SIP Leadership Team Member Name

Leader-

ship Chair? (Y/N)

Position

Name of Subcommittee(s) (when applicable)

1.        Leah Watkins-

Co-Chairperson

Y

Teacher

Component 5

2.       Becky Cate-Co-Chairperson

Y

Teacher/Parent

Component 5

3.       Patrick Corbin

Y

Teacher

Component 1

4.       Angela Hicks

Y

Librarian

Component 1

5.       Minnette Veazey

Y

Teacher

Component 2

6.        Lindsey Gidcumb

Y

Teacher

Component 2

7.       Devona May

Y

Teacher/Parent

Component 3

8.       Lindsey Dooms

Y

Teacher

Component 3

9.       Ronda Hart

Y

Teacher

Component 4

10.   Rose Cunningham

Y

Teacher

Component 4

11.   David McConnell

Y

Principal

12.  Norma Gerrell

N

Parent/Administrator

13.  James Travis

N

Community

Component 1

14.  Tracey Pinson

N

Non-certified Personnel

Component 3

15.  Nina Mitchell

N

Non-certified Personnel

16.  Angie Presson

N

Non-certified Personnel

Component 4

17.  Dede Cook

N

Parent

Component 2

18.  Melisa Alton

N

Community

Component 1

19.  Melvin Way

N

Non-certified Personnel

Component 2

20.  Troy Buttrey

N

Community

Component 4

Component 1 Subcommittee has met to address critical components of the SIP and minutes are on file.

 YES

 NO

Subcommittee 1 Chair Signature

Component 2 Subcommittee has met to address critical components of the SIP and minutes are on file.

 YES

 NO

Subcommittee 2 Chair Signature

Component 3 Subcommittee has met to address critical components of the SIP and minutes are on file.

 YES

 NO

Subcommittee 3 Chair Signature

Component 4 Subcommittee has met to address critical components of the SIP and minutes are on file.

 YES

 NO

Subcommittee 4 Chair Signature

Component 5 Subcommittee has met to address critical components of the SIP and minutes are on file.

 YES

 NO

Subcommittee 5 Chair Signature

Narrative and analysis of relevant school and community factors:

Component 1- School Profile and Collaborative Process

Paris Elementary opened in 1999 to serve students in grades three, four, and five of the Paris Special School District.  Paris Elementary is adjacent to the Paris Civic Center.  The combined efforts of the Paris Special School District and the city of Paris make it possible for the school to utilize the 6,192 square foot gym, 3,450 square foot swimming pool and the 600 seat Krider Performing Arts Center.  These facilities are used during the day by the school and evenings and weekends by the civic center.  Located at the entrance of the school is a 200 seat cafeteria and administrative suite.  The administrative suite houses the school secretary, nurse, principal and vice principal offices, vault and teacher workroom.   The instructional part of the building has 3 main wings.  Each wing has 10 classrooms, a teacher workroom, and restrooms.  The library and 30 station networked technology lab are centrally located.  Paris Elementary provides students with a safe and environmentally friendly facility.  Regular safety checks are conducted by the safety committee.  Committee members and meeting minutes are on file in the office.  Our school is also considered a safe school according to the Tennessee Report Card.  The school has an environmental rating of 97/100.

Paris Elementary teachers are employed for two hundred days.  One hundred eighty days are instructional days with students.  Five in-service days, five administrative days, and ten paid holidays are provided.  Students are in school for seven hours each day, while teachers are at school for seven and one-half hours. 

Paris Special School District spent approximately $7,317 per pupil in expenditures in 2006-2007.  39.9% of the funds being local, 50.1% state and 10.0% federal funds.  All Title I funds, local monies and any extra state revenue are divided equally among the three schools in the system. 

Paris Elementary is made up of 64 employees. Two administrators, thirty-six faculty members and twenty-six staff members. The employees are made up of 7 White males, 3 African American males, 51 White females and 3 African American females.  The administration and faculty has 513 combined years of experience with an average of 13.5 years each.  Thirty-one percent of the faculty holds advanced degrees: six master’s degrees and five masters and above.  Paris Elementary does not have anyone teaching outside of their area of certification and all courses are taught by highly qualified teachers. 

Enrollment at Paris Elementary school is 473 students.  50.9% (221) males and 49.1% (213) females.  79.3% (344) White, 18.7% (81) African American, 1.2% Hispanic, 0.9% (4) Asian/Pacific Islander, 0% (0) Native American.

Our curriculum follows the Tennessee Framework for state standards.  The classrooms are self contained for all subjects but language arts.  Strings, general music, physical education, swimming, and art are offered as part of the curriculum.  The SEARCH program is our answer to academic enrichment for upper level learners. The Wilson Reading System is a multisensory, structured reading and spelling program.  It is designed to help struggling students become fluent, independent readers. Other unique program that Paris Elementary offers is PEASE (Paris Elementary After School Enrichment) and ALPS (Accelerated Learning Problem Solving).  These programs meet after school with a certified gifted instructor with students who qualify.   Due to the fact we are a 3^rd grade through 5^th grade school our students do have a need for advanced placement classes, IB Program and dual enrollment classes.

Parental support at Paris Elementary is strong.  PTO supports Paris Elementary students and teachers by sponsoring activities, which promote mutual parent and student involvement.  PTO takes an important role in school functions such as: parents working in the classrooms to support learning, helping with events such as fall kickoff, class parties, cookouts, field day, and many other programs.  Paris Elementary School utilizes the clerical services of the Morning Moms program.

Paris Elementary is very fortunate to report zero incidents or arrests for drug, alcohol, or tobacco.  Our guidance counselor provides training and instruction on the harmful affects of drugs.  Students have the opportunity to discuss and learn about “saying no” in a comfortable classroom environment.  Students often participate in role playing to help them know how to handle a situation if one should ever arise.

Paris Elementary School has entered into a school-business partnership with Regions Bank.  Our Partners-in-Education provides motivational incentives for students through our BUG (Bringing Up Grades) and Treasure Island (AR Rewards) programs.  Both programs have proven to be very effective in motivating students to do their best. 

Staff retention at Paris Elementary School is excellent.  At the conclusion of the 2006-2007 school year, we had one teacher not return to stay home with her children.

The Plus Endowment program allows teachers to submit proposals for grants up to $500 to carry out innovative projects with their students.  The grants encourage and reward imaginative teaching, benefit students directly, and foster cooperation between community and schools.  Paris Elementary is very fortunate to have received 3 grants in the 2006-2007 school year and 4 this year in 2007-2008.

Paris Elementary faculty, staff and administration is very involved in school and system leadership activities.  They participate in such activities as: grade level chairs, curriculum mapping, parent involvement, TSIPP committees, and safety committee at the school level.  System level activities include: special education steering committee, consolidated school planning team, district level SACS, and Safe & Drug Free Taskforce.  Community level activities include: Arts Council and Helping Hands.

All of our paraprofessional staff at Paris Elementary School are highly qualified and have successfully passed the paraprofessional examination.  Our paraprofessionals spend at least 85% of their time working with students.  New teachers are assigned a qualified mentor teacher.  This mentor provides guidance, collaboration, and communication to ensure the success of new teachers.    

We serve 473 students.  79.3% (344) are White, 18.7% (81) African American, 1.2% (5) Hispanic, 0.9% (4) Asian/Pacific Islander, and 0.0% (0) Native American/Alaskan.  Student population is 50.9% (221) male and 49.1% (213) female.  We have fewer than 8 students in our school district that are LEP.  Mrs. Francis McGill is our certified ESL teacher.   Economically disadvantaged is 54.7% (252).  We had 1 suspension and 0 expulsions.  The suspension was 1 white male. 

Our attendance rate is 96.8% and our promotion rate is 100%.  Both attendance and promotion rates exceed state average.  We had 83 students to transfer into Paris Elementary and 82 transferred out.  Since, our school serves grades 3-5 we do not have a figure for drop-out rate, graduation rate or post graduate employment. 

This school year (2007-2008) we have 60 students or 11% with disabilities at Paris Elementary.  We have: 4 students with autism, 3 developmentally delayed, 1 functionally delayed, 17 intellectually gifted, 3 language impaired, 5 other health impaired, 17 specific learning disability, 2 visually impaired, and 2 speech impaired. 

 Paris Elementary offers two extracurricular activities to its students who wish to participate.  One is Wacky Workout, a morning exercise program.  Students may come three mornings a week from 6:30-7:30.   This program is directed by our certified physical education instructor.  Our other program is Paris Piranhas Swim Team.  Students who are interested may participate in weekly practice, school and regional swim meets.  The program is under the direction of a certified physical education instructor who is also a Red Cross certified Life Guard.  Paris Elementary students also have a variety of community extracurricular activities in which to participate. They include: Boy & Girl Scouts, basketball, football, cheerleading and soccer. 

In an effort to collect data about our students’ attitudes and perceptions, a school wide climate survey was administered.  This survey questioned students concerning their well being, belonging, and parental support.  98.9 % of our students feel they are safe at school.  Only 15.1 % of the students felt they have been bullied at school.  100 percent of students responded their teachers care about them, treat them with respect, and are good teachers.  97.8 % of students felt they have parental support with school work.  After reviewing the data collected from the student climate survey, Paris Elementary students were found to have a positive perception of our school.

In order to collect information about parent/guardian demographics we distributed a survey to each child for them to carry home.  Of the 490 surveys sent home to our students (2007-2008) we received 369 back.  Each survey collected mother and father information separately.  The following tables will show data collected.

Race:

Marital Status:

Level of Education:

Employment:

Income Level:

Paris, Tennessee is located in Henry County of Northwest Tennessee.  Henry County is a rural area with a population of approximately 31,115.  Paris is the county seat of Henry County with a population of approximately 9,763.  Of the 9,763 city population, 4,383 are male and 5,380 are female.  The largest age segment of city population is the 18 years and over.  Of the population, 7,526 White, 1,978 African American or African American, 10 American Indian and Alaska Native, 59 Asian, 6 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 38 some other race, 146 two or more races.  Of the  4,394 households in Paris, Tennessee population residents with school age children are as follows:  1,091 family household with own children under 18 years, 580 married-couple family with own children under 18 years, 430 Female householder, no husband present with own children under 18 years, 1,246 households with individuals under 18 years.  The per Capita income is $23, 279.00.  Henry County has two school systems.  Paris Special School District, of which Paris Elementary is apart, serves students in the city of Paris grades K-8.  The Henry County School System serves students K-12.  The county also has two private schools.  Henry County twenty-three major employers, combined they have 3,775 employees. 

Paris Elementary has wonderful parent involvement.  Their activities were listed in the school characteristics section of this profile.  Other numerous community programs are available to students of Paris Elementary School.  Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, D.A.R.E., Patriot Pals and the Paris-Henry County Arts Council provide activities for all students to participate in if they choose.  Several local civic organizations provide a wide range of experiences through contests such as poster and essay.  All the activities and support given to Paris Elementary provides a strong community base.

According to Henry County Family Resource Services we have two group homes that accommodate abused teens and women.   We have one homeless shelter.  There is not a residential substance abuse center; however, our local hospital provides substance abuse care.

Note: All figures come from 2007 Tennessee State Report Card, 2007-08 Paris, Tennessee Community Data Sheet produced by Economic and Community Development, and the Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 of the U.S. Census Bureau.