ADDISON, Maine — While towns in Washington County continue to grapple with how to consolidate their schools to comply with state-mandated regionalization, D.W. Merritt Elementary School was the only school in New England to be honored for progress it has made in one of its programs.
Merritt Elementary in Addison, which is part of SAD 37, was awarded national recognition for distinguished progress in Title I programs at a Feb. 19-22 convention in San Antonio, and was one of only 74 schools in the country to receive the distinction.
As part of the No Child Left Behind effort of the U.S. Department of Education, Title I helps children who are deficient in reading, writing or math, said SAD 37 Superintendent David Beal. It is the largest federal program for kindergarten through eighth-grade students, awarding approximately $14 billion a year nationwide.
The program, Beal noted, has “very stiff standards” as measured by the Maine Education Association standardized tests. According to Susan Hodgkins, the district’s coordinator for Title I, the parameters increase constantly, and expectations for kindergartners to know how to read and recite numbers are very high.
The honor for excellence during the 2007-2008 academic year was the fourth time in the past few years that SAD 37 has been recognized. Cherryfield, Harrington and Columbia Falls elementary schools each have received the award in the past decade.
Hodgkins explained that one of the criteria for Title I is economic disadvantage, a classification for which nearly 150 pupils at D.W. Merritt qualify. In addition, she said the proportion of children who are English language learners is another element, and D.W. Merritt has one of the highest percentages of English as a Second Language students because of the large number of migrant worker families who pass through the district.
Merritt Principal Lorna Green said the recognition marked two years of progress for the school. Spokeswoman Jackie Godbout of the Maine Department of Education said that one of the factors contributing to Merritt’s success is the high rate of students meeting proficiency in reading and math — in the 75 percent to 85 percent range.
Superintendent Beal emphasized that as a smaller, rural school system, SAD 37 has to compromise on some extracurricular programs because of limited funding, but he insists, “We have a wonderful advantage over larger schools” through strong teacher familiarity with the students and their parents and grandparents.
“For a small school district,” he said, “we do extremely well academically, and we have a strong staff who love what they do.”