Books, dogs, pumpkins help PBC measure a quality education

Pieter B. Coeymans Elementary School Principal Betsy Smith recently outlined how the school community measures a quality education and how PBC strives to provide that education:

• Certified Reading Dogs frequent classes to listen to children read.  This activity motivates children and improves their reading fluency.

• Students hit the right note in band - 47students play a dozen different instruments.

• There are so many students and classes using the computer laboratory that scheduling can become an issue.

• One hundred-and-fifty books are checked out of the PBC library daily. The library has a catalog of more than 13,000 books.

• Students regularly interact with community members in schools – including a neighbor who assisted the school with growing a pumpkin patch.

• Curriculum crosses numerous subjects. For example students in art class work in clay with students learning that the material is harvested from the Earth and has been used by humans for millions of years for making objects for daily living and artwork.

Smith also updated the board on test scores for state assessments. She reported that 90 percent of fourth grade students earned a level 3 or 4 - (considered meeting and exceeding state expectations) during testing last year, up from 89 percent the previous two years.

In Social students, 91.5 percent of students scored a level 3 or 4, up from 89.5 percent the previous year and down from 92.6 percent in 2005.