ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 16, 1996 TAG: 9609160015
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
WASENA ELEMENTARY worked hard to improve student test scores, attendance and physical fitness, say those whose efforts literally paid off.
In the bright morning sun, the children at Wasena Elementary lined up on the asphalt playground before the school day began.
The boys and girls talked quietly as each grade formed a line on the hill at the rear of the Roanoke school.
Led by members of the school's safety patrol, the children walked slowly down the stairway to the back door and proceeded to their rooms. The kindergartners were first in the procession, followed by the first-graders and then the other grades.
The fifth-graders in teacher Kitty Sims' class did pull-ups on an aluminum bar when they got to their room.
After the roll was taken, the children wrote in their daily journals. Sims assigns topics some mornings; on other days, they are free to write about whatever they choose.
"Wasena is very traditional in some ways, but we're also making use of some of the latest technology in our classrooms," Principal Roger Magerkurth said. "Our teachers and kids want this kind of school, and our parents and the community expect it."
Lining up on the playground each morning when the weather is good is part of Wasena's tradition, Magerkurth said.
"There's an atmosphere here where kids want to do well in their studies and be well-behaved because that's the way schools are supposed to be - not because we have to make them do it," Magerkurth said.
Fifth-grader Shea Molloy, a safety patrol member who helps put up the flag each morning, appeared to reflect the attitude of many pupils.
"We have nice teachers, and we get a good education here," she said. "I love it."
Fourth-grader Drew Grasty said he likes his teachers and the newly renovated building with large, attractive and bright classrooms.
Mike Cooper, another fourth-grader, enjoys surfing the Internet and researching topics for his classes.
Wasena was the only one of Roanoke's 28 schools to meet all of Superintendent Wayne Harris' goals for improving student test scores, attendance and physical fitness this past year.
The school received a $5,000 award that the superintendent promised to any school that reached the goals in all categories.
Wasena recorded a 38 percent increase in the number of fourth-graders scoring above the 50th percentile on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. The goal was 4 percent.
The school had a 14 percent increase in the number of pupils missing 10 or fewer days. The goal was 10 percent.
The number of fifth-graders passing the Literacy Passport Predictor Test increased by 21 percent - five times the 4 percent goal.
And Wasena had a 23 percent increase in the number of children passing all four parts of the state's physical fitness test - more than triple the 7 percent goal.
Magerkurth said there's no single reason that the school was successful in raising test scores, attendance and physical fitness.
"We've got good teachers, good students and the support of the community," he said. "It all came together."
Wasena, one of the city's oldest elementary schools, was built in the 1920s and remodeled two years ago at a cost of $2.5 million. The renovated building on Sherwood Avenue in Southwest Roanoke reflects the old and new: A modern, glass-enclosed section was added to the old brick building that was erected in 1928.
The 275-pupil school has three or four multimedia computers in every room that connect to the Internet and the school's library.
The Wasena faculty was determined to meet Harris' improvement targets, Magerkurth said.
He said the teachers developed a strategy that focused on improving pupils' test-taking and writing techniques. Journal writing in several classes helped hone the children's skills.
"They do a lot of writing in fourth and fifth grade," Sims said. "The journals in my class are ungraded, and they do a lot of free expression."
The school also installed the pull-up bars in fourth-and fifth-grade rooms so children could improve their physical fitness.
At the elementary level, the fitness tests are given only to fourth-and fifth-graders. But two pull-up bars were put in the cafeteria so younger pupils could begin working on their physical fitness before they have to take the tests, he said.
The school's physical education teacher also focused on class activities that helped prepare the children for the tests, Magerkurth said.
As part of the school's strategy to improve attendance, a staff member calls the home of every student who is absent each day to determine the reason and to encourage the student to attend the next day.
Magerkurth said the school also targeted pupils who had missed more than 10 days the prior year.
"We monitored them closely and kept working with them and their parents to help try to get them here every day," he said.
Some teachers cite Magerkurth's leadership in helping the school improve its test scores, attendance and physical fitness.
Fourth-grade teacher Marylane Sandy said teachers are encouraged to use new instructional approaches, class activities and projects to help improve student learning.
She pointed to a small card posted in her room that reads: "You can't steal second with your foot on first base." The thought expresses Magerkurth's attitude in allowing teachers to take risks, she said.
"I get nothing but encouragement and praise here," said Sandy, who has taught at several schools in Roanoke during her 13-year career. "It's a wonderful place to teach."
The teaching staff is very "goal oriented and works well together," Sims said. ""We talked about the ways to address the goals, and we knew that we wanted to focus on writing."
The teachers were confident they could achieve the goals, and Magerkurth was very supportive, she said.
Magerkurth has a quiet and reserved personality, but he raises his voice sometimes if pupils are tardy for class.
When he saw two boys walking down the hall one day last week after the bell rang for classes to begin, he admonished them to hurry up.
"You're late," he said. "Did you hear that bell ring?"
Magerkurth, 47, became principal when Wasena reopened last year after being closed for a year for the renovations. In 25 years in Roanoke, he has been a teacher, assistant principal and principal.
A Roanoke native, he lives only four blocks from the school and has three children who went there. He grew up less than two miles away.
"I really wanted to come here. Wasena has always had a reputation for being a good school," he said.
Magerkurth wants Wasena to remain a school where he would be comfortable sending his own children. He said he feels the same way about the teachers.
When Magerkurth was hiring faculty after the school reopened, he said, he looked for teachers who are not only capable but who are "nice and kind to children."
In classes, the children often work together. In Sandy's fourth-grade class last week, four pupils were making a computer search for information on owls, five were gathering material from encyclopedias and a half dozen were drawing and coloring pictures of the night birds.
Sandy said the children have good computer skills. "Actually, they help me a lot. If I can't do something on a computer, I just ask them for help."
In Sims' class, the children worked in pairs during a reading lesson. They sat on the floor as they read to each other and reviewed the story before answering the teacher's questions about what they had read.
Magerkurth said the school will have no trouble in spending the $5,000. He said it will probably buy bulletin boards, roll-out carts for teachers, additional computer software and more pull-up bars. He has already bought a small flashing message sign for the hall that will list upcoming activities and events at the school.
The award money came from a special fund established by the School Board for that purpose. Harris gave $1,000 awards to the five schools that showed the most improvement in each category but did not meet all of the goals.
Wasena is already looking ahead to this school year and mapping strategy to win another $5,000. Improving attendance will be the toughest job, Magerkurth said.
"Our teachers can control what happens in the classroom, but we can't get the children out of bed and get them to school in the morning," he said. "Only the parents can do that."
LENGTH: Long : 155 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. 1. Chris Lewis does his morningby CNBpull-ups as his fifth-grade classmates at Wasena Elementary wait for
their turn. 2. Matthew Jirout solves a math problem. 3. Jennifer
Booker (left) and Ashley Gillespie take part in a game to teach
their class how to tell time. color.