Sierra Vista Students AIMING for Success on April Exams Thanks to Help from Campfire Organization

PHOENIX –Feb. 13, 2008– Ultimately it was the difference of one student – a single fourth grader’s academic success could have improved an important academic rating for one Phoenix school.

That’s how close Sierra Vista School came to becoming a “performing school” during the 2006-07 academic year.  Sierra Vista missed receiving an “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) rating by seven-tenths of a point – a margin that could have easily been made up had one additional fourth-grader passed the reading portion of the AIMS test.

Rather than worrying about how close it came or agonizing over what might have been, Sierra Vista School is “AIMing” for better academic success for its students this year thanks to the help of the Campfire Organization.

No stranger to the Sierra Vista Campus, the Campfire Organization last year offered tutoring to Sierra Vista students on a part-time basis.  Students had the option to participate in the one-on-one after-school tutoring, but no mandatory programs were offered, according to Sierra Vista Assistant Principal Bryce McClellan.

But thanks to an anonymous donor’s generosity, the Campfire Organization is now burning even brighter on the Sierra Vista campus, with nine full-time tutors assisting students on the skills needed to pass the AIMS test.

“We essentially have nine tutors working 40 hours a week,” explained McClellan.  “Right now we’re placing an emphasis on working with our sixth, seventh and eight graders in Math.  One of the major reasons we finished as an underperforming school last year was because of our math results.”

McClellan said students showing the greatest need for improvement are now being pulled out of elective classes two days a week in order to receive additional tutoring.

While it’s too early to tell if the full-time tutors will equate to greater AIMS test success this April for Sierra Vista students, McClellan says he’s already receiving good feedback from parents of students receiving the extra academic help.

“The parents are ecstatic,” McClellan explained. “We’re starting to hear things like, ‘For the first time ever, my kid really understands fractions.’”