By Dr. Annette Weissman, Principal SIB Community School

When this article appears in the paper, SIBCS will have been in session for 156 days.  Here are some important numbers associated with the school:

Number of Teachers: 55
Number of Students:  1146
Number of School Employees: 112
Number of PTSA Members: 399
Number of EESAC Members: 21
             
SIBCS emphasizes mathematics, science, and technology so we are always looking at numbers.  Teachers and administrators analyze performance data to determine areas of strength and those areas that require additional support.  Students track their reading progress in number of books read, monitor their scores on Accelerated Reader tests, and know their independent reading levels.  Parents know how to log on to the Electronic Grade Book and examine their children’s grades on weekly assessments. 

This year SIBCS participated in two special math events – Math Mania and World Math Day.  In each of these activities, students competed against other students online.  The competitions brought students from around the world together to focus on mathematics.
SIBCS students and teachers were very motivated and, at the end of the World Math Day contest, Ms. Disla’s fourth grade class ranked 37th internationally in the elementary division!  Emily Talalaevksy was the SIBCS student with the highest number of points – a grand total of 17,519 points!

Numbers are also involved with dollars and SIBCS is very proud of the many dollars it has raised for charity this year.  The United Way presented SIBCS with four awards for its overwhelming generosity.  The Bell Award was given for the greatest percentage of a faculty pledging a day’s pay; the $10,000 Plus Club Award was given for donations exceeding $10,000; another award was given for students exceeding their goal and finally a National Award for the highest percentage of employee donations. 

At every school, the home-school connection generates a great deal of attention.  SIBCS has held numerous events so far this school year to encourage parents to participate in their children’s education.  Based on sign-in logs, more than 1,800 parents, grandparents, and friends have attended events such as Math/Science Family Night, Honor Roll Breakfasts, Dads & Donuts, Jammies in the Jungle, and Open House.  Each signature represents an individual who cares deeply about children and education.  SIBCS encourages all parents and community leaders to support the school by attending the many events scheduled for the remainder of the year.

Most important of all the numbers are those that reflect student progress in academic areas.  A review of the first and second quarter honor roll students indicates that over 400 students were acknowledged each quarter for their outstanding classroom performance in all areas of the curriculum. Closely related to school achievement is school attendance.  Students who are present each day have a far better opportunity to learn and to master the lessons than those students who are tardy and who are absent frequently.  Our PTSA supports the school’s efforts to improve attendance and reduce the number of students arriving late by hosting pizza parties and by purchasing perfect attendance dog tags for the students.  Once again, the numbers for the first and second quarters show that over 400 students received perfect attendance dog tags.

So what do all these numbers mean?  They mean that lots of people are working very hard to make SIBCS Number 1!