Gordon Nursing Program Boasts Another 100 Percent NCLEX Pass Rate
It’s another 100 percent pass rate for the Gordon College Nursing Program.
Each one of the 66 student nurses who made up the December 2010 graduating class has passed the National Council Licensing Examination for Registered Nurses.
Passage of the NCLEX is required to obtain a license to practice as a nurse in the United States.
“This is an outstanding accomplishment,” said Joan Cranford, chair of the nursing division. “I could not be prouder of our December 2010 students who worked so hard to graduate and with passage of the NCLEX, become nurses. I am also proud of our faculty and staff who are at the core of our successful program.”
This is the second consecutive class to have a 100 percent passing rate. All 34 members of the May 2010 class also passed the NCLEX exam.
The nursing program is the most popular degree program offered at Gordon College. Started in 1972 — the same year Gordon joined the University System of Georgia — approximately 2,200 students have graduated the program. Gordon College nurses practice in a variety of fields all over the country.
Teachers’ children ‘prioritised’ in school admissions overhaul
They will be given new powers to prioritise sons or daughters of staff members for the first time as part of a plan to give more power to individual schools.
Ministers insisted the change would allow heads to attract the best candidates and ease the burden on parent teachers.
But the move is likely to raise fears it could lead to a further reduction in the number of places available for other families in local catchment areas.
The Coalition’s draft school admissions code also requires all schools to admit children from Armed Forces families before other pupils and gives flagship academies and free schools the power to prioritise poor youngsters eligible for free school meals.
In another new development, the document will allow twins and other multiple birth children to be admitted to infant classes – even if means pushing them above to 30-pupil legal limit – to stop brothers or sisters being separated at a young age.
Teaching unions warned that the move could also lead to a rise in class sizes, undermining children’s education.
But the Government insisted the new code meant more parents would be able to get their children into the best state schools. It was also revealed that all schools – including selective state grammars – would be able to expand to take in more pupils.
Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, said: “The school system has rationed good schools. Some families can go private or move house. Many families cannot afford to do either.
“The system must change. Schools should be run by teachers who know the children’s names and they should be more accountable to parents, not politicians.
“Good schools should be able to grow and we need more of them.”
But Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the number of special interest groups awarded reserved places could lead to unsustainably large classes in some schools.
Since 1997, primary schools have been banned from squeezing more than 30 infants into the same lesson.
“The idea that primary class sizes could go beyond 30 for whatever reason is a backward step,” she said. “This is of no benefit to anyone, least of all children.
“Large class sizes will increase the dependency upon teaching assistants who, while providing very useful support and back up in the classroom, have been shown to have little effect on attainment.
“We need to see class sizes reduced to at least 20 to ensure pupils get the maximum support and attention from their teacher.”
The measures announced today form part of the Government’s plans to slim down the admissions code, amid concerns that it had become too unwieldy.
The code – which will go out to consultation before being introduced for children starting school in 2013 – is around 50 pages long, compared to the old version which stretched to around 130 pages.
In one controversial development, schools can decide to prioritise staff during the admissions process. They must set out their own definition of “staff” – possibly widening it out beyond teachers to include all support workers, including cleaners and caretakers.
The new proposals also include:
• Increasing the number of places available in good schools by making it easier for popular establishments to take more pupils;
• Banning local authorities from using area-wide “lotteries”;
• Giving parents more time to appeal after being rejected from the school of their choice, with the current 10-day deadline being extended to 30 days;
• Reducing bureaucracy by requiring schools and local councils to consult on admissions arrangements every seven years, rather than every three years, if no changes are proposed;
• Simplifying transitions from one school to another when families move to a new area during the school year.
Free Vision Program Reaches Chicago’s West Side
Dr. Tamara R. Fountain
West Side residents will receive free eye screenings on June 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church at 4301 W. Washington Blvd.
Dr. Tamara R. Fountain, an ophthalmologist at Rush University Medical Center, and seven of her colleagues will conduct the screen that is part of a new initiative from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Illinois Association of Ophthalmology (IAO), EyeSmart EyeCheck, a program created to combat undetected eye impairments among at-risk populations in the United States.
Our goal is to raise awareness and understanding of the impact of eye disease and visual impairment, particularly among Chicago’s minority populations who disproportionately lack access to care,” said Fountain, a past president of the IAO.
Fountain, two other Rush ophthalmologists and five Rush residents are among 33 physicians slated to provide screenings at the event. Overall, 44 volunteers will be at the event.
Focus On St. Theresa School
Located at 2872 St. Theresa Avenue in the Bronx is a Catholic parish school by the name of St. Theresa School. Founded in 1927, St. Theresa School has had a commitment to academic excellence and spiritual training since its inception.
From pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, Catholic values are instilled at every level.
In addition to the regular curriculum at St. Theresa school, the following extracurricular and after school programs are also offered:
- Computer classes
- Physical education
- Art
- Title I math and reading
- Italian language program
- Drama
- Childrens choir
- Library
- Piano lessons
- Cheerleading
- Basketball
- Girl scouts and boy scouts
- Advanced math
Each classroom is equipped with SMART boards, and a state-of-the-art science classroom is available as well. Faculty attempt to keep the classrooms small, but most of the classes do have 30+ students.
An after school program gives students an opportunity to socialize over a snack and receive supervised homework time.
There is a thriving home school association at St. Theresa School and parents are encouraged to get involved.
Throughout the year, students, parents, and teachers enjoy social events, which are also great opportunities for learning. Some of these include a father-daughter dance, a holiday flea market, a mother-son bowling night, a Halloween party, and a dance-a-thon.
Memphis-area public schools wary of charters’ recruiting
Public school leaders here expect a fight over students as charter school operators prepare to promote themselves in more affluent parts of town.
Bills that eliminate the restrictions on who may attend charter schools passed in both houses of the Tennessee legislature last week, prompting some charter operators to predict lotteries may be necessary to limit enrollment. Others purchased school buses to compete.
“We have been locked in North Memphis. Now, our focus is going to be more along the lines of East Memphis and Midtown areas,” said Rev. Anthony Anderson, head of the Memphis Business Academy in Frayser. The charter school moved into a renovated Kmart last year after outgrowing its home in Faith United Methodist Church, 2450 Frayser Blvd.
Of MBA’s 125 openings for this fall, “25 to 30 percent of them will come from communities we have not served,” Anderson said.
One of the biggest benefits of drawing from different parts of town is the opportunity to diversify the student body, say charter operators.
Test scores and school culture often improve with diversity. And the new students, Anderson said, “don’t bring some of the same neighborhood gang associations.”
Memphis City Schools board member Dr. Jeff Warren says charter companies trying to recruit around “Snowden, Idlewild, Richland” and other popular city elementary schools are in for a surprise.
“Potential charters attempting to cream from our top schools are going to find the competition daunting,” he said.
Many local charters, including KIPP — whose mission is to serve predominantly poor families — have no plans to target new audiences.
“We will accept any child that wants to enroll but we are not making any effort to target other communities,” said Jamal McCall, head of KIPP Memphis.
Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering already draws from 31 ZIP codes.
Executive director Harold Wingood says the law change means all charters will have to promote themselves better in a community that still largely doesn’t know what charters are.
“The truth is, Memphis City Schools are getting better all the time. Families have a lot of options, and charters are just one.”
It is against state law for charter operators in Tennessee to administer tests as part of their recruitment process. Because they are public schools, they must take every student who applies and in the order they applied. If more apply than a charter can accommodate, the schools have to hold lotteries.
The issue that charters enroll selectively is so sensitive, charter operators refrain from using the word “recruit,” Anderson said.
“We are not going after families of students on honor rolls; we will not be creaming.” But he expects parents who see MBA’s advertising in Midtown will read “daily homework” as code for rigor and responsibility and will be interested.
“I think parents will take a look at us.”
School board member Martavius Jones believes charters will try to take the best students.
“If they are saying they are not going to do it, then Memphis charter operators would be doing the complete opposite of what is taking place in other states.”
The bills eliminating the eligibility restrictions were sponsored on behalf of Gov. Bill Haslam by Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, and Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis. Norris says charters offer teachers and administrators flexibility to turn around persistently low-performing schools.
Because the tax money for education follows the child, Norris is aware that enrollment exoduses will affect city school budgets.
When charters were sanctioned in Tennessee in 2002, they could serve only failing students or students in urban districts assigned to failing schools.
The law was amended in 2009 to include children who qualified for free or reduced lunch prices.
In poor cities, like Memphis, that change in eligibility doubled the number of children who could attend the charter schools.
Memphis has 22 charter schools; three more will open in the fall, enrolling a total of of 6,700 students or 6.5 percent of the city school population.
Even if charters do find a new constituency, they can’t enroll more students than their contracts with the city school board allow.
“Any new schools still have to go through our application process,” said Alfred Hall, chief of staff in the city schools.
“We have a well-structured, comprehensive, yet fair application process that has served as a model across the state. We’ll see where the applications fall based on their merits.”
Please Consider the Environment Before Printing This Post
The other day in a business writing course an employee complained about the common directive at the bottom of many emails he receives:
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
He is tired of being told to do something that he already does naturally. He only prints an email if he must have a printed copy, a rare situation for him.
Is it time to stop reminding people not to print unnecessarily? Should we instead direct people to do other things that may not come to themnaturally?
Considering what I hear in business writing classes, I offer these whimsical directivesfor possible placement at the bottom of your email signature:
Please consider my sanity and respondto both of my questions–not just one.
Please considerwhat your mother taught you aboutmanners before deleting my request.
Please consider rereading this email before sending me a question it answers.
Please consider the possibility that my spelling of my name is correct.
Please consider the 2,152 messages in my inbox before copying me on your “Thanks” emails.
Do you have a “Please consider” directive you would secretlylike to add to your email signature?
Please consider sharing it here before the moment passes.