Improving Groton Schools: Northeast Academy Elementary

Academic performance at Northeast Academy remained solid this year, but a lot of other things have changed: the principal, the assistant principal, some of the staff, two of the programs and the schedule.

“We’re trying to take a school that’s already doing very well academically and lift it even higher; that’s a challenge in itself,” Principal Paul Esposito said. Also, “There’s a lot of newness taking place.”

The school, like other Groton elementaries, saw a math program introduced last year, two new reading programs started this year and a new schedule with a block set aside for enrichment or extra help.

In addition, Northeast Academy is in its first year of training for the "positive behavior intervention and support" program, which rewards students for good behavior and asks every adult to be responsible for every child.

New Staff

Esposito started as new principal at Northeast in July. Assistant Principal Dottie Hoyt started in the spring.

Of the 34 teachers, five are new to the building, and three are new to the grades they’re teaching.  

Esposito said it’s going well, even if it is a challenge.

“With a change in leadership and leadership style, there’s an adjustment period,” he said. “It’s just like getting new students in class. You have to learn about their strengths, their likes, they’re dislikes and their personalities.”

Consistency Among Schools

Darlene Williams teaches pre-kindergarten in the morning and kindergarten in the afternoon. In her last role, she worked as a remedial teacher full time.

She said the changes are overwhelming at times, but on the other hand, the schools have the same programs now, so there’s more consistency across the district.

 “Whether you’re at Kolnaski or at Butler or here, you’re getting the same base,” she said. “As a teacher, I think that’s phenomenal.”

Peter Weeden, a third grade teacher, has worked in four different schools in Groton over the last 15 years.

In earlier years, he said, “the teacher had to create a lot of materials, and there was a lot of difference among us.”

He said staff can still make lessons their own. Weeden is a runner, for example, so takes students out walking as part of his routine.  Williams is a reader, so she reads with the children, she said. They would not teach the same lesson the same way, they said.

“Everybody brings their own professional and personal experiences to the classroom,” Weeden said.

The improvement plan

Northeast Academy's improvement plan focuses on boosting reading scores and reducing office referrals for discipline.

The goals for the next three years are listed below:

•  Increase the percentage of students who score at goal or better in reading by 15 percent, as measured by the Connecticut Mastery Test.

•  Reduce office referrals for discipline by 50 percent.

The Targets

Below are the percentage of third, fourth and fifth graders at Northeast Academy Elementary who demonstrated proficiency or better in reading and math on the Connecticut Mastery Tests.  The federal goal for 2011 was 89 percent in reading and 91 percent in math.

Test results for specific groups of students, such as black students, Hispanic students or those receiving free or reduced lunch were not listed if there were fewer than 40 students in those categories.