What Do You Know About KPS?

How much do you know about the Kalamazoo Public Schools? See how many of the following facts about KPS you know.

GROWTH

Linden Grove Middle School

Prairie Ridge Elementary School

• Since the Kalamazoo Promise was announced in November 2005, KPS has grown by 2400 students, or 24 percent, among the fastest growing districts in the state.

• KPS has constructed two new schools in four years, the first two newly constructed schools since 1972, when “new” Kalamazoo Central High School was built.

• In 2008, KPS started a dual language school, El Sol Elementary, in a formerly closed school, the old Vine Elementary/Vine Alternative.

GROWTH• In 2008, KPS also created the Middle School Alternative Learning Program at New Genesis on the north side.

• In 2011, KPS added a total of 23 classrooms at Hillside and Milwood Magnet middle schools.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT• Every KPS elementary school has improved its reading achievement since 2008.

• Last year, the Michigan Department of Education substantially raised cut scores, the scores at each grade level in each subject that students must obtain to be considered proficient on the state MEAP tests.

• With the old cut scores, from 2007 and 2010, KPS had improved an average of 7.2 percentage points in reading, more than double the state’s 3.0 percentage point growth. KPS had improved 15.8 percentage points in math, more than double the state’s 7.5 percentage point growth.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT• With new cut scores applied retroactively from 2008 to 2011, KPS improved an average of 8.3 percentage points in grades 3-8, better than the state’s 6.2 percentage point growth. KPS improved 2.0 percentage points in math during the same period, compared to a decline of 1.2 percentage points for the state.

• In 2011-2012, 178 percent more KPS students took high school Advanced Placement (AP) courses than four years earlier, and these students took 225 percent more AP courses. Economically disadvantaged, African American, and Latino students increased their AP participation in even greater percentages.

• From 2008 to 2011, KPS progressed in 11 of its 12 Board of Education subgoals.

STRUCTURE OF SUPPORT• With four community partners, including the county Head Start program, KPS adopted the nationally recognized OWL pre-school curriculum in 2008.

• KPS expanded full-day kindergarten from 176 students in 2007 to 928 students in 2011.

• In 2008, KPS created a K-3 writing curriculum.

• In 2009 and 2010, KPS educators created checklists for parents of what children should know at the end of pre-school, kindergarten, and grades 1-5. The district sends parents these checklists annually, an outgrowth of strategic plan expectations developed by staff and community and approved by the KPS Board of Education in 2008.

STRUCTURE OF SUPPORT• In 2009, KPS adopted a new math series for grades K-5, its first since 1992, and rewrote its math curriculum guides for grades K-5.

• In 2010, KPS adopted a new math series for grades 6-8, and rewrote its math curriculum guides for grades 6-8.

• In 2010, KPS middle schools moved from a seven-period to a six-period schedule, the first schedule change since 1985. The schedule change gave all students more time in core courses. It also permitted students below grade level in reading or math to take two courses in the subject area to help progress to grade level. Last year, more than 300 students used the additional time to reach grade level.

STRUCTURE OF SUPPORT• In 2010, KPS high schools moved from a four-period semester schedule to a five-period trimester schedule, the first schedule change since 1999. The new schedule gives students more opportunities to take Advanced Placement courses, meet Michigan Merit Curriculum requirements, and do credit retrieval. In addition, the new schedule provides more time on task.

• With the support of a Kellogg Foundation grant, KPS began parent education and family literacy programs at six sites in the community in January and has expanded to other sites. The effort to become a literacy community is important to our work to create a college-going culture.

HONORS• In 2010, President Obama spoke at Kalamazoo Central’s graduation, the result of the first Race to the Top Commencement Challenge.

• The year before, Vice President Biden spoke at Loy Norrix to highlight the importance of economic stimulus projects.

• Kalamazoo hosted the first and third national PromiseNet conferences in 2008 and 2010, respectively.

• The Kalamazoo Promise and the efforts of the Kalamazoo Public Schools were featured in an article in the national education magazine, Kappan, by Western Michigan University Professor Dr. Gary Miron.

And yet, to paraphrase Robert Frost, we have

miles to go before we sleep. We have made a great deal of progress….and we have a great deal left to make. Thanks for your support of our children and our goal of making Kalamazoo a college-going culture. Together, we can make it happen.

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE WE SLEEP