September 16, 2010

The demographics of the Ezra H. Baker Elementary School

The Ezra H. Baker elementary school, built in 1931, is located on Route 28, West Dennis, and Massachusetts. During its lifetime the school has served as the K – eight schools for Dennis, and the K-5 school for Dennis. The school currently serves the children of the residents of Dennis from kindergarten to third grade. In some fashion since the 1630s, Dennis and Yarmouth residents have educated their students together. The relationship between the residents of the two towns has not always been cordial. Presently the school is part of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District on Cape Cod.

The school population has a 71 percent rate of free or reduced lunch, which means that the school also serves as a Title 1 school. The scores from last year’s MCASTs had only 39 percent of the third grade students passing or needs of improvement. Since the 1950s, traditionally the town of Dennis has been a vacation spot for mostly working class residents from Greater Boston area. In the early 1950s many builders put up small two bedroom ranches and capes, which they then sold at low prices. Today, those houses have mostly been converted to year-round homes. Their owners frequently rent the homes to individuals who have obtained Section Eight housing vouchers. Thus the socio-economic class of the town consists of mostly lower middle to working class adults. These adults frequently have little exposure to post-secondary education. Thus the children who attend the Ezra H. Baker Elementary School frequently need a lot of remedial services. Many of the students also qualify for ELL services.