Schools

Lake Fenton Looks to Raise Bar After MEAP Success

Lake Fenton Middle School posted the best MEAP scores in Genesee County.

After posting the top MEAP scores in Geneseee County for the third straight year, Lake Fenton Middle School Principal Dan Ferguson posed a question to his students.

"Where do we want to go from here?" Ferguson asked in an assembly Wednesday morning.

Ferguson said he would like to set goals even higher for the school. He said officials will work with the Genesee Intermediate School District to look for any gaps in their curriculum and try to do a better job of preparing students for the challenges.

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"We are going to work on high school and college readiness in math and science,” Ferguson said. “The bar has been lifted and we accept the challenge.”

However, Wednesday was mostly about a celebration of the students' achievements. While announcing the scores and the MEAP "3-Peat" students cheered, pumped their fists and slapped high fives.

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Lake Fenton posted the best scores in Genesee County for reading, writing and social studies. They had the second-highest science scores and the third highest math scores.

The sixth- and seventh-grade students placed first in the county for highest composite scores. The eighth-graders posted the fourth highest composite scores in the school.

If you combine the grade levels or the composite scores, the students had the highest ranking scores in the county.

“I think West Shore and Torrey Hill lay the foundation and the middle school hit it out of the park,” said Elisa Wittersheim, a parent of an eighth-grade student. “It takes the entire staff and there is great communication. I couldn’t ask for a better school.”

Proficiency in eighth-grade math was the only subject and level Lake Fenton dipped below state averages, according to statistics provided by the Michigan Department of Education. Lake Fenton did top state average in every other subject and level.

Lake Fenton has chosen a slogan each of the past four years to go along with their MEAP score efforts. Leading up to the 2011 results, it was “We can.” This time around the theme was “Three-Peat." Next year? Ferguson has left that up to the students.

"I am excited for our eighth-graders. It was great to watch their great leadership and maturity. For three years to be part of the top school, they have set a great example," he said. "Today was very exciting for our sixth-graders and our new students to get a glimpse of what our returning students have come to expect."

Ferguson thanked neighboring school districts including Fenton, Linden, Grand Blanc, Clio and Davison for sharing curriculum along with staff and parents for helping the students be successful.

"It’s the all three grades and all five discipline approach that leads to our success," Ferguson said.

He stated that staff and students will now work on coming up with the next challenge.

“Mr. Ferguson does a great job encouraging them to exceed and they do the job,” Wittersheim said. “He gets them excited about school.”


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