SCHOOL HISTORY

 

William Prescott Elementary School has always been part of the Scranton School District’s Elementary School system and has always served the Petersburg section of East Scranton in the Hill Section of the city. The original school was built in 1900, and an older school, the Muhlenberg School #5, at Prescott Avenue and Ash Street, (constructed in 1884) served as an annex to both the original and the present building until it was demolished in the 1970’s.

The current Prescott School was built in 1966, on the same site as the original building. At one time the school served a student

population drawn mainly from the upper Hill Section of Scranton and those streets bordering the borough of Dunmore. With the closing of the old Washington Elementary School #1, in Central City (now converted to the Central Administration Building), Prescott Elementary then expanded its student boundaries to include some areas from the lower Hill whose students prevoudly attended the Washington School.

Going back to the early 1920’s, principals at Prescott have included Florence E. Colvin, F.A. Watrous, Stella Kinback, Michael E. Howard, Majorie L. O’Neil, Lewis W. Phillips, Charles Spano (acting), Micheal Morrow, and George M. Roskos, the present principal. The first principal of the newly constructed building was Mr. Howard.

Originally, Prescott Elementary served children from kindergarten through grade six. Then the former James Madison Elementary school. At that time, sixth grade students from Prescott began attending East Intermediate. Use of the Annex was curtailed. Within a few years, due to its condition, the District demolished it.

Subsequently, the Prescott School added a 4-year-old preschool class, conducted in AM and PM sessions, as is the kindergarten class. The school also has two sections each of grades one through five and Learning Support class.

STAFF AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

In addition to the principal, there are fourteen full-time and eight part-time professional staff assigned to William Prescott Elementary. The building also receives the services of a school nurse one day per week. Key characteristics of the staff are its experience and stability.

The non-professional staff includes a building clerk, a day and a night custodian, a Title I preschool aide, a learning support teacher’s meal program servers/monitors, three crossing guards, and an After School Program supervisor. The building also has a part-time intensive case manager through a District contractual arrangement with the Scranton Counseling Center.

The principal holds a permanent certificate in ComprehensiveEnglish and also servers as the district-wide coordinator for English in grades one through six. He holds a Master’s in Educational Administration and 45 additional graduate credits. He is certified as an elementary, intermediate, and high school principal.

 

Full-Time Professional Staff Qualifications

All fourteen hold bachelor’s degrees in the areas of Elementary,

Early Childhood, or Special Education.

-Twelve hold master’s degree’s, one a double Master’s, two a

  Master’s Equivalency, and one is a doctoral candidate. The

The areas for these include Guidance and Counseling,

Elementary Education, Reading, Special Education, and

Curriculum and Instruction.

-Areas of certification are Elementary Education, Reading, Speech

Pathology, Special Education, Early Childhood Education,

Mathematics, and Home Economics.

-Total time teaching equals 334 years.

-Average teaching experience is 23.8 years.

-Aggregate length of teaching service at Prescott s 182 years.

 

Part-Time Professional Staff Qualifications

 

-All eight hold bachelor’s degrees in the areas of Special Education, Health and Physical Education, Speech, Librarianship, Music, Elementary Education, and Art Education.

-Five hold master’s degrees in the areas of Counseling, Communication Disorders, and Music.

-Areas of teaching certification are Special Education, Elementary and Secondary Counseling, health & Physical Education, Speech Correction, Library Science, English, Social Studies, Music, Elementary Education, Supervisor of Elementary Education, and Art Education.

-Total time teaching equals 184 years.

-Average teaching experience equals 23 years.

-Aggregate length of teaching service at Prescott is 104 years.

 

The Prescott Elementary School has many unique qualities. First, in an era where many urban districts are moving from large elementary centers back to the neighborhood school concept, Prescott has been and remains a true neighborhood school. With the exception of the special education students who are transported on one mini-bus, all students are within reasonable walking distance of the school. The school is a medium-sized elementary building with a student population which, from year-to-year, fluctuates between 310 and 330 students.

The interior of the building is very well-maintained by two custodians, and the students and their teachers do their part in keeping the building looking good. The District replaced the main structure and porch roofs approximately ten years ago; and, in 1996, it replaced the single gas-fired boiler with two new gas units which, in an emergency, can also burn fuel oil.

The school has fourteen regular classrooms, a secretary’s office, a principal’s office, a music room, a multipurpose room, a library, a computer room, a medical room, a faculty lounge/workroom, a Title I reading room, and two other small rooms for guidance, intensive case management, speech/hearing programs, occupational/physical therapy, and small group or tutoring use.

A program for gifted students is offered, and violin instruction is provided for fourth and fifth grade students who are selected on ability, interest, and success on the Seashore Music Aptitude Test. The school offers Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) for fifth grade students which is jointly sponsored by the District, the Scranton Police Department, and the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office and is supported by various grants from community businesses and organizations, including the Hill Neighborhood Association. Fourth grade students participate in the Junior Deputy Sheriff’s Program, as well asa "Violence Free: Healthy Choices for Kids" curricular unit presented by the Women’s Resource Center of Scranton.

The school is especially proud of its annual Environmental Education Camp conducted through the Scranton Pocono Girl Scout Council at its Camp Archbald in Brooklyn, PA ., for three days each year in mid-October. The funding is provided by the District, the school PTA, and the students. What is particularly commendable besides the excellence of the program itself, is that the fifth grade teachers stay overnight at the camp with the pupils for no extra compensation. This fact certainly speaks volumes about their dedication to their students.

Thanks to a long tradition of outstanding service to the school and its students, the William Prescott PTA has always played a key part in supporting the school and its students with a varied array of programs.

The group provides total funding for class field trips ans special events such as the annual Field Day. They have fully funded and Artist-in-gifts for students, along with a puppet show each fall. They sponsor the Savings Stamps Program, the annual fifth grade class trip to cities such as Philadelphia, Pa., New York, NY, or Washington, D.C., as well as the annual fifth grade graduation and awards dinner, the National PTA Reflections Project, and the school’s annual Field Day.

Additionally, PTA committee members coordinate special company sponsored programs such as the General Mills Boxtops for Education Program, the Hill’s Department Stores’ Supply-A-School Program, and the Campbell’s Label for Education Program, along with many other special committees which are tailored to serve school and student needs. Currently, they are involved with the administration, faculty, and staff in developing a school uniform policy. And, for the past ten years, they have provided each student with an assignment book.

The school administration and faculty fully support teacher training programs offered by the University of Scranton, Marywood University, Penn State University, East Stroudsburg University, and keystone College, as well as other regional institutions of higher learning when requested to do so.

In cooperation with the District Supervisor of Reading and the school’s Title I Reading Specialist, students participate annually in a "Write and Illustrate Your Own Book Contest" and the School District’s Oral Reading Contest. Many of Prescott’s students have earned first or second places in these competitions over years.

The school’s Title I Reading Specialist also coordinates various student tutoring programs involving local college students and Ameri-corps and annually sponsors a "Read Me Day" and "Parents in Reading Month"". There is a Fifth Grade Tutor’s Club for which students must meet a series of stringent requirements before they are permitted to tutor peers and students in the lower grades. In conjuction with the Boys’ and Girls’ Club, an after school tutoring program called the Power Hour is available.

Students in the school have been involved, for the past fifteen years, in an aluminum recycling project coordinated by the physical education teacher. Students also participate annually in the District-wide Physical Fitness Contest and the Elementary Track and Field Meet under the tutelage of their Physical Education teacher.

Computers are available for student use from preschool through grade five and in the Learning Support classroom. The Accelerated Reader program is utilized by students on a daily basis, with some beginning as early as grade one. Pupils have internet access through five Power Mac computers and District personnel are currently seeking a grant which would provide five more internet-connected computers for the computer room. Fifth grade students also use computers to publish the school newspapers.

Prescott School provides a breakfast and hot lunch program administered by Aramark and a subsidized After School Program.

Students on the whole are polite, considerate, respectful, caring, and well-motivated. They reflect the largely traditional values of the neighborhood. They also perform well, i.e., on average, they achieve above grade level scores on the annual Stanford Achievement Test and above "similar schools" range on the PSSA test which is currently given to fifth grades in the areas of reading and mathematics.