DOE recognizes SeDoMoCha MS as ‘High Progress Reward School’

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — For students’ performances on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) test earlier in the year, the SeDoMoCha Middle School earned the distinction of being a High Progress Reward School for the first time. During an April 1 school board meeting, Principal Julie Kimball shared with the directors a letter from the Maine Department of Education (DOE) congratulating the students, staff and administrators.

    “On behalf of the entire team at the Maine Department of Education, congratulations to you, your staff and your students for being named a High Progress Reward School under Maine’s new Elementary Secondary Education Act Accountability System,” DOE Commissioner James E. Rier Jr. wrote to Kimball.
    “This designation, achieved by only 18 other Maine schools, recognizes that SeDoMoCha Middle School has consistently demonstrated high progress toward meeting state and federal accountability standards for English language arts and mathematics. Additionally, SeDoMoCha Middle School is among the 15 percent of Title I schools demonstrating the greatest level of improvement on the School Achievement and Progress list over a three-year period and demonstrating the highest three-year averages among those with high progress; is meeting or exceeding annual measurable objectives in math or reading for the whole school or super-subgroup and is making sufficient progress on other annual measurable objectives for the whole school and the super-subgroup; and is meeting or exceeding the school’s average daily attendance targets for grades 3-8 or the graduation rate for the whole school.”
    Kimball said SeDoMoCha Middle School also received a certificate from the DOE, which will likely be prominently displayed in the building. She said one other idea mentioned by some of the teachers would be having a banner made proclaiming SeDoMoCha Middle School as a High Progress Reward School.
    In his letter Rier said he hopes the school community takes great pride in earning the status. “As we continue to raise expectations for all students in Maine, your school provides an example of the excellence that results when there is a shared commitment to effective, learner-centered instruction, great teachers and leaders and multiple pathways for learner achievement,” he wrote. “Again, please extend my congratulations to your entire school community for being honored as a High Progress Reward School. School improvement is hard work, but at SeDoMoCha Middle School it’s clearly paying off.”
    In order to help engage the students prior to their taking of the NECAPs, teachers and administrators incorporated a theme centered around ninjas — “Be a NECAP Ninja Star.” The news of the High Progress Reward School designation was announced to the students during a Feb. 28 assembly, which included a martial arts demonstration as a reward for their performance.