A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Burgess Elementary School
Atlanta Public School District
Atlanta, Ga.

Key Programs: Saturday School; an after-school program; and a preschool program

Background

The Burgess Elementary School, a one-story modern brick structure with an attached annex and additional portable buildings, is located near a major highway on the southeast side of downtown Atlanta. Upon entering Burgess one finds the clean and well-lit halls amply decorated with student work. Students are engaged in their classrooms. Pictures of parents, framed in gold construction paper stars, hang outside the door of each classroom. The Burgess T-shirt, with the school motto, "Taking a Step Beyond to a New Level of Excellence," is displayed outside the front office. Inside, several African American women, each one a school parent, are busy; one sits behind the desk and works the phone, another helps a child with a Band-Aid, while a third prepares the public address system for the morning message. The smell of fresh-brewed coffee adds another dimension of warmth and comfort to this busy hub of the school community.

Burgess is a remarkably warm and welcoming environment. It is a place where students, parents, teachers and staff want to be, and where people are willing to work long and hard to help students succeed. Almost paradoxically, the long hours and extra work are a source of laughter, pride, and energy.

Population Served

The campus is bordered on one side by modest single family homes that are typical of this low-income, working class, African American community. The majority of the 430 students that attend Burgess live in the surrounding neighborhood. Most of the children walk to school or are dropped off by parents or grandparents. Ninety-nine percent of the students are African American and more than 80 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. The neighborhood, described as a "revolving-door community," is characterized by a high rate of mobility as people move in and out depending on economic opportunities. As a result, approximately 30 percent of Burgess students were new to the school and the school system in the 1998-99 school year.

Academic Improvement

Data indicate that Burgess has indeed been taking impressive steps toward excellence. Student performance in reading and mathematics has improved markedly as reflected by results on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Data for 1998 show that 64 percent of the students in grades 1-5 performed above the national norm in reading, while 72 percent of the students scored above the national norm in mathematics. Burgess students are also performing above the average for the

Atlanta school system in both subjects. School-wide achievement at Burgess has risen steadily during the last three years. (See Table 6.) In 1995 only 29 percent of the students were scoring above the national norm in reading and only 34 percent were above the national norm in mathematics. District data show other improvements as well. Student and staff attendance has risen during the last three years. Moreover, 90 percent of Burgess parents feel the principal is doing a good job running the school and 92 percent report that they feel welcome when they come to the school.

Table 6: Percent of Burgess Elementary Students Scoring At or Above National Average on Iowa Test of Basic Skills

Starting Points

Burgess Elementary arrived at its current level of success under the leadership of Gwendolyn Carter. A veteran teacher with a background in special education, Carter sought a position as principal after spending four years as an instructional specialist (with duties similar to a vice-principal) at two elementary schools. Prior to becoming a principal she had also participated in a district-sponsored internship program for administrators. Carter was assigned to Burgess in the school year of 1993-94 to fill a vacancy left by the retirement of a popular principal.

From Teacher-Focused to Student-Focused

Upon arriving at Burgess, Carter found a school that was much different than it is today. The school?s enrollment was significantly lower with a student body of about 200 students. As noted above, most of these students were performing below national norms in reading and mathematics. Carter described the school she inherited as teacher-focused. She said, "It was known as an excellent place for teachers to work. It was a nice, quiet environment, nice community and everything. The environment was very drab." Many of the teachers focused solely on delivering their lessons and were reluctant to take on the extra work that Carter felt was necessary to meet students? personal needs, and to develop enrichment activities, academic supports, and parental involvement. In 1993-94, only one or two parents participated actively at the school, and there were no community partnerships.

During her six years as principal at Burgess, Carter has persistently, and at times forcefully, guided the school and community in becoming a "child-centered school," responsive to all the needs of each student. This commitment to the whole child, combined with a focus on building relationships within the school and community, and the implementation of well-targeted strategies to enhance instruction have all been critical components of the change process at Burgess.

Improving the Physical Environment

Carter?s first step was to enliven the physical appearance of the school. She took a risk by disregarding what she had learned about never making dramatic changes to a school when you follow a well-liked principal and forged ahead and got rid of well-worn displays. She said, "I couldn?t help myself. I came in tearing things off walls. I took down displays that had been up for years. My idea was to take everything down at the end of the year. Now we change displays monthly or every two weeks."

The physical environment at Burgess got another boost when the school was renovated by the district three years ago. Today teachers and parents alike report that the clean, attractive, and stimulating environment at Burgess supports student learning. A veteran teacher explained, "The school is pretty and clean. That?s part of our mission statement. If you keep a clean room and a safe room, the children don?t want to leave."

A parent commented on the positive impact of the constantly changing displays of student work. She explained, "The bulletin boards aren?t always the same. It helps the kids. They know their work will be on display, so they try to do their best. They know that if they?re good, their pictures will be up on the board."

Changing the School Climate

Principal Carter has worked hard to foster the development of a learning community in which all students are provided opportunities to develop and succeed. In her view this shift in orientation is the most pervasive change at Burgess. As she said, "We are making sure we address the needs of every child. [We try] not just to get 90 percent [of the students to achieve], but [we also seek to reach] those other 10 percent that need something different."

A teacher spoke of how Carter instilled this commitment, "I think she has contributed a great deal to the success at Burgess. She is for each child. She feels that each child should benefit from whatever he is. She feels that no child should be excluded from anything." This teacher went on to explain how Carter?s use of incentives and her daily expression of this message reinforced this commitment among staff:

During the year, Dr. Carter gives incentives to the teachers and all kinds of incentives to the kids. We have pizza parties, skating parties, little greetings in the morning on the intercom, just little things to let the kids keep abreast and let them know she appreciates them and that we appreciate them also. It makes a difference, even with the teachers, to know that she has that concern. It carries over and leads us to be even more concerned about every child. It just makes it a little more noticeable that we?re here for every child.

A parent also remarked that Burgess is a school where every child feels important, "Carter likes programs where all kids are involved. In the classroom it?s not the teacher?s pet [who gets selected]. All children help the teacher out. One day it is one child and the next day it is another."

At Burgess, this child-centered orientation is demonstrated through efforts that attend to the material, emotional, and developmental needs of all students. First, administrators, staff, and parents do what it takes to provide the extra material resources that children need to participate and succeed. For example, one faculty member bought glasses for a child. Also, all staff members "adopt a child" and help by purchasing extras the child may need. One parent said:

Just because you don?t have money to get clothes to participate, you can still participate. If a child says, ?I can?t be in this because my mom doesn?t have the money to buy this or that,? Dr. Carter will see to it. Last year we had some parents who wanted to buy pants and dresses for kindergarten graduation. And teachers helped. No child is to feel out of place at graduation. Everybody had proper clothes. If you need something you can ask.

This sensitivity to the students? material needs extends to the classroom as well. Thompkins, an instructional specialist at Burgess and one of the few African American men on the faculty, was vigilant about exposing students to objects and materials with which they need to be familiar to succeed academically. He said:

We use a pitcher sometimes. You ask why a pitcher? The point is, we put it on the table and sometimes in social studies class we pretend to have a little dinner, or a little breakfast. We use it because sometimes on the test the kids have to identify that item and they have never seen it because they generally drink out of cups or glasses or cans. I can give you examples and examples of that.

Thompkins, also affectionately nicknamed the "grand networker" by staff, makes it a priority to keep his office stocked with a wide range of materials—microscopes, calculators, CD-ROMs on the rainforest—so that teachers can enhance their lessons and provide the children with a "tangible experience." Glancing around his office Thompkins explained, "That?s why this is the junk room. Because everything in here goes out so the kids can see it. We have to order things to help them see and touch things. I have no problem getting what they need."

Principal Carter believes that a student?s emotional well-being is essential for successful learning and she has promoted a vision of teaching that reflects this perspective. She explained, "Some schools don?t want to deal with that [emotional needs] because it is very time consuming. But you have to deal with that. If a child comes needing to talk, you have to deal with that before you can teach."

Burgess staff actively work with the school social worker and take advantage of collaborations with local agencies and university services to address many of these concerns. Moreover, Carter, teachers, and parents, all expressed a readiness to listen to children and respond to their emotional needs. Carter provided an example of her approach with students:

The children know they are special, too. As an example, one little boy came in and said, ?I need a Band-Aid.? I said, ?Come here,? and, ?I have some candy. You want one?? He said, ?Thanks,? and left right away. He was cured. So they just want attention. We give them lots of attention.

Teachers give high priority to the children?s emotional well-being. For example, one teacher begins every school day by providing her students with the time to share whatever is on their minds. She referred to this as a "time for them to talk it out." She guides the children in making choices about what to share with the whole class and what to share with her privately.

Burgess has instituted a number of programs to enhance student self-esteem and values. Four years ago, as a result of a teacher initiative, Burgess began the practice of broadcasting a schoolwide inspirational message and student pledge each morning. Every day, students in each classroom recite, "I am somebody. I am happy, I am beautiful. I am hopeful. Everyday, in every way I am getting better. Respect me: never reject me. I am somebody. I will always believe in myself, my parents, and my teacher? ." The students conclude the pledge by promising to work hard and behave well so that they can learn. Teachers remarked on the students? enthusiasm for this ritual and noted, "I don?t think they just say it anymore; I think they believe it now."

Burgess staff saw values education as central to their success. At the suggestion of a teacher, Burgess recently initiated a schoolwide "character value of the month" program. Each month the school focuses on a specific value, which every teacher reinforces in the classroom. For example, to highlight December?s value, "caring," the music teacher wrote an original composition that celebrated the spirit of this value. The 70-plus children who participate in the popular choir program later performed this piece in the community.

Sensitive to the lack of community-based programming available in the surrounding neighborhood, Carter also felt it was essential to provide after school enrichment activities on campus. As she explained, "Extra programs are really critical, especially in this community. It?s [the community] not situated near a Boys and Girls Club. It?s not close to anything that?s in walking distance, not even a park. So the school is very central. So we needed to do some things after school."

As a result of Carter?s leadership and the dedication of staff, students can now elect to participate in a host of different clubs and activities each week. Some student favorites are the Tumbling Team, Cooking, Boy Scouts, and the Computer Club. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents direct all of these activities. It is important to note that every teacher at Burgess volunteers time on a weekly basis to lead an after-school activity. Such volunteerism on the part of staff and parents alike is thought of as part of one?s "civic duty." Carter uses Title I funds to buy occasional refreshments and treats in appreciation of this civic spirit.

Several factors worked together to contribute to the current cohesion at Burgess. Carter "forced" staff dinners and other social get-togethers in an effort to build relationships among staff. Although some staff were initially resistant to this approach, they now laugh about it and say that it worked. Teachers noted that special staff development sessions on team building were also helpful. The effort of working together to define and realize a common goal further solidified the staff. A teacher described this process, "I think that?s one step that really gets a group going; when you [the principal] are concerned about the whole group, the total group. Dr. Carter is not only concerned about the kids, she?s concerned about the faculty and she lets us know."

This same teacher pointed out how, paradoxically, the challenges of trying to make changes can, in and of themselves, bring people together. She explained, "A lot of times, we?ve had to just pull together as individuals and share. That was a big part of trying to make changes." Teachers recognized that, as individuals, they were less likely to have all of the resources, knowledge, or experience needed to be successful. Instead, they realized that they were more likely to succeed if they pooled materials, information, and effort.

Changing the Organization of Schooling

Whereas many schools are organized to provide instruction five days a week between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Burgess staff have shifted resources in ways that have allowed them to extend the time available for instruction. This extended instructional time has influenced the achievement results of many Burgess students.

Burgess staff have implemented numerous after-school activities to promote Burgess students? academic success. For the past four years, tutoring has been available for each grade level once a week. In addition, a special after-school program called "Whiz Kids" helped students who were performing slightly below average to master critical skills. During this bi-weekly program, made possible by the flexible use of Title I schoolwide funding, students work in pairs on areas of difficulty in math and reading. A veteran teacher responsible for this program explained the rationale and approach, "The middle kids never have anything special. They aren?t slow. I noticed it?s often one thing they are having trouble with. So I figured, let?s find out what they don?t know and work on that." Although extra instructional time is made available to all children who are experiencing academic difficulty, Carter noted that the most significant gains on standardized tests have been with the large group of students who were performing slightly below average.

Two years ago, Burgess began conducting a "Saturday School" from January through March. The primary purpose of this program was to help prepare students and their parents for the standardized testing administered each spring. Each Saturday morning, the school staff provided test-taking and educational workshops for students and parents. Each year, more than 100 students and at least 30 parents participated. Students reviewed material and practiced test-taking strategies while parents learned how to help their children prepare for the test. Title I and other funds were used to pay teachers who worked at Saturday School and many volunteers provided additional support.

Changing the Relationships with Parents and Community

Principal Carter, teachers, and parents highlighted the increase in parent involvement as one of the most noteworthy changes at Burgess. Six years prior, only one or two parents would help out regularly at the school; now, in contrast, ten or fifteen parents are generally at school on any given day. Likewise, attendance at the PTA meetings has grown tremendously. In the past, only 10 or so parents would attend sporadically held meetings. Currently, PTA meetings are held monthly without fail and attendance has soared. More than 100 parents attended the last meeting.

At Burgess, efforts to increase parent involvement are primarily aimed at enhancing parents? ability to support their children?s schooling. Carter, for example, constantly spoke of "raising parents? awareness" so that they would push their children to perform and be better able to help their children with schoolwork. Toward that end, Burgess staff have worked hard to incorporate parents in the classroom and include them in special academic programs.

All Burgess teachers attend workshops where they learn how to work with parents in their classrooms. The key is preparation and planning. As Carter emphasized:

You have to plan, just as if you have an assistant teacher in the room. It takes a lot of work to plan what that person needs to be doing. Parents work with small groups, sometimes read to the whole class, hand out papers, monitor the halls and cafeteria and assist with field trips.

The potential benefits of thoughtful preparation for parent involvement are highlighted in a story of a mother who worked with her son in kindergarten and then taught all the material to her younger, preschool child at home. This child entered kindergarten well prepared and is now excelling in school.

As mentioned above, the Saturday School was designed to help students and their parents. It included parallel student and parent sessions. Each year more than 30 parents have attended, participating in fun activities and educational sessions where they hone their own skills and knowledge. Carter described their approach:

We wanted parents to come too because part of the task is getting the parents? level of awareness raised so that they know it is important to start pushing their children at school. So we did everything to get the parents in. We held breakfasts and the volunteers would cook pancakes, eggs, grits, and cheese. When that got old we changed and had lunch. We did several kinds of fun sessions because some people just dread anything having to do with pencil and paper because their experiences with school just may not have been that great. We have educational sessions too. We have quiz bowls, vocabulary, and math. We provide a chance to be competitive and at the same time learn something and enhance your skills.

A parent who participated explained, "I think it helped improve the test scores when we had the Saturday School. I think it made a world of difference. A lot of parents don?t understand things the kids have for homework, so it really helps them to go over what their child is going through."

Burgess has been successful in creating attractive incentives for parents. These have included everything from TV give-aways, half-price meals, and mothers? makeover days. Making a concerted effort to involve fathers at the school, Burgess staff offer extra incentives for them such as free meals and entertainment. But, it is important to emphasize that parents have been especially appreciative and enthusiastic about the educational and academically oriented sessions. One long-time parent volunteer, who now has grandchildren at the school, explained that the school?s focus on parents learning how to be effective is what makes the Burgess approach to parents special. As she said:

Dr. Carter has classes and workshops to tell parents how important it is for them to interact with their children. That has made a big difference. A lot of schools don?t invite parents to come in to workshops. Once they [parents] get here, they find out some things they can do to be effective.

Encouraged by the parent interest at Saturday School, teachers decided to include parents in preparations for the annual Science and Social Science Fair. The faculty provided special training for parents after school and parents then worked alongside their children in designing and creating projects. As a result, Burgess had their highest number of projects ever. A parent who participated described this experience:

This year we had the Science and Social Science Fair. The parents were given a workshop for it. They were really involved with it. If you didn?t know how to do a project when you came, you did when you left. It was a great experience.

Parents were similarly enthusiastic about a series of computer classes that were offered at the school. More than 20 parents turned out for the first session. As one explained, "Dr. Carter is seeing that parents can learn computers. Not every school is doing that for parents. I know my daughter knows more about computers than I do right now. I feel intimidated by that. I want to know something about computers too."

The school?s commitment to building parents? capacity is perhaps most clearly reflected in the growing numbers of parents who have made the transition from a volunteer position to employment at Burgess. Carter has used the school?s financial resources to make a number of full and part-time positions available to parents. Four parents have moved from volunteer roles to fill key positions in the administrative office and classrooms. The members of this strong and mutually supportive cadre of school mothers also provide crucial links to the wider community of parents, responding to concerns about attendance and drawing on their knowledge of the school to provide needed advice and support in negotiating school issues.

During the past several years Carter, staff, and Burgess parents have invested time and energy in developing and nurturing relationships with community businesses and institutions. As a result, the school has two major partners—one a local hotel, the other a local real estate agency—that provide substantial resources to the school. For example, the hotel has taken a major role in supporting the school?s incentive program, making its splendid downtown facility available for monthly "citizen of the month" luncheons and the annual whole-school "Honor Day" celebration. The real estate agency?s contribution of copying services and a cash grant extend the teachers? resources. Most recently the school has succeeded in solidifying a partnership with the neighborhood church. Last year the church purchased a new dictionary for each student and provided the use of the church as a site for the graduation ceremony. These community resources enhance Carter?s ability to provide what her teachers need to do their job.

Changing Academic Instruction

While Carter has made it a top priority to ensure that her staff is responsive to the material, emotional, and developmental needs of Burgess students, she has at the same time directed interventions to improve classroom teaching and teacher effectiveness. Michael Cooper, executive director of 23 of the elementary schools in the district, highlighted Carter?s instructional leadership:

Carter is an instructional leader in the true sense. She trained under an excellent principal. She?s a continuous learner. She studies a lot and keeps abreast of new ideas. That?s been significant in terms of resources and time to do staff development.

Both Carter and Instructional Specialist Thompkins have emphasized the importance of aligning classroom activities with the objectives of the standardized test. Carter said, "Sometimes teachers can be teaching wonderful, interesting activities, but if it?s something that is not going to be tested then, from a testing standpoint, it?s a waste of time." Thompkins concurred by explaining, "You have the opportunity to be creative, but you shouldn?t spend a lot of time on longitude and latitude if it?s not on the test."

Carter has always provided her teachers with test objectives and required that these objectives guide lesson planning. However, she recognized that this was not adequate. Often teachers were not teaching the objectives. She discovered that teachers needed to work more actively with the objectives and lesson planning and that teachers needed to be more closely monitored. Toward this end, she and Thompkins both review each teacher?s lesson plan on a weekly basis. The forms used for this process require that the teachers consciously identify which objectives are being met by specific activities. Thompkins uses this form to talk with the teachers. Thompkins then meets with teachers to provide guidance and materials.

The principal also added time for teachers to work actively with the objectives during staff planning time. As she explained, "I have scheduled collaboration and planning time so teachers have time to give little reports on what they have done and what objectives they are teaching."

Carter has also made use of an outside consultant to provide professional development on how to best work with test objectives. According to Carter this session was extremely helpful in demystifying the objectives:

One of the most valuable professional development sessions was a math consultant who helped the teachers really look at the objectives. For example, they [the district] might give you two or three pages of objectives for a grade level and say, ?Here, go teach this.? That?s kind of overwhelming. So she [the consultant] helped them collapse the objectives into five or six different areas and as a result they saw they were really just teaching certain things about money, addition, and subtraction.

Carter feels that classroom monitoring is the other essential ingredient to ensure that teachers are focusing on the test objectives. As she explained, "Just checking on them more has made a tremendous difference, especially with some of the drastic gains that we?ve had." Carter invests approximately 40 percent of her time in classroom observations. She has also drawn on the outside consultant to supplement her own work in this area.

Both Carter and Thompkins encourage professional development through formal and informal channels. For example, at Burgess all paraprofessionals are required to participate in content-focused workshops so that they are better prepared to assist the classroom teacher. Thompkins is relentless in conveying his belief that everyone is a lifelong learner, "I?ve taken the position that we all need to go back to school." He demonstrates this through his own willingness to learn. He participates in all the professional development sessions alongside the teachers:

I always come with my teachers and participate. If we have a math workshop, I?m not here in this office. If they are showing how to cut out rectangles, I?m out there cutting out rectangles with them. My philosophy is I always want the staff to feel as though I?m learning with them. We can learn together.

In addition to participating in formal training sessions provided through Title I funding, teachers at Burgess learn from each other. Burgess is an environment where staff feel comfortable asking their instructional leaders and each other for help. As Thompkins said, "They don?t have any problem with me coming in to work with them." Nor do teachers have difficulty seeking help from each other. Recently, for example, one teacher had visited another classroom to learn how to better teach the mathematical concept of place value. Another teacher reported how Carter encouraged teachers to visit each other?s classrooms and share ideas. Teachers enjoyed this sharing and were openly supportive of each other.

Conclusions

How was Burgess able to carry out the many changes described above? How did it shift from being a "teacher-focused" school to a "child-centered" institution? How was it transformed from a school where staff were once reluctant to go beyond the requirements of the standard nine-to-five day, to one where teachers and parents alike pride themselves on their extra work hours and willingly don multiple hats to support student gains in achievement?

None of these changes were quick or easy. In fact, both the school?s achievement data and qualitative accounts by members of the Burgess community indicate that reform efforts began to come together and show results only about three years ago.

Although Carter arrived at Burgess with a vision of reform, it took her several years to identify and consolidate a staff around her goals. During the first few years of her tenure she was not hesitant to confront teachers who were unwilling to make the necessary changes in their teaching or orientation to children. For Carter, putting children before teachers was non-negotiable. As she said, "There has been a tremendous staff turnover because some people were not willing to change. They wanted to teach the subject and not really address the individual needs of the children. Those people left voluntarily or not voluntarily."

In fact, only five teachers remain from the staff that Carter originally inherited when she became principal in the 1993-94 school year. Carter estimated that about three or four people left each year. Cooper, the executive director at the district office, supported Carter?s personnel decisions at critical moments. He described his role in this process; "I can think of one example where Carter was having real concerns with respect to staff. So I came in and involved myself with that process to the extent that I could. I gave her my support in terms of working with that person to either ?put up or shut up.?" However, Cooper also commended Carter?s skills in developing and re-training staff, noting that she has done an excellent job of recognizing and maximizing teacher potential.

Carter learned with time and experience that she had to become more directive in order to realize her vision. This required personal flexibility in experimenting with a more "autocratic" style of leadership. Carter recalled the process that led to this insight:

Some of the problem was that teachers didn?t want to lead some of the clubs or participate in some of the parent involvement activities. In the school where I came from, people would volunteer, but that wasn?t working here. So finally one of the teachers said, ?We would prefer if you just give us assignments.? They wanted more structure.

Carter quickly reinforced that message the next day. As she explained, "I called a leadership meeting. I just reiterated, ?This is the way it is going to be. If you are going to be a part of this team, then this is what you are going to do.? That?s not exactly my style, but it was a turning point." Since then, Carter has often combined more directive leadership with her preferred "persuasive and persistent" style when necessary.

Another important turning point came as result of a district reorganization. Four years ago a neighboring school closed and 70 of the students and eight teachers came to Burgess. This group of teachers was open to participating with Carter in the change process. One of the eight teachers, who has since assumed a staff leadership role said, "Dr. Carter had a plan. She knew what she wanted, but I don?t think she was getting what she actually wanted before. The district reorganization was a good opportunity for her to reorganize and get some of her ideas in place."

These teachers who came to Burgess as a result of the reorganization experienced Carter as open to their ideas and they thrived on the chance to provide input. A teacher explained, "It kind of worked out well. Everybody started off from the bottom and worked up. It made a difference. We didn?t just come into something that was totally organized. We came in with her, with the idea of reconstructing and reorganizing what she had and making it better."

Following the reorganization, the Burgess staff had yet to become the unified, mutually supportive group that it is today. According to one teacher:

Three years ago if you were to go to a faculty meeting, the group that had just come from the other school would sit together. Then the former faculty would sit together. Then maybe the parents would sit together. Over the years it seems as though we?ve fused, so it doesn?t matter who sits where. They?ve all gotten to know each other.

Carter has modeled an ethic of giving that has created an environment in which people feel that they too have plenty to give. She draws on her personal resources to provide incentives. She consistently demonstrates her appreciation for her staff through thoughtful and generous gestures. For example, last year Carter selected personal Christmas gifts for each one of her staff. This spirit of giving has become part of the school culture. Staff routinely volunteer their time or reach into their own pockets to provide what their students need. One teacher worked overtime and shared her pay with her paraprofessional who volunteered to work extra hours. Faithful parent volunteers playfully brag about how late they stay at school working on special projects. It is with such energy and commitment that the Burgess community continues to step toward its goal of student excellence and achievement.

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