You will have to look hard to find many students wandering the halls of Prescott Middle School during first hour. Classroom doors are closed. Teachers are gliding up and down the aisles as students pour over questions in deep thought. It is Power Hour.

“Attendance has jumped tremendously. More students are showing up for first hour. More seventh and eighth graders are at school every day,” beams Acting Principal Shonel Branch-LeDuff. Power Hour is intense preparation for all Prescott Middle students as testing week approaches the week of March 10th. The school has used this one hour remediation program for three years. The goal is to strengthen students’ areas of weakness. 

The program kicked off in January with a pre-test. The scores serve as a gauge to determine which subject areas students need to focus more attention on. After several weeks, a post-test determines progress or gaps. LeDuff says Prescott Middle students are taking the intervention seriously. “The kids are beginning to understand the importance of LEAP and they want to do well on it. They understand what’s at stake for their school,” she said. “The kids are saying we are smart, we can learn and we want to prove that we can.”

Power Hour is an entire school effort. Students in all grades and programs participate, while counselors and paraprofessionals provide additional support. LeDuff says this allows extra teachers to be assigned to each classroom for one-on-one intervention. 

LeDuff says faculty and staff have reviewed the effectiveness of Power Hour in previous years and determined the issue of test anxiety and stress among students needed to be addressed. “Power Hour teachers are the same teachers the students will test with,” she said. “We know the anxiety level for our students rise during LEAP and we want to make sure they are comfortable.” She hopes the changes made to the program this year will mean outstanding gains in test scores.