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CHARTER SCHOOL FOURTH-GRADERS BEST CANTON CITY SCHOOLS PEERS
by Veronica Van Dress, Repository education writer

CANTON – June 17, 2004 – A charter school here is bucking the state trend by outperforming other charter schools on Ohio proficiency tests.

Hope Academy fourth-graders tested better than their counterparts attending Canton City Schools in writing, reading, math and citizenship, according to preliminary scores released this week by the Ohio Department of Education.

Hope Academy draws most of its 339 students from city schools, though some are from the Canton Local, Massillon and Perry Local school districts.

Virginia Desharnais, principal of the K-8 school, said she's pleased that the fourth-graders hit the target score of 75 percent in writing, reading and math, especially since the school has been operating just two years.

"They made significant improvement over last year's fourth-graders," she said. "We took a look at scores and Iowa Tests to measure progress and determine areas of strengths and weaknesses knowing we would be preparing them for proficiencies this year."

With just 33 students in fourth grade, Desharnais figures the school may have had an advantage over larger public schools working with hundreds of students. However, she noted, 17 percent of the students attending Hope Academy have special needs and individual education plans. Most of the families - 86 percent - qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. And the school's racial makeup is almost evenly divided between black and white students.

"A large number of students are not performing at grade level when they first come to us," Desharnais said. "Some are at and above grade level."

Students in sixth grade at both Hope Academy and Summit Academy were generally proficient on the writing portion of the test but had dismal marks in the remaining subjects of reading, math, citizenship and science.

"Science hasn't been a focus for us yet," Desharnais said, explaining that her school has been concentrating on reading, writing and math. "We'll take a closer look at science and citizenship and give more attention to that now."

Only 24 percent of the 42 sixth-graders at Hope Academy were proficient in science - below the state charter school average of 26 percent. The principal said she's disappointed in the science results but pleased with internal testing that indicates students have advanced.

"We had a group of students in this year's sixth grade who had come to us further below grade level than the fourth-graders had," said Desharnais. "When we compared Iowa scores last year and the fall test this year, we saw they made significant progress but are still at below-grade-level performance."

Desharnais said students who attend charter schools take the same proficiency tests as public school students and are graded by the same standards. But, she said, it's not fair to make blanket assumptions about any school.

"We're unique, just like public schools are unique, and we have to look at each individual school based on its own merit," she said. "Overall, we're pleased to have started out so strong and we plan to continue showing progress."

You can reach Repository writer Veronica Van Dress at (330) 580-8329 or e-mail:
veronica.vandress@cantonrep.com

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