The FAPE Site

They're Shedding 'Failing' Label
at Fairfield Court Elementary

'The best is yet to come,' Says Principal

Fairfield Court Elementary School is a small neighborhood pre-K-5 school in Richmond, Virginia. It pulls students from an inner city project and the surrounding area. Eighty five percent of its students come from homes below the poverty level. Ninety nine percent of its students are African American. It is "accredited with warning" under the state's Standards of Learning and it must offer students alternative schools under federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

Those are the realities but not the real story. For closing in on those realities is a case study in determination and spirit and focused support that could astound the naysayers and validate the believers.

When the stakeholders are convinced that challenge is a synonym for opportunity, the concomitant belief is that there is no excuse for low achievement. Buoyed by having made "significant gains" on SOL scores during the '02-'03 academic year, "The best is yet to come," explains principal Dr. Irene Williams. "They call us a failing school," she continues, "but we don't consider ourselves that way."

And being an association Priority School definitely plays a role in that progress as well as in that belief system. The Priority Schools Initiative has offered both support and financial and personal resources, Williams explains.

Focused professional development has played a major role. The faculty has had the opportunity to take a hard look at poverty -– both at what it is and what it isn't. They have participated in staff development on best practices, leadership, teaching techniques and classroom management. They have had access to the latest and best research in these areas. The master schedule now allows for grade level team planning.

Volunteers play key role in improvement

A renewed emphasis on resource teachers and volunteers has helped tremendously. Fairfield Court has a well-organized volunteer program of lunch buddies, tutors and mentors, thanks to groups like the VEA headquarters staff, St. Stephens Church and Astoria pals.

Acknowledging that these children come to school with issues that interfere with learning, the faculty now understands those issues better, Williams explains. Those issues are not an excuse; the expectations are always high. And faculty now has the human resources to help them translate that understanding into action. Williams explains that "We are now putting in more focused time on academics."

Williams is very pleased that Fairfield Court students love to come to school. One piece of evidence: 60–70 percent of third and fifth graders voluntarily come to school on Saturday for structured and focused instruction.

Instructional assistant and member of the School Planning and Management Team Clifton Graves adds that not only having access to outside experts, but meeting and talking with teachers from the other three Priority Schools projects has been very helpful. He has learned much, he believes, from the various VEA conferences and Priority Schools meetings he has attended. Faculty is happy, he reports, with the success they are seeing. He credits much of that success to Principal Williams.

Negativism is not tolerated

Williams considers her staff as a family. "Our teachers take it personally if the kids do not meet goals. My expectations are high. And the faculty's expectations are high. We have an extremely dedicated staff." She consistently encourages peer coaching, educational conversations, internalization of goals and professional working relationships. And negativism is not tolerated by her or by the faculty.

Graves seconds that. He believes the entire atmosphere of the school has improved. "Teachers are now working together. School-wide rules have improved the behavior situation. People coming in can see the difference."

Williams is well aware that lots of the Fairfield Court staff devote extended hours to their jobs, just as she does. "It can't be done in seven hours," she says, "and urban settings are not for everyone."

"Our goal is full accreditation from the state and flagship status in the city," says Williams. "Our expectation is that we will become fully accredited this year." Graves agrees with that attitude. "We have a wonderful team here. We're all working smarter. And we know that we'll be fully accredited."