Demographic Study

Tammie Smith EDAD 6291

Historical Background
Sugar

Land was originally granted to Samuel M. Williams in 1828 for his service as secretary to Stephen F. Austin. The area was developed when the Williams brothers established their raw-sugar mill in 1843.

In 1906, the Kempner family of Galveston, under the leadership of Isaac Herbert Kempner and in partnership with William T. Eldridge, purchased the 5,300 acre Ellis Plantation, one of the few plantations in Fort Bend County to survive the Civil War. The Ellis Plantation had originally been part of the Jesse Cartwright league, and in the years after the Civil War had been operated by a system of tenant farming and convict leasing under the management of Will Ellis. In 1908, the partnership acquired the adjoining 12,500 acre Cunningham Plantation with its raw sugar mill and cane-sugar refinery. The partnership changed the name to Imperial Sugar Company; Kempner associated the name Imperial, which was also the name of a small raw-sugar mill on the Ellis Plantation, with the Imperial Hotel in New York City. Around the turn of the century, most of the sugarcane crops were destroyed by a harsh winter. As part of the Kempner-Eldridge agreement, Eldridge moved to the site to serve as general manager and build the company-owned town of Sugar Land. Trains have always been the sound of Sugar Land. These rails are on the route of the oldest railroad in Texas. It went right through the middle of town, by the sugar refinery, and west of town, through the heart of what used to be known as the Imperial State Prison Farm. As a company town from the 1910s until 1959, Sugar Land was virtually self-contained. Imperial Sugar Company provided housing for the workers, encouraged construction of schools, built a hospital for the workers well-being, and provided businesses to meet the workers needs. Many of the original homes built by the Imperial Sugar Company remain today in The Hill area and Mayfield Park of Sugar Land and have been passed down through generations of family members. During the 1950s, Imperial Sugar wanted to expand the town by building more houses. This led to the creation of a new subdivision of Venetian Estates. The subdivision featured water front home sites fronting Oyster Creek and other man-made lakes.

Schools
There

are 11 high schools, 14 middle schools, 45 elementary schools, and 4 specialized schools. Sugar Mill was opened in 1984 and was given the name Sugar Mill Elementary because of the close proximity to the original sugar mill factory.

School District
The

Chain of command is as follows:

Superintendent- Charles Dupre Director of Superintendent- Dr. Phyllis Hill Principal- Dr. Terry-Ann Rodriguez Assistant Principal- Brian Gibson Team Leader- Sue Nelson

School District

District enrollment is 68.974 and the growth rate is 2.4 percent. African American................................. 29.4% Asian/Pacific Islander...........................21.9 % Hispanic..................................................26.2 % Native American.................................... 0.5% White/Anglo............................................19.6 % Two or more ethnicities.......................... 2.3% Economically Disadvantaged...............38.0 % Limited English Proficiency.................. ..14.0% Special Education...................................6.3 % Gifted & Talented.................................... 5.8% Career & Technology Education...........15.4% Number of languages spoken..................>90

School District

Average Experience with Fort Bend ISD.... 11.7yrs Percent Highly Qualified......................... 70.9% Teachers with Advanced Degrees..........28 % Student/Teacher Ratio..............................17:1 African American.......................................25.8 % Asian/Pacific Islander................................4 .3% Hispanic......................................................11.5 % White/Anglo............................................ 56.3% Two or more ethnicities............................1.9 % Males: 22.2 % Females: 77.8 %

Campus

The basic premise of site-based decision making is that the most effective decisions are made by those who will actually implement the decisions. The belief is that people involved at the campus level have a greater opportunity to identify problems, develop problem resolution and change strategy than people located off-campus. Site-based decision making concepts also recognize that people at the campus level are more likely to internalize change and to support its implementation if they are involved in the decision making than if they are not. The objective of site-based decision making is to improve student performance and to enhance accountability. Each campus should have the freedom to set its own educational objectives, consistent with the school district's goals. Sugar Mill has a Campus Based Leadership Team, CBLT. The members consist of a parent, business partner, principal, assistant principal and a representative from each grade level that are elected into the positions. The purpose of the committee is to make decisions the involve campus issues. They solve problems based on the needs of the campus and children.

Campus
Total School Enrollment: 686 Growth Rate1.2% Grade K--- 112 Grade 1---109 Grade 2---124 Grade 3---96 Grade 4---113 Grade 5---128 PPCD------4 African American.................................11% Asian/Pacific Islander...........................23% Hispanic...................................................31% White/Anglo............................................34% Two or more ethnicities..........................3%

Campus
Levels of education, years of experience, and demographic characteristics of professional staff at the campus level? African American...................................4.6% Asian/Pacific Islander............................2.0% Hispanic...................................................4.6% White/Anglo............................................84.1% Two or more ethnicities..........................2.3%

Males: 4.7% Females: 95.3%

Campus Characteristics

The strongest area of student performance on state exams is in the subject of reading and the schools weak area is in Science. Attendance rate, of the campus, is a strength at 97.8% 28.8% economically disadvantaged The percentage of parents involved in PTA is around 45%. Support is there for raising funds and volunteering in the school to help. No geographic features that impact negatively. The school is in a neighborhood and 80% of the children walk to school. There are only 3 buses that come to the school. 79% of the staff live in the school zone