The Royal Ram Band program at St. Anastasia involves 90 to 120 students each year or as much as 43% of the 5th through 8th grade performing in band concerts. The band has its own custom-built band room. The band is a member of the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) and participates in many educational activities each year. Some of these include Solo and Ensemble (S&E) Festival, Concert Festival, and All-State participation. Besides performing concerts at school, the band travels and participates in community activities. Band members have earned several hundred Superior and Excellent ratings at S&E throughout the past 8 years. At Concert Festival, the Symphonic Band has earned 2 Superior and 6 Excellent ratings. Each year for the past 6 years, St. Anastasia has had a student chosen to participate in the FBA All-State Band at Tampa, Florida. Four to twelve band members are chosen each year to participate in the Four County Honor Band sponsored by Indian River Community College.

The school’s Chess Club, which meets after school 1 to 2 times per week, enjoys about 25-30 members from grades 1-8. In-house tournaments are held throughout the school year.

Each year, all students in grades 5, 7 and 8 enter the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Essay Contest. St. Anastasia students usually take at least 3 of the top 9 prizes available to them.

The school sponsors an annual science fair, which includes about 250 entries from grades 1-8. Top entries from grades 6-8 advance to the regional fair often taking top awards in many categories. Almost annually a St. Anastasia student is selected to enter the State Science Fair based upon his or her showing at the regional fair.

About 4 times per year the athletic department sponsors pep rallies for all students of grades K-8. The band, cheerleaders, and current sports team members participate in these spirit-filled events.

The parents of the school sponsor a Saturday morning Junior Athletic League for students 5 years of age through grade 4. This team sports program includes T-Ball, baseball, soccer, and basketball. The goal is for children to learn the game and have fun doing so. About 100 students, or 33% of the eligible students, participate in this program.

In grades 5 through 8 the following interscholastic team sports are offered: golf, tennis, volleyball, soccer, basketball, flag football and softball. Cheerleading opportunities are also available. In 2005-06, a total of 115 students or 41% of the eligible students in grades 5-8 participated in interscholastic sports activities.

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The Iowa Test of Basic Skills is used each year to assess student performance at St. Anastasia Catholic School and is administered in October to grades three through eight in the areas of reading, mathematics, and language arts. In addition grades four, six and eight are assessed in the areas of science and social studies. Grade two also completes the Iowa Test, but does so in the spring of the school year.

In reviewing student performance data provided by the yearly reports of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, student scores in the various grade levels primarily stayed within a range of points showing maintenance or increasing in proficiency of skills.

Exceptions to this were math and language scores in grade 4 and 6 which showed a decline in percentages points. The patterns indicated by reviewing the chart of test scores will be used to determine priorities for future student learning and in constructing instructional design.

*Chart Continued Next Page

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Placement and Assessment Instruments

Prior to acceptance to St. Anastasia School, students in grades 1 through 8 are screened in math, reading and composition. The screening is completed with the help of administration, the reading specialist, and classroom teachers. A review of previous school documents, if available and a family interview also provide information used to determine a child’s readiness in a particular grade level. After the tests are administered and scored, parents are notified if the child has been accepted or placed on a waiting list.

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Pre-Kindergarten children are tested individually in the spring to qualify and show readiness for the Early Childhood Learning Center. The screening device includes emotional, social, and physical development activities, as well as paper and pencil

activities. The interviewer assesses and evaluates the results of each section to determine the child’s readiness.

Throughout the preschool program, students are continually interviewed, observed and assessed as to their readiness level. Methods used to assess the performance of children in the kindergarten program include teacher interviews and observations as well as reviewing individual student portfolios. Further assessment is accomplished through parent-teacher conferences, consultation with resource teachers, and completing and reviewing progress reports, as well as individual testing. The results of various kindergarten assessments are also used to place students in the Speech and Language program, Title I reading, Enrichment class, and counseling sessions. The assessment results are used by the classroom teacher to design multilevel experiences and activities for students across the curriculum.

During October, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills is administered in grades 3 through 8. Beginning in January, test results are made available to the teachers for use in identifying strengths and weaknesses as well as performance trends. Teachers are encouraged to incorporate lessons for the weak areas into curriculum planning and weekly lesson plans.

Other means of assessment include student showcase portfolios in kindergarten through fourth grade. Guidelines were established appropriate for each grade level and items include samples of student writing, math computation and projects using a variety of materials. Rubrics are also used in the writing program in grades 1 through 8 to assist students in understanding their work and provide for continuity of instruction and assessment throughout the grades in this content area. In addition, teacher assessments such as chapter and unit tests, book reports, teacher observation, class work, and homework are used to evaluate students’ needs and progress. In the spring, grade 2 takes the listening portion and core battery section of the Iowa Test. Students who have been identified as special needs are administered the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in small groups.

According to Diocesan guidelines, parent-teacher conferences are scheduled in October for grades pre-kindergarten through grade 8. A parent may also request a conference with their child’s teacher at any time if a concern should arise. Progress reports are sent in the fall and spring for pre-kindergarten. Grades 1and 2 offer weekly progress reports and grades 3 through 8 issue intermediate progress reports each quarter with report cards being distributed at the end of the each quarter. In summary, throughout all the grades K-8, the results of assessment information is shared with parents at conferences and through official progress reports.

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The above assessment methods are used during the school year to determine the individual needs of each child and the most appropriate ways to fulfill these needs. Readiness for the next educational level is also determined through these assessments.

Grading Scale (grades 1-8) Conduct/Effort

Academic Electives

90% - 100% = A only letter grade given 1 = Outstanding

80% - 89% = B A, B, C, D, F 2 = Satisfactory

70% - 79% = C 3 = Needs Improvement

60% - 69% = D 4 = Unsatisfactory

59 or below = F

Grading Scale (PreK-2)

S = Satisfactory

U = Unsatisfactory

St. Anastasia Catholic School recognizes student excellence throughout the year in many areas and in many ways.

Honor Roll and Principal’s List At St. Anastasia Catholic School students are recognized for excellence in academics, citizenship and perfect attendance. The criteria for High Honor Roll, Honor Roll, and Principal’s List are:

94% 88% -Average in all major subjects including PE and band

-No grade less than 85%

-Conduct/Effort must be 1’s and 2’s

If a student is on the Honor Roll for all four quarters, a special pin is awarded; any student on High Honor Roll is awarded special recognition with an academic medal. These are presented at the first all school mass to celebrate the new school year.

For the school year 2005 -2006 Honor Roll and Principal’s List Participants

(statistics from second quarter)

High Honors                 Honors

                                               Grade 4                              6                                27

                                               Grade 5                              4                                24

                                               Grade 6                              5                                21

                                               Grade 7                               8                               22

                                               Grade 8                               4                               14

Total:                     27 out of 350 students = High Honors 8%               108 out of 350 students = Honors 31%

Principal’s List -Students in grades 6 through 8

-Conduct and Effort must be all 1’s and 2’s for all classes

-No more than two instances of tardiness for the quarter;

only 1 office referral

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Free dress days are awarded for recognition of membership to the Principal’s List.

As an example of the successful incentive of the Principal’s List program, during the second quarter of the school year 2004-2005, 154 out of 210 students (73%) in the middle school earned a place on the Principal’s List.

Additional awards are given at the end of the year for student excellence (grades 4 through 7) in each of the academic areas, music, band, art, as well as, The Presidential Award for Physical Fitness, Christianity Award, The Math Stars program and team sport awards. Students are recognized for their participation in the National Spelling and Geography Bees, DAR, Science Fair and the literature project, and Battle of the Books.

Awards recipients from the eighth grade are chosen by the middle school teachers and by administration. These awards are for the top students in content areas, as well as, Valedictorian (highest overall grade average), Salutatorian (2nd highest grade average),

Presidential Award for Educational Improvement, Presidential Award for Educational Excellence, and Presidential Spirit of Community Award (volunteerism).

Awards are also given to K through 7 students and graduating students in the form of scholarships and partial-scholarships to John Carroll High School. The school and members of the community give both awards and scholarships; The A.E. Backus Award, the Billy Lattner Award, The Vickie Guettler scholarship, the DaSilva Family Scholarship as well as others.

At St. Anastasia, scholarships are available to the students based on academic excellence and financial need. An application is completed for grant and aid assessment. These applications are then evaluated with the assistance of FACTS, a financial data analyses company. Using this information, award decisions are made by the organizations providing the scholarships.

Students are promoted to the next grade level if the expectations for the former grade level are met. The retention policy at St. Anastasia School was developed by the administration and the faculty of the school. Parents are notified at the end of the first semester if their child is in danger of failing. Students in grades K-5 may be retained for any of the following reasons:

The student is more than one semester behind the expected reading level for his/her grade.

The student has a failing/unsatisfactory average in reading, math, or language arts.

*There will be instances in which the classroom teacher recommends retention due to the low maturation level of the child.

Students in grades 6-8 may be retained for any of the following reason:

The student has a failing average in any one of the following subjects: religion, math, science, social studies, reading, or language arts.

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When a student is assessed to be in danger of failing, parents are notified. They are encouraged to obtain a tutor for their child for remedial help. Summer school may also be an option to bring the student’s work up to grade level.

St. Anastasia Catholic School is well respected in its community for providing quality Catholic education that nurtures the mind, body and spirit of its children. For the past 80 years, St. Anastasia has upheld this reputation for excellence by listening to the recommendations of its parishioners, alumni, parents and other stakeholders. In keeping with its value of community perceptions, St. Anastasia presents these data to summarize parent, teacher, student, parishioner, and alumni opinions of the quality of education at St. Anastasia. The valuable qualitative and quantitative data that were collected this past year was voluminous and have been briefly summarized in this section.

It is believed that these data illustrate that St. Anastasia is a school with strong Christian values, a warm family atmosphere, with a loving and caring staff. It is also recognized that there is a need to continue the efforts to improve the discipline procedures, the effects of large class sizes, renovation and modernization of facilities, and the development of the enrichment opportunities.

As indicated by the bar graph below, 38 teachers completed an NSSE survey of their opinions of the school. The teachers evaluated the school and agreed that it provided quality instructional programs, supported student learning, and was effective in its organization and administration of the school. On the general topic of school climate and environment for learning, the teachers rated the school a 3.79, which was just short of agreeing that this was an area of success. A rating of 3.0 was considered a neutral response on this survey.

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In addition to the quantitative survey that was conducted to obtain teacher perspectives, the school faculty were also asked a few qualitative questions aimed at obtaining general opinions. The following open-ended questions were asked of the teachers:

1. What do you like best about your school?

2. What do you like least about your school?

3. What is one suggestion that you would like to offer to improve your school?

The individual responses to these open-ended questions were categorized and the percentages of common responses are depicted in the pie charts below.

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