Gering Freshman Academy
... located at the Gering Junior High
July 31, 2007
New
This Year - Freshman Academy
Decisions made for
Gering Public Schools are based on student performance data. Data
used in making our decision to change the structure at the junior
high is:
• The number of students who started as freshman compared to the
number of students who completed high school four years later
indicates an average of nearly 26 fewer students (approximately 15%
of the students).
• The percentage of students completing Algebra I by the end of
their freshman year; three years ago approximately 32%, two years
ago it was 44% and this past year we surpassed 60%, but this is
still short of our goal of 80%. If we want our students prepared
for more rigorous courses (not only in math and science), they must
complete Algebra by the end of their freshman year.
Students going from the 8th grade to high school are faced with the
most difficult transition of their educational experience. All too
often, too many of the students do not understand the importance of
their freshman year. This is especially true of a 7th-9th organized
setup like our current junior high. If the schedule, teachers and
the building are the same (despite all of the attempts by parents,
teachers, support staff and administrators to explain how critical
the 9th grade year is), too many students will not make a
successful transition. Many schools across the country are
addressing this concern by implementing and developing one of the
most successful programs, the Freshman Academy.
With this concept, a school within a school, freshmen are provided
with specific experiences to ensure they get off to a good start in
high school. Relationships are’ developed with students to address
any concerns early so students are not allowed to fail. The
relationship also includes the parents so they can be an active
partner in their child’s educational process.
Across the country, Freshman Academies prove they do work; schools
have seen improved attendance, course completion rates up, and
suspensions, as well, as a reduction in other discipline issues.
More students are completing the more challenging courses
throughout the remainder of their high school career.
We made the decision during the fall of 2006 to plan for the
Freshman Academy and to develop our 7th and 8th grade into a junior
high. Our staff has developed a good plan and could not wait for a
new building. With ingenuity, patience and fortitude our staff will
succeed in restructuring our current junior high, but it will work
even better when we have the Freshman Academy at the high school
campus.
| Get a Map to this School! |
| (The Freshman Academy is
located on the east side of the Gering Junior High) |
