NUMBER 33
It is our belief that the students of Dr. Paul Rafalides P.S. # 33 will continue their journey of being lifelong learners by establishing a partnership with our staff, parents and community. The staff at PS #33 is driven by ambition and desire to provide our students with the skills, values, and work ethics so necessarily crucial in their pursuit of excellence. We believe the students of Dr. Paul Rafalides P.S. # 33 will grow to become productive citizens and play an integral role in helping our great country continue to move forward. We envision our school community making a concerted effort in creating a force of hope and a sense of optimism for our children. Through the commitment and nurturing of our teachers, the integrity and leadership provided by our administration, and the partnership with our parents, students and community, we will produce a model that will serve as a template for schools whose efforts are geared to meeting the standards of high-performing teachers and high-powered educators.Key Elements
Climate: A major component of an effective school emphasizes a positive climate assuring a productive learning environment. Our teachers foster high expectations for behavior and performance. All professionals collaborate and develop strategies to motivate today's learner to ensure all students are engaged in the learning process in an effort to achieve the best possible results.
Community Relations: The Staff at Dr. Paul Rafalides P.S. # 33 have adopted the philosophy of the inverted managerial pyramid. The students, parents and PTA are placed on the top of the pyramid, the teachers and support staff are placed beneath, followed by the principal, who is placed at the bottom of the managerial pyramid with the shared belief that the teachers, support staff and principal should be judged on how well they service the parents and students. The implementation of this fundamentally sound educational philosophy has created a welcoming environment recognizing the impact of a strong home/school partnership. Effective leadership is crucial at all levels of government from the national, state and local levels. However, it is most critical for effective leadership to exist at the home and school level in order to have the greatest impact on our children.
Positive parental communications are the driving force behind our success. Effective partnerships have been established throughout the school year. Phone calls are made emphasizing the positive qualities of each student. Morning and afternoon greetings, informal conversations with parents, students, teachers and the principal have successfully impacted student learning. Monthly calendars, quarterly newsletters, parental conferences, forums, and a monthly personal letter from the principal, titled "The Parent/Principal Connection," are other avenues utilized to maintain the bond between the home and our school.
Programs and Services
The foundation of our learning institution begins at the Pre-k level. The children enter a warm and nourishing environment based on sound educational philosophies focusing on a researched-based curriculum. The Pre-K department implements the High Scope Curriculum which emphasizes the framework of language and literacy building blocks crucial to promote early learning growth. The New Jersey Early Learning Assessment System (NJ ELAS) is a tool used to evaluate early learning progress and performance that is required to drive daily instruction.
We are proudly an all-inclusive school. Under the guidance and support of our Inclusion Specialist, at each grade level we offer a classroom with Special Education students learning in the same classroom as General Education students. Teaching the class is a collaborative effort between a General Education teacher and a Special Education teacher. The Special Education students are expected to follow the grade level curriculum with supports such as lesson and behavior modification, adaptations and accommodations. We also offer on-site Child Study Team, Counseling, Speech Therapy, Project Raise, Reading Recovery, Resource Room, Occupational and Physical Therapy. We are also fortunate to have a School Nurse, Technology Coach, a Library Media Specialist, Reading, Art and Music Specialists. Our school is culturally diverse and often we receive transfers from other Countries. We feature an ELL Program which is aligned with the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards and offers in and out of class support. Our pupils' works of art are part of the panorama of displays in the business district. Other works of art are part of the Jersey City Permanent Student Art Collection.
Dr. Paul Rafalides P.S. # 33 fully implements our district's Balanced Literacy curriculum, which provides differentiated instruction in all areas of language arts. Students receive instruction in reading/writing skills and applying effective strategies through demonstrations/modeling in large and small groups. Students are guided through the application of these strategies in small groups and through individual conferring. Components of the Balanced Literacy curriculum include read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, shared or interactive writing and independent writing. Students in grades K-4 are assessed twice yearly with the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). This enables teachers to accurately place students at the appropriate reading level for guided and independent reading. Running records are given throughout the school year and are another method of assessing reading ability. The DRA and running records also inform instruction by providing information regarding the strengths and areas in need of improvement for each student.
As part of a district-wide literacy program, students in Dr. Paul Rafalides P.S. # 33 use the 100 Book Challenge program as a resource for independent reading. Each day, students read at their "just right" independent reading level, which is determined through conferencing with their teacher. Students are allowed to choose books from their independent reading level which are labeled by letter(s) and color. They are given time to read independently in class and at home. Every 15-minutes read is equal to one line, and by the end of each marking period students should have read 100 lines (i.e. by the end of the year students should be at 400 lines or more). Students keep a log of which books they have read, which is signed by their teacher and their parents. Every time students reach a benchmark level (100, 200 lines, etc...) they receive an incentive and their names are announced over the PA system by the principal. The Principal's Reading Club is designed to address the needs of those students who struggle with maintaining the pace at which the program progresses. There are a team of professionals available during students' recess to accommodate students identified as "struggling".
LLTeach/Communicator Math is the program being used by our third and fourth grade teachers and students. The program is a hands-on, high interest program. The children use a Communicator, a transparent plastic pocket that the children write on with markers, to perform math activities. The children hold up their Communicator so the teacher can view their work. This allows for daily assessment of the students' math skills. Each daily lesson is broken into several different activities that address a number of math skills as well as the different learning styles and intelligences. LLTeach/Communicator Math is a program that teaches math in a fun and effective manner focusing on building each student's approach to solving problems.
Everyday Mathematics is the Math curriculum used in the Kindergarten, first and second grades. It places an emphasis on a problem solving approach based on everyday mathematics which assists in developing critical thinking. Students develop Math skills and concepts such as Numerations, Operations, Computation, Data, Chance, Geometry, Measurement, Patterns, Functions and Algebra through a hands-on activities approach using manipulative and educational games. The Math concepts are spiraled throughout the year to ensure full concept development. Cooperative learning is utilized through partners and small group activities. A home-school relationship is established with the home link component of the program.
Our extended day program offers rigorous support in the areas of Literacy and Mathematics for all students. The Accelerated Math Program serves as additional support to help to embellish the cognitive domain.
We continue to focus on skill proficiencies that are directly linked to the district's curriculum and correlated to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. The District Code of Conduct, our disciplinary document, is effectively implemented and enforced with positive and negative incentives.
Student attendance is above the state average. Students are recognized daily for their strong attendance record. The classes which have 100% attendance for the day are announced over the PA system as an incentive to improve attendance.
Outstanding Performance: At Dr. Paul Rafalides P.S. # 33 success is attributed to a data driven approach directly linked to standardized testing results, state standards and in-house assessments. Our school features a Data Analysis Team whose function is to analyze and interpret available data in an effort to generate school-wide and grade level action plans. Our diverse community contributes to our school consistently being ranked at or above the state standard (73.0% for Language Arts and 69.0% for Mathematics) as measured by the yearly achievement tests. Over the years, students at Dr. Paul Rafalides P.S. # 33 have scored at or above the state and national norms. On October 19, 2008, our institution was recognized by receiving a Best Practice Award by The Character Education Partnership Organization for our Mission Connect Program. This is a practice similar to a big brother/big sister program, within our school building staff members volunteer to adopt a student with self esteem issues or other challenges who are in need of emotional or moral support. They spend quality time together during the school day to play games or just chat about common interests. Visitors to our school are often impressed with the innovative practices employed at our school.
The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards, Cross Content/Workplace Readiness Standards, and the No Child Left Behind Legislation will direct the district's curriculum modifications, adoption of future instructional materials, assessment procedures, scheduling practices, and student progress reporting. These high expectations for student achievement are reflected in the District Strategic Plan and are the benchmark for student achievement goals at Dr. Paul Rafalides P.S. # 33.
Contact Persons:
Susan Colby (email) scolby@jcboe.org
(email) fpiccillo@jcboe.org
Frank Piccillo
201-915-6540