Westminster Community School and M&T Bank
(Buffalo, NY)
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| Goal: |
Transform the lowest performing elementary school in the district to one of the top-performing schools in the district. |
| Strategy: |
Form partnership with regional bank with strong local presence for management expertise and contributions of resources, technology and volunteer support. |
| Tactics: |
M & T Bank "adopted" the school and created a Board of Trustees that included the Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent, union and parent representatives and both the CEO and an Executive Vice President of M&T. The Board hired a principal who had turned around a troubled inner city Chicago school.
Special committees where charged to bring about tangible improvements in curriculum and staff development, student and staff morale, parent/community involvement, discipline and school beautification.
M&T provided financial support for computers and technology, books and educational supplies, after-school and summer school programs, a comprehensive health clinic and supplementary staff positions.
M&T also hired the Columbia Teachers College Reading and Writing Project to provide staff development at Westminster. More than 100 M&T employees provide ongoing assistance to the school and two M&T positions are devoted solely to the school.
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| Results: |
Westminster has become one of the top-performing schools in the district.
The school's 4th grade ranked first and the 8th grade ranked third among all Buffalo schools on the 2002-2003 math exam. The 1st grade ranked fourth and 8th grade ranked tenth in English.
The Western New York 2003 Business First Guide ranked Westminster fourth out of 44 public elementary schools and fourth out of 42 middle schools in Buffalo.
Enrollment soared 62 percent; student mobility decreased from 48 to 12 percent and suspensions have decreased from 6 to 1 percent.
Westminster was recognized in the 2002 Most Improved Report by the New York State Department of Education.
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