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Northside High School replaced N.P. Moss Middle School on Monday as the only Lafayette site under state scrutiny. School performance scores for the school showed special education students have not improved during the past two years. The school's performance score also dropped six points, making it a school in decline. N.P. Moss, which has been under threat for takeover by the state as an "academically unacceptable" school, was able to exit state supervision. The state Department of Education released school performance scores Monday for the more than 1,000 schools in the state. Schools are graded as part of the state's accountability program.For Northside parent Albert Williams, the news came as a surprise. Williams' son is a special education student at the school. "They take good care of him, so I don't know why they would label this school low-performing," he said. "We have a challenge ahead of us and we plan to meet it," said Northside Principal Carlton Handy. The school now is in what is deemed school improvement level 2, which requires a plan to address the deficiencies. Even before the official scores were released, however, officials began working on a plan to improve performance. Earlier this year, Northside High went to an "inclusion" plan to raise special education student scores. This means regular education classrooms now will include special education students, Handy said. "If you don't do well in two years back-to-back with a specific subgroup, you fall into the school improvement category," he said. Because of Northside High's label by the state, students will have the choice to transfer to other high schools next year. "I wouldn't move him," said Anaise Letchworth, a mother of a freshman at Northside High. "This isn't a bad school. He already started his school year so why uproot him now?" Others agree. "I don't have a problem here at Northside," said Sherry Francis, mother of two. "This is a good school. I'll keep my daughters here." This year, N.P. Moss Middle School posted a 5.5 point increase in its school performance score. The school was helped by changes in state standards, which has state public schools using the Integrated LEAP tests for third, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth grades. Previously, students took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Last year, N.P. Moss faced heavy scrutiny for being labeled academically unacceptable for its low scores. The school, which had a score below 60, was able to garner an SPS of 61.1. Former Principal Ken Douet, who retired in May, used an innovative arts programs and other methods to improve academics at the school. N.P. Moss now is free of state inspection, but remains the lowest scoring middle school in the parish. School officials, however, are pleased. "We're happy about the improvements," said N.P. Moss Principal Kim Hypolite. "We're being cautious, but congratulations are in order for our staff and our students for all the hard work they've done." Originally published October 24, 2006
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