Students at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School have “Gone Bananas 4 AYP” as they began the district’s celebration of Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, Tuesday. The celebrations will continue throughout the St. Thomas-St. John District this week in honor of preparation for the V.I. Territorial Assessment of Learning, or VITAL-S.
Kean students got the party started with a “Gone Bananas 4 AYP” themed parade beginning at the school’s Red Hook campus. Revelers wound their way through town, around the ferry terminal, and back to school.
Kean High has spent the last few months preparing students for the VITAL-S exam, and capped off their efforts Tuesday with the AYP parade. Kean’s “Gone Bananas 4 AYP” theme was in full view as students marched with colorful banners, bright yellow banana necklaces and signs, and matching t-shirts.
Kean High Principal Dr. Sharon McCollum said afterward that the school is committed to doing well on the VITAL-S exam, which is given annually across the territory to students in the second through eleventh grades. This year, the VITAL-S will be administered during the week of March 19-23. 
Kean’s Dynamite Rays Marching Band, under the supervision of Director Dionne Donadelle, also composed a jingle to match the school’s AYP theme, which they debuted Tuesday for dozens of spectators that took pictures and cheered along the parade route.
The VITAL-S is designed to measure student proficiency in core subject areas, such as reading, math, and science, and is administered in the territory in accordance with No Child Left Behind mandates. The scores of students in the 3rd through 8th and 11th grades will be used to determine whether each school has met AYP benchmarks for proficiency in reading and math. Each school’s average yearly attendance rates, along with student participation on test day, are also factored in. High schools also have to meet increasing benchmarks for graduation.
In order to prepare students for this year’s exam, Kean administrators and staff offered 
practice sessions during school hours, along with extra help after school for those who wanted it, McCollum said.
St. Thomas-St. John District Superintendent Jeanette Smith-Barry added that data – ranging from school attendance rates to academic proficiency among certain sub-groups – collected from the VITAL-S helps to guide the Department of Education’s instructional practices, especially in the areas of reading and math.
Joseph Gomez Elementary will be starting its celebration at 8:15 a.m., Wednesday, in the Berne Building on the school’s main campus in Estate Anna’s Retreat. Charlotte Amalie High School will also be having celebratory ceremonies in each home room starting at 8 a.m., also on Wednesday.
