Acting Superintendent Susan F. Lusi announced Onye’s new role a few weeks ago, and shortly after, the school was alive with its first-ever weeklong freshman orientation, boot camp for juniors preparing to take state exams in October, and meetings for parents, teachers, and seniors.
The more than 1,000 students have a lot of ground to cover.
Last March, the state Department of Education added the school to its list of low achievers. Just 2 percent of 11th-graders scored in the proficient range last year in math on the state exam and 1 percent in science, state figures show. A third tested proficient for reading - compared with two-thirds statewide - and 19 percent were deemed proficient in writing. The results are well below statewide scores.
The school’s performance has some parents considering pulling their children out.
“We’re not sure about the quality of the education,’’ said Paul McKoy, whose daughter, Sharon Brown, is a sophomore. He said he was not planning on keeping her enrolled there.
The school has suffered from unstable leadership, Onye said, and is adapting to new curriculum requirements and the district’s relatively new college-or-career-ready graduation policy.
But Onye is known for turning around schools. When she was principal of the Providence Academy of International Studies and Hope High School’s Information Technology Academy, the schools met annual progress goals for the first time, school officials said.
Onye said she believes the district’s new curriculum requirements will help improve test scores.
