With help from teachers, parents, administration and the community, the students of Shamong scored well on the annual report cards recently released by the Department of Education.
The report cards, based upon the 2010–2011 school year, show proficiency in student testing, information concerning classroom environments, the finances of the district and details on the staff and students.
The graduation rate was 96.11 percent at Seneca High School, just under the Lenape Regional High School District average of 96.89 percent — the highest rate in Burlington County according to assistant superintendent Carol L. Birnbohm.
Students who took the SAT performed better than the state average in all three categories.
In math, the average score was 527 compared to the state score of 517. The verbal section had students scoring an average of 506, while the state averaged in at 493. The essay portion garnered an average of 508 with the state scoring 496.
The average Lenape District total score was 1566.
Birnbohm emphasized the importance of completing the PSAT assessment prior to taking the SAT.
There is a huge correlation between student scores and the completion of the PSAT, she said.
The HSPA scores also show improvement at the district level.
“Students did very well on the HSPA,” said Birnbohm. “We’ve improved in both the math and the language arts literacy assessment.”
96.9 percent of the total district population was either proficient or advanced in the field of language arts while 88.3 percent scored similarly in math.
At Seneca High School, 96.2 percent were either proficient or advanced in language arts and 90.4 percent in math.
Average class sizes were 23.9 per class, which was higher than the state average of 19.
However, there were 10.6 students per faculty member, a number lower than the state average of 11.2.
Seneca administrative personnel had a median salary of $125,274, down from the 2009–2010 school year’s $129,812, but higher than the state median of $121,597.
Teachers’ salaries median rate was $64,295 while the state median was $68,435.
It cost $19,265 to educate each student in the district.
“We have very involved parents. We have great sending districts that feed to us,” Birnbohm said. “We have students and teachers that come prepared and willing to work.”
That sentiment begins at the secondary level in Shamong.
According to Shamong Township School District curriculum coordinator Lorraine Gilch, caring administrators, teachers and parents working together keep the education train moving.
“The staff’s always willing to go to workshops,” Gilch said, and “up their game,” while parent support is “phenomenal.”
Class sizes in Indian Mills Elementary School were right on par with the state, coming in at a total average of 19 students per class.
475 students attended the school.
There were 11.9 students per member of faculty, which was slightly higher than the state average of 11.1 students.
NJASK scores at the elementary fourth-grade level show a high level of performance.
“We believe that students best prepare for the test by being exposed to good instructional practices and by getting meaningful feedback on assessments,” said interim superintendent Dolores Szymanski. “NJASK4 science scores at the Indian Mills School show 95.1 percent of students tested fall into the proficient/advanced proficient category.”
For students in need of extra help, Szymanski said the school has been adding programs.
“The revised science curriculum will be in its second year of implementation and the revised math curriculum for K-5 will be in its second year of implementation,” she said. “A basic skills math component has been added to the elementary school for those students who demonstrate a weakness in this area. A Guiding Reading Program is being implemented in the elementary school — we are hopeful that this will help to boost the language arts literacy at the elementary school.”
Over at Indian Mills Memorial School, NJASK scores were on the rise as well.
“The NJASK scores in language arts literacy at Memorial School show tremendous improvement,” she said.
At the fifth-grade level, 34.5 percent were partially proficient, 58.8 percent were proficient and 6.7 percent were advanced proficient in the area of language arts literacy. This was compared to the state average of 38.8 percent of students being partially proficient, 55 percent proficient and 6.2 percent advanced proficient.
In math on the same level, 19.3 percent were partially proficient, 45.4 percent were proficient and 35.3 percent were advanced proficient.
At the state level, a nearly identical 19.2 percent were partially proficient, 41.2 percent were proficient and 39.6 percent were advanced proficient.
Moving up to the eighth-grade level of NJASK, students taking the language arts literacy assessment were 5.8 percent partially proficient, 67.3 percent proficient and 26.9 percent advanced proficient.
Statewide, a much higher number, at 17.4 percent, were partially proficient, 63.3 percent were proficient and 19.3 percent were advanced proficient.
In math, 13.5 percent were partially proficient, 42.3 percent were proficient and 44.2 percent were advanced proficient.
At the state level, 28 percent were partially proficient, 41.3 percent were proficient and 30.6 percent were advanced proficient.
Moving to the science portion, 7.7 percent of Shamong students were partially proficient, 53.8 percent were proficient and 38.5 percent were advanced proficient.
Statewide, 18.4 percent were partially proficient, 52.1 percent were proficient and 29.5 percent were advanced proficient.
The average class size in the middle school was 22.1, while the state came in at 19.
There were a total of 442 students in the school, with a student to faculty ratio of 12.3.
The median salary of administrators in the district was $109,650, while the state median was $111,133.
Teachers were paid slightly more than the state at $63,880. The state median was $59,575.
And the total cost to educate each student? $15,211.
Next school year, the Department of Education will begin to develop and publish school performance reports to replace the report card, according to a release by the state.
“Through these reports, the Department will set specific school and subgroup performance targets for both language arts and math, and will report annual progress towards meeting those goals,” reads the release. “In addition, the reports will include a number of new data points including progress towards closing achievement gaps, comparison to ‘peer schools’ with similar demographics, growth as measured through Student Growth Percentiles on state tests over time, and additional college and career readiness data points.”
The hope is for the state to provide better information through the new reports.
“While these Report Cards provide some helpful information to parents, the general public, and school administrators about school performance, the Department has long acknowledged that we can do a much better job of providing actionable information for the purposes of school improvement. We are moving to a new School Performance Report next year that will provide unprecedented data on how our schools are doing,” said acting commissioner Chris Cerf.
Shamong takes many measures to ensure a high quality of education, said Szymanski.
“Maintaining a positive educational environment where students succeed is a collaborative effort involving administrative staff, faculty, support staff and families,” she said. “Curriculum is current and reflects the standards.”
