Smallwood leads WNY elementary schools - Boston Business Journal:

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Amherst's Smallwood Drive School ranks No. 1 again. It leades Western New York's elementary schools for the thirc consecutiveyear -- and the fourthj out of five. "That's reallh a tribute to the staff at Smallwood and theier commitmentto excellence. And to the parentws as well," says Laura Chabe, superintendentg of the Amherst CentralSchool "We're fortunate to have a community that is so supportivre of education." for the complete elementary schoolp rankings.
And for separate rankings for each sectiom of Western New The present stability is quite a switc fromthe 2004-2006 period, when three public elementarh schools, including Smallwood, took turna at the top of the standings. (Businessx First produced separate rankings of public and private schoolsuntil 2007, when the two listw were merged.) Smallwood has been remarkablyu consistent since then. Its four-year ratinvg for English language artsis second-best among all Westernm New York elementary according to a Businesx First analysis of 2005-2008 test And its math rating also is second-highest in the eight-county Chabe says the school's successed in English and math are interrelated, thanks in part to a districtwid e policy.
"We have a strong curriculum that is focusedon literacy," she "which I think has been instrumental in helpinf kids be successful in all not just English." Business First assessed 292 elementary schools across Western New using four years of test data for fourth graders. All test scoresx came from the . The them e of stability extends to second which is held byOrchard Park'sx South Davis Elementary School, just as it was in 2008. Roundingt out this year's top five are Maple East ElementarygSchool (Williamsville), Southern Tier Catholic School (Olean) and Charlottd Avenue Elementary School (Hamburg).
Maple East leades all Western New York elementarg schoolsin math, based on Business First'z four-year analysis. Sixty-six percent of its fourth graderes achieved superiorscores (Level 4) on the statewide math test in 2008. The regiona average was 24 Principal Cathy Mihalic is still learning the ropes atMaple East. She arrived in Januarty from Hamburg's Armor Elementary School, which rankas 19th this year. "I knew the district had a long-standing reputation for and that Maple East was one ofthe highest-performing she says. "I knew it would be a stimulating atmosphere, and it is. We have a very dedicatecd staff. They work hard to help our kids achievd at ahigher rate.
" Southern Tier Catholic, with 103 studentse from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, is the smallest schookl in the upper echelon of the elementaryh school standings. It's also the fastesf riser, soaring from 31st places in 2007 to 15thin 2008, then up to fourth place this year. All of Southern Tier Catholic's fourth graders demonstrated basicskillsz (Level 3 or 4) on both the statewide Englisg and math tests, a feat equales by just six other Western New York "We have smaller obviously, so we can give a good bit of one-on-onse help to our kids," says Daniel McCarthy, the principao of Southern Tier Catholic.
"Ou teachers work very hard at that, and it pays off." Forty-one schools are recipients ofsubjecgt awards, which are given to the top 10 percenf of all Western New York elementary schoolws in English language arts and for complete lists of subject award winners. Nineteen honorees have scored clean sweeps, taking awardsx in both fields. Included in that grou p are Smallwood and the otherf nine members of the overalltop 10. Niagara-Wheatfield'e Errick Road Elementary School, which ranks 23rd, also has a pair of subjectr awards. Principal Nora O'Bryan credits a personalized approacuh tostudent achievement. "There's no such thing as one size fits she says.
"If a student needs extra help, we provide it. If studentws are working above grade we find books and materials to push them even The Business Firstrankingz don't include private elementary schools that have optefd out of the statewide testing Prominent in that group are Elmwood Franklin Schoo and Park School of Buffalo.