March 26, 2018

Ms. Jamie Gerding

Booker T. Washington Elementary
1407 East Estelle Street
Tampa, FL 33605

Dear Ms. Gerding,

I am writing this letter to address our ongoing poor performance as a school. For the past
three school years, we have received a grade of an “F.” We have not received a grade of a “C”
since 2011 and we have not received an “A” since 2003. I researched what areas need most
attention and something that caught my attention is that our students are performing the worst in
science achievement. Looking at the most recent achievement scores in math, language arts, and
science I see that in math our students improved from getting fourteen percent of possible points
to forty-five percent. They also are made gains in language arts as they went from get fifteen
percent of points possible to forty-six percent. However, in science the students are only getting
eight percent of possible points and there is no reported gain. In the school improvement plan it
notes that a proposed strategy is to extend the school day and add 180 hours to the school year.
Instead of this I propose that we introduce and utilize Lawrence Hall of Science.
Lawrence Hall of Science is a website that has engaging science games and investigation
activities for K-5 students to use both at home and in school. Each activity comes with a list of
materials, instructions on what to do, and a space for students to record data. When students
enter their data, it is put into a graph and compared to other students’ results. The activities teach
students scientific concepts in an entertaining and engaging way, enabling students to retain
information better. Lawrence Hall of Science is available online and it has several apps so if
students do not have access to a computer, then they can use a phone. Both methods are free so
parents do not have to worry about cost. By introducing this tool, our students’ scores in science
achievement will increase along with the language arts and math scores. With the improved
performance the schools’ overall grade could improve as well.

Sincerely,
Jamya Clark
2nd Grade Science Teacher