Henderson Independent has 12 teachers to serve a school that averaged 60 students a day in 2011-12 and started this year with only 45.
A $2.2 million federal School Improvement grant pays for physical-education and family-and-consumer-sciences teachers.
Two teachers are assigned to each subject area – math, science, social studies and English – and two are devoted to eighth-grade students from middle school.
Henderson began this year with a single middle school student.
Vecchione said the eighth-grade teachers will work with that student and provide supplemental instruction for students on the high school level.
“Each individual student takes up a lot of time because they have real needs that we need to address,” said Dr. Chris Vecchione, principal.
The school has two assistant principals, one full time and one part time who teaches social studies but steps into administration for one block each day.
The number of classroom teachers at the school has fluctuated between 11 and 17 over the past decade, reaching its the peak during the 2006-07 school year, when the average number of students on hand was also at a high of 193.
Vecchione said this is the first time in 12 years the school has been fully-staffed by the first day of school.
“In the past, there were scenarios where teachers were transferred here, but that no longer happens,” he said. “That’s one of the first things I changed, I want people to be here by choice.”
Also on the payroll are a credit-recovery lab facilitator, technology facilitator, in-school suspension facilitator, school transformation coach, academic counselor, exceptional children’s teacher, main office secretary, guidance secretary and part-time nurse.
The grant has covered extensive professional development at Henderson, a component outlined in the grant, Vecchione said.
“We have better access to professional development than anybody in the district because of these funds,” he said.
Vecchione said about $30,000 has been set aside for the training during each of the grant years.
Last year, teachers had the chance to attend one of two conferences:
– About a dozen went to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development conference in Philadelphia, Penn.
– Another eight traveled to Tampa, Fla. for the NASSP conference that was geared more toward leadership. NASSP is an organization for middle level and high school administrators and those who hope to become school leaders.
The grant also funded a training session at Harvard for fiveRowan-Salisbury administrators connected to Henderson, including Vecchione and Rebecca Smith.