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FRIENDSHIP CAPITOL HIGH SCHOOL EARNS RECORD SPS GROWTH, SCHOOL TO HOST SUCCESS RALLY TO SHOWCASE NEW EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND INITIATIVES
Friendship Capitol High School increased its School Performance Score by 42 points from 2015 to 2016. The school is the most improved high school in East Baton Rouge and the Recovery School District. School leaders point to new educational initiatives, technology upgrades and community partnerships as keys to sustained academic improvement and success. The school will host a rally from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, December 16 to celebrate its success and roll out new initiatives.
BATON ROUGE (November 22, 2016) — Friendship Capitol High School has a reason to celebrate: the public charter school has improved its School Performance Score (SPS) by a record-breaking 42 points – the most growth the school has seen since it became a charter school in 2008. Capitol has the highest year-to-year SPS growth among all schools in Louisiana, including all schools in the Greater Baton Rouge area and all those that are apart of the state Recovery School District. To highlight this achievement, the school will host its first ever Lion Pride Success Rally on Friday, Dec. 16 in the gymnasium.
Friendship has managed Capitol since 2014. The unprecedented growth underscores their commitment to the academic, civic, and social success of all its students. In addition to the SPS growth, for the past two years, all of its graduating seniors have been admitted to two-year or four-year universities. The school is also a part of the Baton Rouge Achievement Zone, a collaboration between government, non-profit organizations, and community leaders to create a great school for every child in Baton Rouge.
“Friendship is dedicated to embracing the rich legacy and history of excellence at Capitol High School and doing all that we can to make certain our students uphold our core values in school and in the community,” said Donald Hense, Chairman of Friendship Education Foundation. “We are excited about these positive strides, but we are aware of the hard work that lies ahead to ensure success for all of our scholars.”
Friendship Education Foundation Executive Director Brian Beck said the school would continue in its efforts to address academic and culture challenges and overcome them with community support and partnerships. The rally, Beck said, is designed to acknowledge the gains and also look to the future.
“We know that when we hold our students, our parents, and our educators to high standards, they will meet the challenge head on,” Beck said. “We are energized by our growth, but we ultimately envision Capitol High School as one of the top performing schools nationwide.”
The Lion Pride rally will highlight the school’s most recent achievements. It will also showcase the partnerships, technology upgrades, and curriculum enhancements that school leaders say will contribute to Capitol’s sustained academic growth and student success.
Among several initiatives, the school has:
- Ensured all students have access to laptop or tablet. The school has a 1:1 technology ratio for all students. It’s also added a computer lab filled with Apple iMac computers to support its digital media and entertainment technology academy.
- Partnered with Leading Educators to develop to provide intensive job-embedded coaching, relevant professional development, and cohort-based learning experiences for school leadership and teacher leaders.
- Partnered with Communities In Schools to provide integrated students supports to scholars both inside and outside of the classroom. These supports include tutoring, social work, and other wrap around services aimed to meet the unique needs of Friendship scholars.
- Partnered with Antioch Church to provide each scholar with custom Friendship High School sweatshirt. Antioch Church will be present at the rally to present their donation.
- Partnered with USA Lacrosse to provide equipment for the school’s new Lacrosse team. Mr. Michael Wilson will serve as the team’s head coach. The sport will begin accepting team members from Capitol and other area high schools in Spring of 2016.
- Embraced Google Classrooms. Teachers and students use Google drive and other platforms to enhance the learning experience. All teachers are certified Level 1 Google instructors. All students have their own personal G-mail accounts. Teachers embrace student cellphones in class by giving them assignments and classroom activities to complete on their mobile devices.
“Capitol High School has seen it’s fair share of adversity in recent years. It is very exciting and encouraging to see our school on a positive trajectory here with Friendship,” said Bruce Miles, President of Friendship Louisiana Board of Directors and member of the Capitol High class of 1977. “We are proud of our scholars, staff members, and our dedicated administrators and faculty for their contributions to this accomplishment.”
The public and media are invited to attend the Lion Pride Success Rally. For media inquiries, please contact DENOR Brands & Public Relations at 504.345.8831. You may also contact Justin Blanchard at jblanchard@friendshipla.org.
What: Lion Pride Success Rally
Who: Friendship Capitol High School
When: from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, December 16
Where: School Gymnasium, located at 1000 N. 23rd Street in Baton Rouge
DENOR Brands + Public Relations is a public relations, marketing and brand strategy firm in Tennessee, Louisiana and beyond. The agency specializes in developing communication strategies that influence public policy, programs, and partnerships in the education, nonprofit, and small business sectors.
