October 8, 2007
Albany -- Teachers at the International Studies Elementary Charter School work hard to push their students. And their efforts have paid off.
"Our percentage of gains would be in the top 10 percent of schools in the state of Georgia. Therefore qualifying us for a national Blue Ribbon," said principal, Wanda Mallard.
This is only awarded to eight schools in the state. "We all work diligently here at International Studies, and I am just very proud," said Teacher of the Year, Evangerla Jones.
Part of the hard work that went into achieving this honor is constant analysis. "We teach children from where they are and take them to the next level instead of starting from where we think everyone should be, a base line score. We assess the children and we do pre-assessments to find out what they already know and then we just take them further," said Jones.
Their work at improvement will be acknowledged in the nation's capital. "We are going to Washington DC.. on November 12 and 13 to the national ceremony to receive those distinctions given to the 2007 Blue Ribbon schools. That's excitement in itself," said Mallard.
But teachers and staff say that this couldn't be possible without the parents. "One of the main components are our parents. Our parents sent their children to school prepared to learn with the things that are needed in order to be successful at school. We have high level of parent volunteers, and when you have parental involvement the way that we do the children can't help, but succeed," said Jones.
Success achieved through a collaborative effort that will continue to be passed on to students.
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