“A” World Class School

As the school year of 2018-2019 begins, we find out that our school is given the rightful grade for being an “A” school once again. Everyone at John A. Ferguson Senior High School is very excited about this accomplishment.

“My first day, I was glad to hear that news. The school is filled with great and hardworking students and teachers that to receive that title, it meant a lot to the school” student, Alexa Nunez said.

The last time the school had an “A” was two years ago back in 2015 and since then until now it was at a “B”. This news has brought happiness to all the hardworking people at Ferguson. Not only to teachers and students but to administrators and staff as well.

“Truly a reflection of our commitment to educational excellence” Principal, Rafael Villalobos said.

This school being an “A” brings many benefits to teachers, students, and staff. It lets them know that all of their hard work has paid off at the end, and they see the results with the school getting an “A”. It also lets teachers and staff know that as students we are understanding the curriculum that is being put toward us.

This grade gives Ferguson many advantages that some schools may not have. It gives the school a good reputation, and it gives the people pride in being in a school like that.

“…Beyond that, it leaves kind of like a legacy that year in and year out we need to continue to meet…” Villalobos said.

  Ferguson becoming an “A” school came from a lot of people working very hard to achieve this goal. It took teachers, students, administrators, cafeteria staff, custodians, paraprofessionals, counselors, etc. The whole school worked to accomplish something amazing and honorable.

“I made sure to work as hard as possible and to continue to take Honor courses and this year I am taking AP’s,” Alexa said.

Everyone did their part in getting Ferguson the grade that it deserves. The students on every level worked hard from the lowest to the highest because they knew that they had a set expectation for them and they knew that they had to complete that expectation.

“You have to have a culture in the school that raises the bar that sets these expectations no matter in what class you are at the highest levels and that students know that they are going to need to work hard to reach those expectations because life is no different…” Villalobos said.

The school made a strategy to help plan out how we were going to make this possible. Teachers are one of the biggest contributors to Ferguson getting that “A”. With their help and support, students were able to achieve their ideal grade and teachers also helped with tutoring and making sure that the student understands what they have learned.

   Behind every success is a community working together in order to accomplish their goal. Everyone in Ferguson is a part of what caused this school to get an “A”. Students helped by studying hard and focusing on their assignments. Teachers helped by giving students the guidance they need in order to pass the course.

Administration helped by making sure that everything was going smoothly. Everyone contributed in some way, shape, or form. “… Everybody is important in their own capacity. Could an assistant principal alone make a school an A? No. Could a teacher alone make the school an A? No. Could a student alone make the school an A? No. So it takes us back to that original response…it is a common effort” Assistant Principal Rosalyn Rodriguez said.

  Even though Ferguson has an “A” we still need to keep working as hard as we have in order to maintain this grade and get an even higher percentage. The school’s grade is based on many things. It is made up of 10 components and those components are how students do in certain subjects such as English, Algebra, Geometry, Biology, etc. It also basis it on how well the students are doing in their AP classes, dual enrollment, and industry certification.

Proficiency rates are also another component, for example, in 2017-2018 our school got a 68% in Language Arts and a 57% in Mathematics, which is a very high percentage compared to other high schools. We are already at an “A” what is left to do is to work on the school’s percent.

“There is a difference between an A that is a 90% and an A that is 100%. So, it is the polishing of what we already have so that it is an even stronger A I think is definitely our next goals” Rodriguez said.

   As a school, we need to keep moving forward and refining the way we did things before so that way the next class can follow in our footsteps and keep Ferguson on an “A” status.

“When we talk about A world-class school that would be the indication of a world-class student, a world-class student with world-class teachers so that would really be the icing on the cake,” Villalobos said.