School Overview
South High Community High School
Student demographics: Based on the data from DESE 2021-2022, a total of 1,524 students are enrolled in this school; of which 818 are reported to be male, 705 female, and 1 non-binary. The school has a diverse community, and most of the students are Hispanic representing 46.3% followed by White being 23.1% of the enrolled students by race/ethnicity. About 16.8% of the students are African American, 10.4% Asian, 3.3 Multi-Race/Non-Hispanic, and 0.1% Native American.
MCAS test scores: Compared to the state results the students meeting the expectations of the MCAS testing overall the subjects the school is on average about half of the percentage of that of the state. My area of focus is on science, but in the DESE report it gets combined with tech/eng; here the students at my school are: 3% exceeding expectations, 17% meeting expectations, 42% partially meeting expectations, and 38% not meeting expectations. As for the MCAS in English Language Arts: 7% exceeding expectations, 30% meeting expectations, 42% partially meeting expectations, and 20% not meeting expectations. Finally, for the MCAS in Math: 5% exceeding expectations, 20% meeting expectations, 43% partially meeting expectations, and 32% not meeting expectations.
Teacher demographics: Based on the data shown in DESE for 2022-2023 the staff of this school are mainly females being 131.6 in total, and there are 49.2 males. By race/ethnicity, the majority is White, representing 150.5 people. Next, we have 19.8 Hispanic, 5.7 African American, 2.6 Asian, 1.1 Native American, and 1.1 Multi-Race/Non-Hispanic.
Teacher turnover: The retention rate of the school for the teachers is 89.7%, which is higher than the district and the state.
With the diverse community we have in our school various types of funds of knowledge can be identified. For example, all students have a unique experience, and many come from different places which provide multiple points of views; the individual experience of each student is knowledge they bring into the classroom. This and the different cultures portray the following type of funds of knowledge: gathered life experiences, and world views. In addition, I have realized that many of my students speak a second language, thus they are bilingual. This represents academic and personal background knowledge. However, there are students who also demonstrate knowledge based on hobbies and extracurricular activities. For instance, building a Rubik's cube, or playing an instrument. The amount of knowledge our students bring to our classroom is abundant and as teachers it is our job to build upon this promoting asset based education.