Tuesday January 12, 2010
Every 1 Reads Schools of Excellence
Mayor Jerry Abramson celebrated improvements in student reading today by visiting two Jefferson County Public Schools and honoring them with Top Apple awards.
Abramson, along with Superintendent Dr. Sheldon Berman and Greater Louisville Inc President Joe Reagan, presented the awards to students and faculty at Hazelwood Elementary and Western High.
Twenty-two schools across the district will receive the award for the 2009 school year – six high schools, two middle schools and 14 elementary schools. The schools not visited today will receive awards at a later date.
“Since we began the Every 1 Reads initiative, we’ve made tremendous progress in reaching our goal of having all children reading at or above grade level,” Abramson said. “Reading is the foundation on which our children build their future success. When Every 1 Reads, Louisville succeeds.”
Abramson created the Top Apple award to honor Every 1 Reads Schools of Excellence.
To qualify, schools must have virtually all students reading at or above grade level (which means having less than two percent of novice readers) or have significant improvements in reading scores.
“The Mayor’s Top Apple award is a great way to honor students, teachers and principals for the hard work they do every day in the classroom that make the goals we set forward a real possibility,” Berman said.
The Mayor’s Top Apple award is presented by Sullivan University System.
“We are proud to sponsor the Mayor’s Top Apple Schools award and applaud the accomplishments of the students, teachers and volunteer tutors,” said Glenn Sullivan, president of the Sullivan University System. “We hope these students will establish a lifelong love of learning and reading that will encourage them to pursue higher education.”
Each school will receive a banner, a glass apple handcrafted by artist Amy Pender and bookmarks for each student.
The city, JCPS and Greater Louisville Inc. launched the Every 1 Reads program in 2003 with the goal of having all children reading at grade level by 2008. Since the program started, the number of novice readers overall has been reduced from 19 percent to 8.5 percent. The initiative is now continuing with Every 1 Reads More
“This translates to 10,000 students who have improved their reading scores and skills thanks to the diligence of our teachers, our kids, our parents and our volunteers,” Abramson said.
2009 Top Apple Award Winners
Elementary Schools
Highest scoring schools
Schaffner Traditional 0 novice readers
Audubon Traditional 0.93% novice readers
Greathouse/Shryock Traditional 1.26% novice readers
Carter Traditional 1.37% novice readers
Wilder 1.45% novice readers
Stopher 1.56% novice readers
Dunn 1.93% novice readers
Most improved schools and their percentage decrease of novice readers
Hazelwood 8.5%
Gutermuth 7.8%
Shacklette 7.3%
Field 5.6%
Wheatley 5.3%
Breckinridge-Franklin 4.8%
Slaughter 4.4%
Middle Schools
Highest scoring schools
Barret Traditional 0.79% novice readers
Jefferson County Traditional 1.98% novice readers
High Schools
Highest scoring schools
Brown 0 novice readers
Dupont Manual 0.42% novice readers
Louisville Male 0.69% novice readers
Butler Traditional 1.75% novice readers
Most improved schools and their percentage decreased of novice readers
Western Magnet 22.3%
Jeffersontown Magnet Career Academy 5.1%