• Numbers of FARMS students
• PARCC Scores - Mathematics (Elementary grades 3, 4, 5)
• PARCC Scores - English/Language Arts (Elementary grades 3, 4, 5)

Key Challenge #1: Free and Reduced Meals Students/Title I Status

We have historically been recognized as a Title I school due to the number of students who are economically disadvantaged. Within the last 10 years, there has been a shift in the economic makeup of families based on increased development of housing as the community boundaries have expanded; and for a period of time, HHES was identified as an Academic Achievement for All (Triple - A) school. We find ourselves again recognized as a Title I school based on the increase in students who qualify for free and reduced meals (FARMS), as the number of family members within a household is now increasing.

Research indicates that there is a strong correlation between students of poverty and academic performance. Many of our students coming from low-income families tend to be performing below grade level expectations on  standardized assessments. Although there is a continued trend with FARMS students underperforming compared to other student groups, we do see continued improvement with student performance on district assessments. Our teachers support student learning and achievement through varied learning opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom, and a focus on collaborating with our school’s resource teachers to select effective instructional strategies based on data trends. Through the application of professional learning and collaborative planning, teachers support students of poverty to increase their understanding of mathematics content and reading strategies.

Key Challenge #2: Reading

Fostering a love of reading and growing readers has always been a goal for the students in our school. Despite the consistent focus on developing readers and their ability to demonstrate reading behaviors, we find that students continue to struggle with the ability to demonstrate strong comprehension and decoding skills when assessed through district, state, and federal assessments. 

Through coaching and modeling from Literacy Teachers, as well as continual professional development for teachers, we are able to identify targeted strategies to differentiate for all students while increasing their ability to respond to text-based questions. We are also working closely with families to encourage the practice of reading at home to improve students’ skills and provide additional opportunities for them to apply reading strategies.

• Socio-Economic Issues (employment, income levels, housing costs)
• Businesses/Job Market, Inclusion of programs of choice

• Socio-economic community issues (employment, income levels, housing costs)
• Significant changes over time in student/community demographics
• Significant increase/reduction in student enrollment numbers

Key Challenge #3: Student Mobility

Student mobility is a factor that impacts our school.  As a result of our proximity to the Fort George G. Meade Army Installation, we have students whose parents are either active military or government officials who relocate due to work assignments, which can cause students to enroll/withdraw at non-traditional times during the school year. Our student population has also increased due to job opportunities through employers such as Maryland Live Casino and other local hotels and businesses. In addition, we have students whose families are transient and tend to move based on a number of other factors.

The turnover of students impacts our instructional program, as many of our new students do not know our school routines and procedures, and need time to adjust to the Maryland teaching and learning standards.Our staff spends a great deal of time communicating our HHES norms and expectations, as well as building strong relationships with students and their families. Our Pupil Personnel Worker (PPW) supports our families by providing resources to assist them in making informed decisions about keeping their child(ren) in school to minimize interruptions to their learning.