Along with 157 other schools that made "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law, Roosevelt was celebrated at a district event Friday. Gov. Rendell and other luminaries lauded principals at a jubilant ceremony at Lincoln High.
More than half of district schools made the mark, and for the first time since Pennsylvania has been keeping tabs under No Child Left Behind, more than half of city students met state standards in reading and math.
But it's not actually a miracle at Roosevelt. It's the result of years of hard work, officials said.
Ressler, whose school met state benchmarks for the second year in a row, insists that every student - not just special-education pupils - have an "individualized education plan."
"This is the key - personalizing instruction," Ressler said. "We know our kids inside and out."
Large classes have been broken up into smaller "learning academies," with the same group of students staying together for classes. Rather than just mete out punishment, adults reward positive behavior, encouraging students to be "responsible, respectful peacekeepers and leaders."
"Every day on the P.A., we mention students who have demonstrated that," Ressler said.
There is data-driven teacher training. Guidance staffers are out of their offices frequently, greeting students at the beginning of the day and monitoring lunch periods.
Ressler, who calls Superintendent Arlene Ackerman "a visionary," said the schools chief's Empowerment School initiative targeting the lowest-performing schools had helped a great deal.
Empowerment Schools get more central-office scrutiny, but they also get more social supports - an extra counselor, a full-time nurse, a social worker, a student adviser.
