European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes monday August 29,1988 school follows slogan to excellence Aschaffenbur elementary earns top Grade by Dave Walczak education writer Aschaffenbur West Germany a Schaffenburg elementary principal Jim Halley can list More than 1,000 Rea sons Why the school deserved department of education recognition for excellence. He can Start with 6-year-old Verno Warren and continue with 8-year-old Amanda Collins. Of course hell Nee some time to rattle off the names of the rest of the 1,000-plus student body but he won t mind. Students come first he likes to say. Those three words have special mean ing throughout the rambling one Story Structure that Borders an army  on classroom Walls and printed in student handbooks students com first forms the Cornerstone of Educa Tion at the school for grades kindergarten through eight. Department of education officials like the Way Aschaffenbur educators live up to the slogan. They cited Only Schaffen Burg elementary and 286 other Public and private schools for excellence i education in 1987-88 from among thousands of element Aries in the United states puerto Rico and overseas. Aschaffenbur is the first elementary school within the department of defense dependents schools system to earn Edu cation department recognition although the department previously has cited Hei Delberg and Bonn High schools for Excel Lence. To earn the recognition Schaffen Burg elementary presented a 44-Page document outlining school curriculum staff evaluation goals Community involvement and academic achievement. Later two stateside educators visited the school to ensure it merited department of education recognition. The key question is whether or not the school is serving its special Community Inan outstanding Way said Bill Bosher the superintendent of the Henrico count school District in Virginia who visited the school last Spring along with Fairfax county a school District administrator Jean Hall. And in our judgment the answer to that question was yes in regard to Ascham  National awards Are nothing new forthe school or Halley. In 1987, the school was cited for its special education pro Gram which brings handicapped Stu dents into regular classrooms. Its pro Gram for gifted students was cited that same year by the National association for gifted education. Halley was named educator of the Yearin 1986 by the european Congress of parents teachers and students. He also was named to the National distinguished principals list last year a citation under the auspices of the department of education and the National association of Elemen tary school principals. Halley will accept the latter award an the one for Aschaffenbur in washing ton ., in september. Bosher credited Halley with providing the leadership and Structure to make the school of award winning Caliper. Halley who Calls himself a Maver ick and pro Active took Over As As Schaffenburg principal in the fall of 1983, moving from an assistant principal Posi Tion at Kaiserslautern High school. His immediate concern he said was to end the lethargy that had established itself. The school was oriented toward the staff rather than toward the students he said. We did things that were convenient for ourselves with not necessarily the kids in  it was raining out we had recess. It did t matter if the kids got wet. This snot atypical of Dodds  Halley decided to revolutionize the concept of elementary teaching. Teach ers would remain with Core classroom for Only a half Day allowing them to teach their specialities in the  children would change teachers often during the Day. Halley introduced his rotational concept in 1984. Although Many teachers liked the idea of a preparation period that went wit the revised schedules a lot of them thought i was crazy he said. It enables them to be much More effective Halley said. When you re self contained you re teaching Art science social studies and music. And that s impossible because none of us can be Good at  sue Davey who teaches second Grade was sceptical when introduced to Hal Ley s rotational concept. When you first come into this system i looks overwhelming. You think i m never going to be Able to do this but you find Over time you really like  Alma Cooper a fourth Grade teacher says the rotational concept gives her a Chance to teach music a favorite subject for her. I enjoy my teaching because i enjoy the flexibility of doing just what i want she said. There s a lot to do but i like that  Davey credited Halley for maintaining the rotational concept. It takes Dedica Tion to do that she said. You can tear your hair out trying to do the  Halley does t mind. I think a self contained kindergarten through six school would be so easy he said. It would be like sem retirement. It would be so easy it would be  seeking a More qualified and motivated staff Halley placed additional qualifications on teaching positions to fill vacancies. I Don t recruit an elementary person i recruit an elementary special education person or an elementary tag talented and gifted person. So i get people inhere who Are More qualified. At the very least those people had the motivation Togo on and improve  pre first Grade teacher Don Armell said the key to Aschaffenbur s Success mismatching people to fit Halley s educational concept. You be got a manager Halley who puts High expectations on his teach ers. He expects and demands an awful lot from his staff. He s managed to As semble a team that carries out All those things. They re not afraid to  Halley said he s never fired a teacher even those in their first year who Are especially vulnerable to such practices. He at tributes faculty tenure to the fact that Al the teachers instruct in areas where they be shown a willingness to teach. I assume Success and i end up getting it Halley said. Hal by said the key to education Excel Lence is meeting the particular needs of the students. At Aschaffenbur that Means dealing with a Large minority population Many of whom Are from Low in come families. According to school documents 22percent of the families with children enrolled in the school Are classified  Blacks and hispanics comprise 52 percent of the student body. Many of the youngsters need immediate help with language. Studies last year showed that 40 percent of new students Ata Schaffenburg tested two or More years below their age level in language skills. The school responded to the need by devoting More time to Reading under a Spe Cial program. The Effort paid off. Reading achievement scores have risen steadily As the children have progressed through the is photo by Gus Schuettler Art teacher Theresa Lathem looks Over Paul Hawkins shoulder As he works on a drawing. Paul Graham Davey foreground and nine other Aschaffenbur students began their school year a Day Early Friday to work on Art projects that will accompany school principal Jim Halley next month when he receives Aschaffenbur s award for excellence by the department of education in Washington  Grades. While Only 36 percent of first graders met or exceeded the National aver age 60 percent of the second graders did. Halley however downplayed the test scores calling them a shallow Way of evaluating  poor readers in the upper grades Are Given special help. In addition the school teams with the local Pat unit to promote a Reading at Home program. Halley promotes a team concept interns of student evaluation. Since practically every student has More than on teacher the school uses a group approach to determine academic Progress. There s a lot More emphasis on How far a child has progressed Armell said. All Dodds schools have curriculum objectives but this school pays a lot More attention on How we re meeting those  discipline problems also Are handled by a team of educators. Teachers support the concept since it precludes Parent from attributing unruly child behaviour to personality conflicts Between a teacher and a child. Halley tries to involve the military Community with the school. Local army battalions adopt various classrooms for the year in addition he holds a monthly conferences with interested adults Over Coffee. Parents Are free to visit the  the student body each class is encouraged to Wear school colors every Fri Day with participation rewarded with certificates. The students also run a store where they can buy school supplies and  Points to a student attendance rate of 93 percent and an absence of re ported drug abuse cases As proof that As Schaffenburg students have a positive  said he s toying with the idea of More changes in the education Structure at the school. He wants to expand the pre first Grade program and bring instructors together to team teach. Administrative matters can  can be a very frustrating system to work for because there Are a Lotof things that Are downright stupid he said. You can spend a lot of time bang ing your head up against the Wall. You can get frustrated at the paperwork. But i Haven t lost sight of the most important thing education. If you look at the Job the right Way you can really have a lot of fun and department of education recognition