It was a very upbeat day at school today, as Keaau Middle School was featured in the Hawaii Tribune Herald today.
Principal Jamil Ahmadia talks to reporters on campus the other day, Picture from the Tribune Herald
In the position that I am in… I’d like to think that I am somewhat responsible for the following statement:
“…Restructuring efforts and increased attention on students pay off…“
I think this is proof alone, that smaller classroom sizes and a better student to faculty ratio can directly help improve test scores.
A few years ago, the school began a campaign against the double Goliath of burgeoning student fights and low test scores. Now, the efforts are starting to pay off…
…It’s been a daunting task for this school of 600 students, 71 percent of whom are on free and reduced lunches — a disadvantaged socio-economic status that traditionally goes hand-in-hand with lower achievement. It’s also been no easy thing to turn around the behavior of students who were notorious for rowdy behavior.
“Fighting was a part of the culture at school,” Ahmadia said.
When he first arrived in 2002, there were sometimes two or three fights happening at the same time on campus. A kid brought a gun to school, and Ahmadia knew he was in over his head…
Well I can say that there has been only 1 fight that I have witnessed since I have been at the school, and I certainly haven’t seen any weapons. Yeah, we have a few kids that need a little more structure then others, but nothing like it used to be.
Congrats Kids!!! You all deserve incentives this month… (Well except for that dang kid that was watching porn on the schools computer)
Filed under: Education, Kids Tagged: | Jamil Ahmadia, Keaau Middle School
