draws on the parallel between poetry and hip hop music to help drive home reading assignments.
“I teach them various devices that relate to both,” she says.
Other components of the improvement plan include community outreach, parental engagement and coaching and career planning for the students.
“Their feet are on the ground with us,” Lipnick says.
Where there’s a need, Turnaround is ready to offer a hand.
Monitoring halls, helping in the cafeteria, quelling classroom disruptions, the team members are like teachers and principals on standby.
Eva Williams, in her second year as a reading teacher, gives high marks to Berrien for helping make her a better teacher, which translates into better students.
Williams says Berrien understands the best practices for students and every decision she makes is based on research and data.
“She’s able to pinpoint exactly each students strengths and weaknesses,” Williams says. “She focuses on the best strategies to help the kids.”
For first-year teachers, like Casey Kramer, the support from Turnaround is a godsend.
“They provided a lot of guidance and helped set up my lessons,” Kramer said. “It’s a great support system to work with.”
Seventh-grader Taki'yah Tanksley studies an assignment in Casey Kramer's reading class at Warrington Middle School.[/caption]
An important part of their work is making connections with the elementary schools, or “feeders,” from which students will come to Warrington Middle next year.
They visit the schools, talk to students, their teachers and parents. They talk about curriculum, the standards and expectations they should be looking for in moving up from fifth to sixth grade.
With Turnaround, the school day doesn’t always end when the bell rings.
They’ve held parent night workshops to provide job placement, GED training and continuing education. They provide after-school tutoring and mentoring.
The consultants even work the concession stand at basketball games.
Young knows that learning is not just hard work. There’s a need for some fun and games.
One way to improve performance and behavior is through incentives, Young says.
He donated flat screen TVs and laptops to raffle for students who stayed out of trouble and maintained good grades. Students with the fewest referrals could opt out of wearing uniforms as a reward.
“Adults like incentives, too,” he said. “In some of our districts, we give bonuses to teachers for reaching certain targets. This is no different.”
For Lipnick, the best incentive is watching the school get better each day.
Student achievement is up and behavioral problems are down. Teachers are excited about teaching and students are interested in learning.
“We always said if Turnaround comes, it would lift everyone else up, too.” Lipnick said. “I want things that have never been done before done at this school. Why not here?”
— Student referrals and suspensions were cut in half — from 1,400 days of suspension to 700 days.
— Seventh and eighth graders had the highest increases in math proficiency among all middle schools.
At the beginning of the school year, 7 percent of seventh graders were proficient at math; by February, 38 percent were proficient.
— Warrington is the only middle school in the district to exceed FCAT 2014 proficiency in the third assessment period of the year.
“We justify our work based on student performance,” says Young, sitting in a dimmed room converted to an office at the school off Old Corry Road. “Our primary focus is student achievement."
Escambia County Schools Superintendent Malcolm Thomas says the data show promise.
“They had a great year,” Thomas says. “We certainly have enhanced our ability to turn around the school.”
Thomas cautions that because the state standardized test this year is new, year-over-year comparisons may be difficult to make.
Nevertheless, Thomas says he will recommend bringing Turnaround Solutions back next year.
Patty Hightower, Escambia County School Board chairman, also likes the work Turnaround has done.
She visited the school several times this year, read progress reports and watched a PowerPoint that highlighted the school improvements.
“We’ve tried a lot of things to find something successful at Warrington Middle and it looks like things have improved,” Hightower said. “We’re building trust in the community, and of course, we want students to be successful.”
The ‘cloud’ is gone
The School District gave Young targets to increase by 40 percent in reading, math and science in all grade levels based on Discovery Education test results, the assessment the district uses to gauge student progress through the year. Students take a series of three tests, beginning at the start of school in September. The first test sets the benchmark and the final test in February measures the progress over the school year. Turnaround met or exceeded each benchmark except for sixth-grade reading scores. [caption id="attachment_23467" align="aligncenter" width="850"]
Warrington Middle School Principal Regina Lipnick and Assistant Principal Derrick Thomas welcome the assistance and support from Turnaround Solutions.[/caption]
Lipnick has seen the culture of failure and hopelessness fade as teachers and students taste success in the classroom.
“Teachers have bought into the program and the kids, too,” Lipnick says. “The cloud over the school is gone. It’s positive and uplifting.”
Creating success at Warrington Middle School by improving student achievement has been on Thomas’ agenda since becoming superintendent six years ago.
Warrington Middle began the 2014 school year on the brink of failure.
Under the state’s grade system, Warrington got a D in 2012, an F in 2013, and a D last year.
All of its 670 students qualified for free or reduced-price meals, an indicator of the poverty level in and around the school.
The middle school saw some improvement last year, posting some of the largest numeric gains in scores of any middle school in the county.
That was a good starting place for Young, who usually begins with schools at rock bottom, mired in a culture of failure and labeled with the scarlet “F” letter.
Young was principal for 13 years at four schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels in Jacksonville.
Three of the schools had received F’s on the state report cards when Young took the helm. Within three years all three failing schools improved to an A, B or C.
His crowning achievement came at Jean Ribault High School, a perennial failure in an impoverished community.
With 12 consecutive years of receiving D’s or F’s on the school’s annual report card, the school made the state’s intervene list.
After two years under Young’s leadership, the school earned its first C. The grade rose to an A during his third year as principal.
Young, along with a reading coach and math coach, now have teamed up with Warrington’s Lipnick to help students and teachers take Warrington Middle to the top of the state grading list.
“We just bring in our model,” Young says. “Anything we can think of to help that kid while he’s here, we try to do it.”
Using data to drive results
Reading coach Youmone Berrien and math coach Amanda Nolte spend as much time as teachers at the school and in the classroom. Young shares his time with schools in other states, working on turning things around in places as far as Connecticut, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. [caption id="attachment_23463" align="aligncenter" width="850"]
Youmone Berrien with Turnaround Solutions helps Casey Kramer’s seventh grade class at Warrington Middle School in Pensacola, Fl. Thursday, May 14, 2015.(Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
Nolte and Berrien split classroom time coaching new teachers and helping students. They spend hours after school analyzing and breaking down data.
Berrien worked part time for Turnaround at charter schools for three years. She’s worked at affluent schools, but her passion is working with students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“I love working in this environment,” Berrien says. “Their obstacles help my instruction, because I can use relevant issues to teach them.
As a reading coach, Berrien says she uses current events like the incidents in Ferguson, Miss., the Trayvon Martin shooting and the Baltimore riots to grab the students interest and encourage reading.
Berrien draws on the parallel between poetry and hip hop music to help drive home reading assignments.
“I teach them various devices that relate to both,” she says.
Other components of the improvement plan include community outreach, parental engagement and coaching and career planning for the students.
“Their feet are on the ground with us,” Lipnick says.
Where there’s a need, Turnaround is ready to offer a hand.
Monitoring halls, helping in the cafeteria, quelling classroom disruptions, the team members are like teachers and principals on standby.
Eva Williams, in her second year as a reading teacher, gives high marks to Berrien for helping make her a better teacher, which translates into better students.
Williams says Berrien understands the best practices for students and every decision she makes is based on research and data.
“She’s able to pinpoint exactly each students strengths and weaknesses,” Williams says. “She focuses on the best strategies to help the kids.”
For first-year teachers, like Casey Kramer, the support from Turnaround is a godsend.
“They provided a lot of guidance and helped set up my lessons,” Kramer said. “It’s a great support system to work with.”
Reaching into the community
In past years, Warrington staff included two assistant principals, two guidance counselors and two coaches. With Turnaround, those positions and salaries were eliminated. Turnaround’s is paid through Title I money intended for schools with high poverty. The district believes it is money well spent if it means improvements at a school that has struggled with student achievement for years. “We’ve made some investments in Warrington and we’ve reached the tipping point,“ Thomas said. “It’s all about timing. If Turnaround had come in six years ago, it might have been a struggle. Some of those battles have already been won.” Young believes the practices and principles he used in one school can work at others. After years in the classroom and as a principal, Young knows that improving a school goes beyond classroom instructions. It’s about building relationships and trust, showing students you care about them and their well-being, he says. [caption id="attachment_23466" align="aligncenter" width="850"]
Seventh-grader Taki'yah Tanksley studies an assignment in Casey Kramer's reading class at Warrington Middle School.[/caption]
An important part of their work is making connections with the elementary schools, or “feeders,” from which students will come to Warrington Middle next year.
They visit the schools, talk to students, their teachers and parents. They talk about curriculum, the standards and expectations they should be looking for in moving up from fifth to sixth grade.
With Turnaround, the school day doesn’t always end when the bell rings.
They’ve held parent night workshops to provide job placement, GED training and continuing education. They provide after-school tutoring and mentoring.
The consultants even work the concession stand at basketball games.
Young knows that learning is not just hard work. There’s a need for some fun and games.
One way to improve performance and behavior is through incentives, Young says.
He donated flat screen TVs and laptops to raffle for students who stayed out of trouble and maintained good grades. Students with the fewest referrals could opt out of wearing uniforms as a reward.
“Adults like incentives, too,” he said. “In some of our districts, we give bonuses to teachers for reaching certain targets. This is no different.”
For Lipnick, the best incentive is watching the school get better each day.
Student achievement is up and behavioral problems are down. Teachers are excited about teaching and students are interested in learning.
“We always said if Turnaround comes, it would lift everyone else up, too.” Lipnick said. “I want things that have never been done before done at this school. Why not here?”
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