Chapter 1
I. School Description
Provide a brief background of the school, a concise description of programs offered, and a description or list of schoolwide strategies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Include relevant local data showing student achievement.
Brief Background of School
Maris Stella School is an elementary school incorporated under the Catholic Mission Schools of the Republic of Palau. The Republic of Palau is a small country located in the western area of the North Pacific Ocean. According to the 2015 Census, Palau’s population is estimated at 17,661. The Catholic Mission Schools were the first schools established in Palau in the early 1900's by the catholic church. The church and its schools persevered through the 2nd world war. A decade after the war (1957), the church was able to formally establish Maris Stella School as an educational institution with a campus and a formal program of study for grades 1 to 6. It soon expanded to grades K to 8. It continues to serve the community by providing academic, social, and spiritual development. Presently the school has two campuses with grades 1-4 on one and grade K and 5-8 on the other.
Programs Offered
Maris Stella provides a curriculum that is aligned to the mission of the school. Students follow an academic program that focuses on core subjects: English Language Arts, Mathematics, Palauan Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Religion. They also participate in an extra-curricular program with subjects: Physical Education/Sports, Arts and Crafts, Music/Dance, Library Day, Story Telling, and Bible Study.
Schoolwide Student Goals
Maris Stella School is guided by Expected Student Learning Results (ESLR) which are stated in terms of a certain level of development by the time the are promoted in the following areas:
- Openness to Growth
- Intellectual Competence
- Religious and Spiritual Formation
- Growth in awareness of Service
The schools' ESLRs articulate the standards, skills, and attitudes that students must achieve in order to proceed to the next level.
Staff Demographics
There are seventeen faculty in Maris Stella School. Thirteen are Palauans and four are Filipinos and all are female. Most of the faculty have at least an associate degree in the field of education with about eight teachers with bachelor degrees. Five of the faculty are retired teachers from different public schools with twenty or more years of teaching experience.
There are eight staff in the school for a total employee count of twenty five: A principal, a vice principal, two secretaries, two maintenance staff, two finance staff, and one librarian. All staff are Palauans.
Student Demographics
Student enrollment for the current year is 180, or about 6% of the total student population of the country. Enrollment has fluctuated, reaching a 10 year peak in 2020 with 246 and decreasing recently in the past 5 years to 180 today.
The composition of the student population reflects the school’s Catholic orientation, with 85% of students identifying as Catholics, 10% Protestant, and the rest being other religions or non-religious. The population is largely Palauan. The ethnicity distribution is 94% Palauan with the rest being other ethnicities.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Education in the Republic is mandated by law (PNC Title 22 Chapter 1 Subchapter IV) for students aged 6-17 coinciding with grades 1-12. The government runs the public school system as the primary service under that mandate. Further, the government charters private schools that provide a diversity of educational opportunity for students and supplements the government's capacity to service the mandate.
Maris Stella School focuses on education following the values of the Catholic church and works to ensure that any parent and their children who wants to, will receive the full services it offers.
Student Achievement
Assessment Results
Figure 1: IOWA 2023 Grade 4 and 8 Percentile Rank
For external assessments, Maris Stella School participates in national testing conducted by the Ministry of Education. With percentile rank of 25-75 being considered average, Grade 4 and 8 Reading and Math ranged from 29 to 46, which is on the lower side of the average range. Math 4th and 8th are 46 and 29 respectively. This may indicate a need for further investigation.
<Insert reference to exhibit 2: Complete MSS 2023 IOWA Results>
Figure 2: Report Card 2023 Grades Distribution
For internal assessment, the Maris Stella School report card system uses "A", "B", "C", "D", and "F" grades to mark academic achievement levels, with "A" being the highest and "F" the lowest. Grades distribution is skewed to the high end of the scale, with 44% of grades given out being "A", and 70% being "A" or "B". This may be high and warrants further scrutiny.
A comparison of internal and external results suggests the need for more study. Internal results indicate high performance (70% of grades are "A" or "B"), while external results indicate average performance on the lower side. More data collection and analysis will ensure student achievement issues are fully addressed.
Attendance results
Figure 3: Report Card 2023 Attendance
Maris Stella School has an average daily attendance (ADA) of 94.6%. The distribution of absences and tardies is shown in the graphs above. No flags are raised immediately from this data, but there is a large percentage of students with absences in the 6-15 range. This pattern raises questions about the grading system and its connection to tardiness.