An Eastern York School District Update

Eastern York High School's major building goal for 2010-2011 was the elimination of failure. This goal was supported by a building-wide focus on Literacy, the Academic At-Risk program, and the expansion of Mandatory Working Lunch. The results of the collective efforts of Eastern York High School's faculty, staff, and administration were truly remarkable. For the 2010-2011 school year all eligible Seniors graduated, no juniors were retained, no sophomores were retained and only one full time Freshman student was retained at grade level.

Developing teacher and student capacity regarding Literacy was achieved at EYHS during 2010-2011 through focused professional development and the creation and implementation of the Literacy Block into the High School master schedule. The purpose of the Literacy Block was to increase the skill levels of students in specific reading standards that were identified through universal screeners. Literacy skills were developed through weekly lessons generated by all teachers in their specific curricular content area throughout the school year.

The Academic At-Risk Program also supported the building goal of eliminating failure by identifying at-risk students every 15 days and then having the students work with their teachers to create plans to bring up their grades. Progress Monitoring was and continues to be an essential piece of this program.

Mandatory Working Lunch was assigned to "intentional non-learners" or students who were failing because they did not complete all of their assigned work. Students with Mandatory Working Lunch ate a bag lunch during their lunch period with an administrator until they completed all of their assigned work.

The combination of Literacy Block, the Academic At-Risk Program, and the expansion of Mandatory Working Lunch with the goal of eliminating failure has had a profound impact on student learning at Eastern York High School.

Beginning with the Class of 2015, all students will be required to demonstrate proficiency in financial literacy by taking the Personal Finance class. Topics covered include budgeting, banking services, savings and investing, credit, buying a home and auto and obtaining adequate insurance. Students will take Personal Finance in either their Junior or Senior year. Last year students in the Personal Finance classes took the National Financial Capability Challenge. Eastern had two students achieve a perfect score and 15 students scored in the top 20% out 84,000 students who participated. Eastern’s average score was 79%, 10 points higher than the average national score of 69%. These numbers certainly demonstrate that Eastern York School District is on the move.