First Grade Academy to stay in Terrebonne one more year

Terrebonne Parish’s First Grade Academy – a summer program that helps first graders meet promotional standards for second grade – will remain intact for another year.

The program was threatened with extinction prior to last week’s 5-3 school board vote to keep the program alive for one more summer. Board members Rickie Pitre, Clark Bonvillain and Hayes Badeaux opposed the program. Board member Roger DeHart was absent for business reasons.

Summer classes will tentatively be held at Southdown or East Houma elementary schools.

Parish educators held the locally-designed academy last summer at East Houma and Mulberry elementary schools. It cost the school board $143,600 to fund. Teachers were paid $25 per hour; many of them worked only four hours a day.

After successfully completing the program, students who initially failed first grade were promoted to the second grade.

Nearly 200 first graders were eligible to attend the 20-day program last year, but only 150 enrolled, according to school officials. Of those, 100 were promoted.

At last Tuesday’s school board meeting, Pitre argued that the results from the program didn’t justify funding it another year.

“I supported the program last year, and I really hoped it would be successful,” he said. “But if I have to go on the information that was presented to me, the program is not advocating success and growth, and I don’t think we should spend money on an unsuccessful program.”

According to Pitre’s figures, 80 of the students who attended the program last summer are earning passing grades to date.

Board member L.P. Bordelon, a supporter of the program, said the First Grade Academy is too new to call it a failure.

“We need to give the students an opportunity to have a fighting chance,” he said. “We need more than a year to gage the success of the program.”

“The money is always important, but helping the children is greater,” he added. “That’s why we were elected.”

According to Bordelon, supervisor of elementary education Pam Lemoine started the program because she noticed first-graders were slipping in reading while doing well in other areas.

“If we don’t catch them now, we won’t be able to catch them when they are fourth- and eight-graders trying to pass the LEAP test,” Bordelon said.

Acadian Elementary’s Mary Jane LaRussa, a first-grade teacher for 25 years, was among academy instructors present in support of the program.

“First grade is the most important grade in the 12-year program,” she said. “We need to make sure that the children understand now, instead of waiting until we have to remediate them because they’ve failed the LEAP exam.”

Jamie Lancaster, whose son failed first grade last year at Broadmoor Elementary School, told the board her 8-year-old was able to move on because of the program.

“If it wasn’t for the program, my son would not be doing well in school today,” she said.

Terrebonne Parish first graders that fail to meet the requirements for second grade will be able to attend the First Grade Academy this summer. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF