Superintendent of Jersey City Public Schools Dr. Marcia Lyles kicked off the school year with a personal visit to Dr. Paul Rafalides School in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her mission? To congratulate the educators and students at PS 33 on their success in closing the within-school achievement gap.¹ The announcement followed earlier news that the school’s third- and fourth-grade students had outperformed district, state, and cross-states English language arts (ELA) averages on PARCC² standardized tests. Students demonstrated growth in math as well, achieving a remarkable 23-point gain on PARCC scores.