Fairfield also offers year-round school and stresses reading using the Success for All and Reading Recovery programs. It's is one of Fort Wayne's poorest schools, with 83 percent of its students qualifying for free or reduced lunches. The transience among students results in a turnover rate of 75 to 90 percent a year. High mobility and the language barrier make it difficult to get parents involved at school, said Principal Sherry Britt. Three years ago, the school launched a Family Resource Room that offers a translator, a parent coordinator, two workers who assist with homework and contacting parents, and a case manager to connect families with social services.
Some results are evident.
The challenges of recruiting are huge, but it keeps you pumped. It keeps you excited. Irwin is housed in a 1927 brick building with a modern wing. Math and science are interwoven throughout the core curriculum, with monthly building-wide themes. Containers of live frogs, crabs and snails sit on the desks of fourth-graders who are working in groups on a math assignment.