Smallwood leads WNY elementary schools - Business First of Buffalo:

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Amherst's Smallwood Drive School ranks No. 1 It leads Western New York's elementary schools for the thirs consecutiveyear -- and the fourth out of "That's really a tribute to the staff at Smallwoodd and their commitment to excellence. And to the parentds as well," says Laura Chabe, superintendent of the Amherstg CentralSchool District. "We're fortunate to have a communithy that is so supportivweof education." for the complete elementary school rankings.
And for separat rankings for each section of Western New The present stability is quite a switcy fromthe 2004-2006 period, when three public elementary including Smallwood, took turns at the top of the (Business First produced separate rankings of public and private schools until 2007, when the two lists were Smallwood has been remarkably consistent sincre then. Its four-year rating for Englishh language artsis second-best among all Westerjn New York elementary schools, according to a Business Firstr analysis of 2005-2008 test And its math rating also is second-highesy in the eight-county region.
Chabew says the school's successes in English and math are thanks in part to adistrictwide "We have a strong curriculum that is focuseds on literacy," she says, "which I think has been instrumentak in helping kids be successfu l in all subjects, not just English." Business First assessed 292 elementary schools acrosas Western New York, using four years of test data for fourthy graders. All test scores came from the . The themr of stability extends to second which is held byOrchard Park's South Davis Elementaryu School, just as it was in 2008.
Rounding out this year's top five are Maplee East ElementarySchool (Williamsville), Southern Tier Catholid School (Olean) and Charlotte Avenue Elementary School (Hamburg). Maple East leads all Western New York elementarhy schoolsin math, based on Business First's four-yeat analysis. Sixty-six percent of its fourth graders achieved superioerscores (Level 4) on the statewide math test in 2008. The regiona l average was 24 percent. Principal Cathy Mihalic is still learningy the ropes atMaple East. She arrived in Januarh from Hamburg's Armor Elementary School, which rankds 19th this year.
"I knew the (Williamsville) district had a long-standingy reputation for excellence, and that Maple East was one ofthe highest-performinvg schools," she says. "I knew it would be a stimulating atmosphere, and it is. We have a very dedicatede staff. They work hard to help our kids achievd at ahigher rate." Southern Tier Catholic, with 103 studentsx from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, is the smallesy school in the upper echelon of the elementary schoool standings. It's also the fastest riser, soarinv from 31st place in 2007 to 15th in then up to fourtbh placethis year.
All of Southern Tier Catholic's fourth graders demonstrated basicskills (Levepl 3 or 4) on both the statewide English and math tests, a feat equalef by just six other Western New York schools. "Ws have smaller classes, obviously, so we can give a good bit of one-on-oner help to our kids," says Danie l McCarthy, the principal of Southern Tier "Our teachers work very hard at that, and it pays Forty-one schools are recipients of subject awards, which are givejn to the top 10 percent of all Western New York elementary schools in English language artsand mathematics. for completed lists of subjectaward winners.
Nineteen honoreesa have scored clean taking awards in both Included in that group are Smallwood and the other nine membersz of the overalltop 10. Niagara-Wheatfield'sd Errick Road Elementary School, which ranke 23rd, also has a pair of subject PrincipalNora O'Bryan credits a personalized approachj to student achievement. "There's no such thing as one size fits she says. "If a studenyt needs extra help, we provide it. If studente are working above grade level, we find books and material s to push themeven more." The Businesw First rankings don't include private elementary schools that have opted out of the statewide testing program.
Prominenft in that group are Elmwood Franklim School and Park Schoolof