By: Kala Lindley
On January 21, 2011, Sparta High School students took part in a press conference with Dr. Jon Jones, a Direct School Improvement Specialist.
Jones was hired by President Barack Obama in December of 2010. He is with the US Department of Education and is looking to improve a number of things. “Sparta High is going under a transformation beginning February 1, 2011. They have been stagnant for the last couple of years and just below the state average,” said Jones.
With a focus mainly on subjects of math, reading, and science; Jones is aiming to increase ACT and WKCE scores. “This is all a push that first began on January 8, 2002 when Bush established No Child Left Behind,” stated Jones.
Cost will not be factor in this unilateral change. “We are not looking to impose any extra tax dollars on our taxpayers. The extra cost will be absorbed by the government,” said Jones.
Effective February 1, 2011, there will be many changes seen at Sparta High School. “Administration, faculty, as well as teaching assistants will all be replaced by a US Department of Education team,” added Jones. Pay will continue through the employees current contracts, but as of June 30, 2011, they will no longer be employed under the Sparta Area School District.
As for the students, a lot of pressure will be absorbed by them. “School days will run from 7:45 a.m. and conclude at 5 p.m. Co-curricular activities will be suspended as well as work permits. This is an effort to increase our student achievement,” said Jones. In addition to these changes, students will have to go to school until July 1. If progress made by both special and regular educated students improves by 25%, school will resume September 1. However, if no progress is made, school will be back in session on July 11.
In addition to all these changes, five police liaison officers will make their rounds at Sparta High School. “They will not be local Sparta police officers, and will have no ties to our local community,” said Jones. Officers will mainly target students and parents that do not comply with this change.
Poor attendance will no longer be acceptable. “There will be no open campus. If students leave during their lunch period, they may not come back,” states Jones. Even if your child is sick, you will be instructed to bring them to school. “We have an infirmary set up, that will take care of your child and allow them to continue with their academic studies,” said Jones.
This effort to increase student achievement has been seen in other countries and states as well as Wisconsin. “Sparta is the only school in Wisconsin to adopt this change, but five other states including California, Michigan, Rhode Island, North Carolina and Florida, as well as China, Japan, and South Korea have done this,” adds Jones.
Jones is hoping these changes will improve academic performance at Sparta High School. “This is a big change that is necessary,” said Jones. Students are our future, which should be one of our top priorities.
The Spartan Defender is the newspaper produced by the E-writing class of Sparta High School, located in (you guessed it) Sparta, WI. Please send any comments or complaints to thespartandefender@gmail.com. We thank you for your comments and support!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Fictional Final
By: Danny Huber
At a ground breaking press conference at Sparta High School January 21, 2011 Dr. Jon Jones, in association with the U.S. Department of Education, announced a radical new educational policy effective February 1, 2011.
“ACT scores at Sparta High School have been stagnant for the past three years,” said Jones. In response to low test scores relative to the rest of the nation, the U.S.D.E. has targeted schools with low test scores in six states across the nation.
“Effective February 1 all administration and faculty currently employed at Sparta High School will be suspended with pay until their contracts are up. At that time their contracts will not be renewed with Sparta High School,” said Jones. The faculty is to be replaced by certified teachers that the U.S.D.E. will assign to Sparta.
A new school day and year length will be implemented at the high school as well. “School days will last from 7:45 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The school year will be extended to July 1 and could potentially begin July 11 next year,” said Jones.
To ensure that students are complying with the change in the amount of time spent at school, five liaison officers will be employed by the government with the sole purpose of making sure kids are at school. “We do not intend to impart any tax increases to local tax payers to fund this change in policy. The faculty, administration and officers will be funded by the U.S. government,” said Jones.
The length of the school year will be determined by the increase in academics, particularly targeting math, reading and science. “Math, reading and science subjects are all going to be expanded and students may be forced to drop other elective classes to make room for these subjects,” said Jones.
All students are required to take a unit exam in math, reading and science, similar to final exams now. However, each grade will take a different level of test. Students may elect to take other classes, but will be responsible for the information on the unit exam. “The unit exams are not to replace finals but will measure the amount of progress in the target subjects per grade level,” said Jones.
All co-curricular activities and work permits have been suspended until test scores increase. Test scores are hoped to be increased by at least 25 percent by all students in every grade level. “Co-curricular activities may be reinstated upon increases in academics and review of the new administration,” said Jones.
These changes may be deemed radical by many, but the U.S.D.E. maintains that our children and their education is our future. We should do everything in our power to ensure that it is the best education we can provide for them.
At a ground breaking press conference at Sparta High School January 21, 2011 Dr. Jon Jones, in association with the U.S. Department of Education, announced a radical new educational policy effective February 1, 2011.
“ACT scores at Sparta High School have been stagnant for the past three years,” said Jones. In response to low test scores relative to the rest of the nation, the U.S.D.E. has targeted schools with low test scores in six states across the nation.
“Effective February 1 all administration and faculty currently employed at Sparta High School will be suspended with pay until their contracts are up. At that time their contracts will not be renewed with Sparta High School,” said Jones. The faculty is to be replaced by certified teachers that the U.S.D.E. will assign to Sparta.
A new school day and year length will be implemented at the high school as well. “School days will last from 7:45 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The school year will be extended to July 1 and could potentially begin July 11 next year,” said Jones.
To ensure that students are complying with the change in the amount of time spent at school, five liaison officers will be employed by the government with the sole purpose of making sure kids are at school. “We do not intend to impart any tax increases to local tax payers to fund this change in policy. The faculty, administration and officers will be funded by the U.S. government,” said Jones.
The length of the school year will be determined by the increase in academics, particularly targeting math, reading and science. “Math, reading and science subjects are all going to be expanded and students may be forced to drop other elective classes to make room for these subjects,” said Jones.
All students are required to take a unit exam in math, reading and science, similar to final exams now. However, each grade will take a different level of test. Students may elect to take other classes, but will be responsible for the information on the unit exam. “The unit exams are not to replace finals but will measure the amount of progress in the target subjects per grade level,” said Jones.
All co-curricular activities and work permits have been suspended until test scores increase. Test scores are hoped to be increased by at least 25 percent by all students in every grade level. “Co-curricular activities may be reinstated upon increases in academics and review of the new administration,” said Jones.
These changes may be deemed radical by many, but the U.S.D.E. maintains that our children and their education is our future. We should do everything in our power to ensure that it is the best education we can provide for them.
Sparta High School Experiences Unilateral Changes (Fiction)
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) movement was put in progress on January 8 2002. The No Child Left Behind was created to help increase students ACT scores and State Assessment scores. This is being practiced in five other states, California, Michigan, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Florida. Sparta will be the only city in Wisconsin to be doing this. The WKCT has been increasing the past few years but it is on enough. When this goes into effect, Sparta High School faculty will lose their jobs and new certified teachers will be brought in to teach the students.
Dr. Jon Jones said, "after February 1, 2010 faculty will no longer go to Sparta High School." By June 30, 2011, they will no longer be employed.
The school day will begin at normal time, 7:45 AM, and end at 5:00 PM. This is only going to be happening in the Sparta High School, so busing won't be a problem. The busses will do their normal routes, then return to get the High School students.
In doing this Jones believes that it is going to increase studies throughout the whole school. In return, this is going to cut out all co-curricular activities, and suspend work permits. The school year could last as long as July 11, 2011. If by July 1, 2011, everyone's scores are increased by 25%, then that will be the end of the school year. If scores are not increased by everyone, then everyone gets a ten day break, and return back to school. If school ends on July 1, 2011, then classes will begin again on September 1, 2011, as usual.
Attendance is going to be mandatory, you are expected to be at school, ill or not. There are going to be five additional police assigned to Sparta High School, but they are not the Sparta Police. This will be for the students or parents who don't agree with the new policy, also to employers who fail to follow procedures. Open campus will no longer be an option, "the school has a great lunch program," says Jones. Lunches will be separated into classes so not everyone has lunch at the same time.
The main courses that Sparta High School is going to focus on will be Math, Reading, and Science, Jones believes that History is irrelevant. At the end of June, all juniors and seniors are going to be required to take the ACT test and the scores need to be increased. "If there is no increase, then there will be new teachers assigned," said Jones.
Once everyone's scores have increased, then co-curricular activities could be reinstated." This change should not affect athletic scholarships, there are academic scholarships," said Jones. There will be no study halls, students will have ten minutes at the end of every class to work on their assignment. Since there are only going to be Math, Science, and Reading, students may have the same subject more than once a day. Sparta is going back to old school academics, with no technology.
"The present is now. We have a hard time waiting, because when we wait, we will only be that far behind. We can't wait anymore," said Jones.
Sparta High has Gone Insane (FICTION)
The Sparta High Administration will be implemented as of February 1, 2011, but there pay will continue for their contracted year as June 30. A team from the United States Department of education will replace all the faculty. A few other states are going to undertake this approach as well such as; California, Michigan, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Florida. Only Sparta High is the only school in the state of Wisconsin to adopted this.
Sparta High School is undertaking this new teaching style. "School will start as usual at 7:45AM until 5:00PM and this scheduling only effects the High School. Buses will run their normal times and take younger kids home and then will have transportation ready for them at 5 PM" said Dr. Jones.
Jones said "That we have not seen enough improvement in test results and in the three major studies. Math, Science, and Reading so we are making wholesale changes."
" There will be no athletics, music, and extra curricular activities, also all work permits will be suspended. Any workplace having a student employed with them will have huge fines to pay" said Jones. Our after school programs have not been increasing our student achievement so all extra curricular have been suspended until further notice.
"Only the High School will extend their school year until July 1. We believe that we can increase student achieve at Sparta High School. Jones said. If it is has not improved by some there will be a ten day vacation from July 1 to July 10 and then school will resume on July 11.
"We cannot let our students achieve at a low level. As our students are our future and we need to take this very seriously. Jones explained.
"This will be all paid for the Government. This has no charge for the tax payers of Sparta" Jones said.
"Your child must attend school everyday, if sick will have an infirmary to treat your child and have they can learn" Jones said.
"All Juniors and Seniors will have to take the ACT at the end of June all test scores need to improve by 25 percent." Jones said.
Fiction
By: Nick Loeffelholz
Starting over from scratch is the best way to put what is happening at Sparta High School. This is what Jon Jones calls “A unilateral change for the best.” Along with Sparta High School, schools from 5 other states are also undergoing this tremendous transition.
The reason for this transformation is because Mr. Jon Jones claims “Sparta High School’s students’ ACT scores are much lower than average.” His goal for next year is to increase the school’s average ACT scores drastically by 25%. If these goals are not met, he claims to take even more extreme measures to get the students more serious for their education. He also believes the reason for this is the lack of higher scoring and less time management produced by both students and teachers.
To his beliefs, he thinks that getting rid of all the teachers and all other faculty will solve part of the problem. These teachers will be replaced by hand picked individuals by the government to ensure total professionalism. These “new” teachers will only be focusing on the main classes that are tested on the ACT. These classes include Math, Science, and English/Reading. Upon the arrival of the new faculty, five extra police officer/liaisons will be coming to the school to ensure student enrollment is kept in place all throughout the year. They will be after both students and parents on punctuality.
Also he believes that extending the school day to 7:45am to 5:00pm will give students more time to study and academically improve. On top of this, the school year will also be extended from May to July 1st. This is also believed to give students more time during the year to get there studies done and to benefit from these studies to get a higher score on their ACT.
Jones also says that that work permits, athletics, and off campus lunch will all no longer be options for students in fear that students would only just take advantage of these privileges and wouldn’t take academics as serious. Though the teachers will be at school longer thanks to the longer schedule, there will not be any extra costs to the taxpayers or the students. The government will be paying for everything from ACTs to snacks to the faculty that will lead the school.
Jones main idea on the transition is to make sure that students can keep a steady, yet positive GPA along will an average to high ACT score to bump up the total school’s average for scores. Hopefully the scores will go up right away so that maybe he will give back the privileges to the students who somewhat need them.
Starting over from scratch is the best way to put what is happening at Sparta High School. This is what Jon Jones calls “A unilateral change for the best.” Along with Sparta High School, schools from 5 other states are also undergoing this tremendous transition.
The reason for this transformation is because Mr. Jon Jones claims “Sparta High School’s students’ ACT scores are much lower than average.” His goal for next year is to increase the school’s average ACT scores drastically by 25%. If these goals are not met, he claims to take even more extreme measures to get the students more serious for their education. He also believes the reason for this is the lack of higher scoring and less time management produced by both students and teachers.
To his beliefs, he thinks that getting rid of all the teachers and all other faculty will solve part of the problem. These teachers will be replaced by hand picked individuals by the government to ensure total professionalism. These “new” teachers will only be focusing on the main classes that are tested on the ACT. These classes include Math, Science, and English/Reading. Upon the arrival of the new faculty, five extra police officer/liaisons will be coming to the school to ensure student enrollment is kept in place all throughout the year. They will be after both students and parents on punctuality.
Also he believes that extending the school day to 7:45am to 5:00pm will give students more time to study and academically improve. On top of this, the school year will also be extended from May to July 1st. This is also believed to give students more time during the year to get there studies done and to benefit from these studies to get a higher score on their ACT.
Jones also says that that work permits, athletics, and off campus lunch will all no longer be options for students in fear that students would only just take advantage of these privileges and wouldn’t take academics as serious. Though the teachers will be at school longer thanks to the longer schedule, there will not be any extra costs to the taxpayers or the students. The government will be paying for everything from ACTs to snacks to the faculty that will lead the school.
Jones main idea on the transition is to make sure that students can keep a steady, yet positive GPA along will an average to high ACT score to bump up the total school’s average for scores. Hopefully the scores will go up right away so that maybe he will give back the privileges to the students who somewhat need them.
Sparta High is Undergoing Unilateral Changes [fiction]
By: Brianna Brinckman
Effective February 1, 2011, the Sparta High School will be undergoing unilateral changes in effort to increase the academic scores of students school wide.
On January 8, 2002 President Bush signed the "No Child Left Behind" law in effort to increase the testing scores of high school students nation wide. When Obama became president in 2008, he moved this law to one of his top priorities. In the past three years the ACT scores at Sparta High have been stagnant, but just below the average. In addition, the WKCT (required for all tenth graders) scores have been increasing but they are still not high enough.
Starting February 1, the entire faculty will no longer reply to the Sparta High School Administration. They will still be paid until June 1st, but all the faculty at Sparta high will be replaced by certified teachers all over the nation that have been hired by the US Government. "The Students are our future and we need to take this seriously," said Jon Jones from the US Department of Education.
Sparta High is not the only school where these changes are being made. This unilateral change is also occurring in California, Michigan, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Florida. Jones wanted to ensure that these changes are not going to bring an increase to the tax payer dollars. "These actions are all funded by the government," Said Jones.
He goes on to explain that this change is in need of effect now and we can not wait any longer. "The present is now. We have a hard time waiting because when we wait, we will only be that far behind. We can't wait anymore," said Jones.
There are many changes that are going to be made to the typical school day in order to help raise the testing scores. "The school day will start at 7:45 as always, but we will end our day at 5:00," said Jones. This day will include more classes in Mathematics, Science, and Reading (the classes in which we are currently struggling.) In addition to the lengthened school day, the school year will also be lengthened. "Our school year will officially end on June 1st, but if no progress is made by then, we will receive a ten day leave and resume school on June 11," said Jones.
Jones, as well as the US Government, is aware that students are not going to like these changes and are going to be tempted to skip school. "The government is bringing in an additional five police offers from around the nation to come in and enforce the law," said Jones. Jones goes on to explain that these new officers will be tracking down students who skip, parents who are uncooperative, and employers of parents with secondary students.
The school will also be adding an infirmary in the school for students who are sick. Jones explains that all students must be in school wether they are sick or not.
The changes in effort to increase scores will not only effect the hours of the school day, but they will also effect the elective classes and co-curricular activities. "Effective February 1, we will no longer be issuing work permits, and all extra curricular activities such as sports and music will be terminated," said Jones. There is a chance that these co-curricular activities will be brought back into the school but only if the scoring needs are met.
"We understand these changes are drastic, but we believe the outcome will be nothing but positive,"said Jones.
On January 8, 2002 President Bush signed the "No Child Left Behind" law in effort to increase the testing scores of high school students nation wide. When Obama became president in 2008, he moved this law to one of his top priorities. In the past three years the ACT scores at Sparta High have been stagnant, but just below the average. In addition, the WKCT (required for all tenth graders) scores have been increasing but they are still not high enough.
Starting February 1, the entire faculty will no longer reply to the Sparta High School Administration. They will still be paid until June 1st, but all the faculty at Sparta high will be replaced by certified teachers all over the nation that have been hired by the US Government. "The Students are our future and we need to take this seriously," said Jon Jones from the US Department of Education.
Sparta High is not the only school where these changes are being made. This unilateral change is also occurring in California, Michigan, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Florida. Jones wanted to ensure that these changes are not going to bring an increase to the tax payer dollars. "These actions are all funded by the government," Said Jones.
He goes on to explain that this change is in need of effect now and we can not wait any longer. "The present is now. We have a hard time waiting because when we wait, we will only be that far behind. We can't wait anymore," said Jones.
There are many changes that are going to be made to the typical school day in order to help raise the testing scores. "The school day will start at 7:45 as always, but we will end our day at 5:00," said Jones. This day will include more classes in Mathematics, Science, and Reading (the classes in which we are currently struggling.) In addition to the lengthened school day, the school year will also be lengthened. "Our school year will officially end on June 1st, but if no progress is made by then, we will receive a ten day leave and resume school on June 11," said Jones.
Jones, as well as the US Government, is aware that students are not going to like these changes and are going to be tempted to skip school. "The government is bringing in an additional five police offers from around the nation to come in and enforce the law," said Jones. Jones goes on to explain that these new officers will be tracking down students who skip, parents who are uncooperative, and employers of parents with secondary students.
The school will also be adding an infirmary in the school for students who are sick. Jones explains that all students must be in school wether they are sick or not.
The changes in effort to increase scores will not only effect the hours of the school day, but they will also effect the elective classes and co-curricular activities. "Effective February 1, we will no longer be issuing work permits, and all extra curricular activities such as sports and music will be terminated," said Jones. There is a chance that these co-curricular activities will be brought back into the school but only if the scoring needs are met.
"We understand these changes are drastic, but we believe the outcome will be nothing but positive,"said Jones.
Major Changes at Sparta High School (FICTION)
January 21, 2011 Dr. Jon Jones, from the United States Department of Education announced that there would be a unilateral change at Sparta High School.The change will take effect February 1, 2011. Sparta High School will not be the only school district effected by the change, schools in the following states will also make the changes; California, Michigan, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Florida.
Even with the improved graduation rates and ACT scores Sparta High School Students score below average on tests. Barack Obama would like to see a change in this, that is why he hired Dr. Jon Jones.
Jones said, "A team hired by the Department of Education will replace the teachers and administration of Sparta High School. There pay will continue until June 30, but they will no longer have a job at Sparta High School."
Sparta High Schools employees will be without a job as of June 30. Jones said, " Sparta High School has an excellent staff, they are being sacrificed for the achievement of the students at Sparta High School."
The Sparta High School day will be altered. School will start at the usual time of 7:45am and end at 5pm. Jones said, " School will be extended until July 1. If progress is shown in test scores the school year will resume September 1, If no progress is shown there will be a ten day vacation period then school will begin again July 11."
All students extra curricular activities and co-curricular activities will be suspended until further notice. Jones said, " All work permits will no longer be valid, there will also be no more open campus."
There will be 5 more officers hired on to enforce every new change. Jones said, " All of the new officers will be outside officers, without knowledge of anyone from the Sparta area."
Students will have to attend school everyday no matter what, even if they are sick. Jones said, " We will have an infirmary set-up for the ill students where they will be able to learn."
Classes will be made longer and there will be more class periods throughout the day. Jones said, " There will no longer be any study halls, there will be no decrease in foreign languages. We are also looking at increasing our AP classes."
There will be final unit exams at the end of the unit or when a teacher decides it is an appropriate time. Jones said, " President Barack Obama would like to see an increase in test scores of at least 25 percent in every student."
They would like everything to be taken seriously and know that this is an extreme change. Jones said, " These changes will not effect the tax payers. The government is funding everything."
Students and parents should be ready for this change that will be happening as of February 1, 2011.
Even with the improved graduation rates and ACT scores Sparta High School Students score below average on tests. Barack Obama would like to see a change in this, that is why he hired Dr. Jon Jones.
Jones said, "A team hired by the Department of Education will replace the teachers and administration of Sparta High School. There pay will continue until June 30, but they will no longer have a job at Sparta High School."
Sparta High Schools employees will be without a job as of June 30. Jones said, " Sparta High School has an excellent staff, they are being sacrificed for the achievement of the students at Sparta High School."
The Sparta High School day will be altered. School will start at the usual time of 7:45am and end at 5pm. Jones said, " School will be extended until July 1. If progress is shown in test scores the school year will resume September 1, If no progress is shown there will be a ten day vacation period then school will begin again July 11."
All students extra curricular activities and co-curricular activities will be suspended until further notice. Jones said, " All work permits will no longer be valid, there will also be no more open campus."
There will be 5 more officers hired on to enforce every new change. Jones said, " All of the new officers will be outside officers, without knowledge of anyone from the Sparta area."
Students will have to attend school everyday no matter what, even if they are sick. Jones said, " We will have an infirmary set-up for the ill students where they will be able to learn."
Classes will be made longer and there will be more class periods throughout the day. Jones said, " There will no longer be any study halls, there will be no decrease in foreign languages. We are also looking at increasing our AP classes."
There will be final unit exams at the end of the unit or when a teacher decides it is an appropriate time. Jones said, " President Barack Obama would like to see an increase in test scores of at least 25 percent in every student."
They would like everything to be taken seriously and know that this is an extreme change. Jones said, " These changes will not effect the tax payers. The government is funding everything."
Students and parents should be ready for this change that will be happening as of February 1, 2011.
Fiction
In 2002 President George Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act. This act was set to improve graduation rates, increase ACT scores, and to increase scores of the WKCE test. Dr. Jon Jones, a member of the US Department of Education stated, “Because Sparta High School has not been meeting the No Child Left Behind Act, the all of the administration and faculty at Sparta High School is being replaced on February 1st, 2011.”
The replacements are selected throughout the country by the US Board of Education to improve the education at Sparta High. Dr. Jones continues, “The administration being replaced will not work but will still get paid until June 30th, 2011, which is the end of their contracts.”
July 1st, 2011 is the set date for the end of the school year. Dr. Jon Jones continues, “If the students do not show at least a 25% increase on scores, we will still end on July 1st, 2011 but instead of starting school back up on September 1st, 2011 they will get ten days of summer vacation and start back up on July 11th, 2011. The only exception is that seniors are for sure set to graduate on September 1st, 2011.”
School days will start at 7:45am and go until 5:00pm. Dr. Jones explains, “The US Board of Education thought that it was necessary to take out study halls, but add 15 minutes on the end of class periods to do homework for each class.”
To also help improve the education at the high school, all co-curricular activities are being suspended along with work permits. If an employer gets caught employing students, their consequence will be a large fine. There is a possibility that the extra curricular activities and work permits will be re-instated, but that is only if the test scores increase drastically 25% for each student.
The main focus for school will be to improve in math, science, and reading. To achieve this goal, the board will re-organize schedules and classes, while possibly cutting elective classes. Dr. Jones said, “We want to go back to old school academics, which gets rid of computers and technology to focus on textbooks.”
More changes include no open campus and 5 new school officers that are not local. Dr. Jones said, “We expect these changes to not only improve the education of Sparta High School but hopefully improve the country.”
The replacements are selected throughout the country by the US Board of Education to improve the education at Sparta High. Dr. Jones continues, “The administration being replaced will not work but will still get paid until June 30th, 2011, which is the end of their contracts.”
July 1st, 2011 is the set date for the end of the school year. Dr. Jon Jones continues, “If the students do not show at least a 25% increase on scores, we will still end on July 1st, 2011 but instead of starting school back up on September 1st, 2011 they will get ten days of summer vacation and start back up on July 11th, 2011. The only exception is that seniors are for sure set to graduate on September 1st, 2011.”
School days will start at 7:45am and go until 5:00pm. Dr. Jones explains, “The US Board of Education thought that it was necessary to take out study halls, but add 15 minutes on the end of class periods to do homework for each class.”
To also help improve the education at the high school, all co-curricular activities are being suspended along with work permits. If an employer gets caught employing students, their consequence will be a large fine. There is a possibility that the extra curricular activities and work permits will be re-instated, but that is only if the test scores increase drastically 25% for each student.
The main focus for school will be to improve in math, science, and reading. To achieve this goal, the board will re-organize schedules and classes, while possibly cutting elective classes. Dr. Jones said, “We want to go back to old school academics, which gets rid of computers and technology to focus on textbooks.”
More changes include no open campus and 5 new school officers that are not local. Dr. Jones said, “We expect these changes to not only improve the education of Sparta High School but hopefully improve the country.”
School Improvements at Sparta High (FICTIONAL)
Sparta High School is now in effect to start a unilateral change under the No Child Left Behind program presented by the Untied States president, Barack Obama on January 8, 2002. Dr. Jon Jones was hired to direct school improvement. "We believe we can increase education at Sparta High School," says Jones. Many changes will be made to increase ACT and WKCE scores required for all students at the High School.
"We need to see improvement by 25 percent for the ACT scores," says Jones. "These scores have been lowering for the past three years. These changes can wait no longer." To make sure this will happen all teachers currently employed by Sparta High School will be replaced by certified teachers from all over the nation that will be assigned by the United States Department of Education and paid for by the government. The current staff will be paid throughout the rest of their contract year. However, as of June 30 they will no longer be employed by Sparta High School.
The government will also be paying for any other additional expenses needed to make these changes. "Cost is not a factor." says Jones. Not only will the teachers be replaced, so will any co-curricular activities.
On February 1 all after school activities, including sports, will be suspended. In addition, work permits will not be provided. School will begin its usual time at 7:45 am but will continue until approximately 5 pm with no open campus for students. "We will be focusing on math, reading, and science, for these are the subjects the students mainly lack in," says Jones. The school periods will be longer and focusing more on the main subjects.
To insure the students enrollment in school with these new improvements, five additional police officers will be placed in the school. They will make sure parents are bringing their kids to school and that employers are not allowing students to be working when school is still going on into the late evening. "Any employers giving the students hours will be fined heavily," says Jones. In addition to the longer school days, the year will be longer as well.
"The High School will end their school year on July 1. If there is progress school will redeem on September 1 as usual. If there isn't any improvement in our student's learning, school will resume ten days later on July 11," says Jones. All these changes are to insure the best possible education for our Sparta High School students.
"Students are our future," says Jones. "We want the best education for them. This is a big change for this area and state. However, it is necessary."
"We need to see improvement by 25 percent for the ACT scores," says Jones. "These scores have been lowering for the past three years. These changes can wait no longer." To make sure this will happen all teachers currently employed by Sparta High School will be replaced by certified teachers from all over the nation that will be assigned by the United States Department of Education and paid for by the government. The current staff will be paid throughout the rest of their contract year. However, as of June 30 they will no longer be employed by Sparta High School.
The government will also be paying for any other additional expenses needed to make these changes. "Cost is not a factor." says Jones. Not only will the teachers be replaced, so will any co-curricular activities.
On February 1 all after school activities, including sports, will be suspended. In addition, work permits will not be provided. School will begin its usual time at 7:45 am but will continue until approximately 5 pm with no open campus for students. "We will be focusing on math, reading, and science, for these are the subjects the students mainly lack in," says Jones. The school periods will be longer and focusing more on the main subjects.
To insure the students enrollment in school with these new improvements, five additional police officers will be placed in the school. They will make sure parents are bringing their kids to school and that employers are not allowing students to be working when school is still going on into the late evening. "Any employers giving the students hours will be fined heavily," says Jones. In addition to the longer school days, the year will be longer as well.
"The High School will end their school year on July 1. If there is progress school will redeem on September 1 as usual. If there isn't any improvement in our student's learning, school will resume ten days later on July 11," says Jones. All these changes are to insure the best possible education for our Sparta High School students.
"Students are our future," says Jones. "We want the best education for them. This is a big change for this area and state. However, it is necessary."
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