Executive Summary. Thomas Jefferson High School

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1 Hillsborough County Public Schools Mr. Van Ayres, Principal 4401 West Cypress Street Tampa, FL Document Generated On January 6, 2015

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 3 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 4 Additional Information 7

3 Introduction Every school has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and procedures by which the school makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a school stays faithful to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder engagement, the trends and issues affecting the school, and the kinds of programs and services that a school implements to support student learning. The purpose of the Executive Summary (ES) is to provide a school with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the school community will have a more complete picture of how the school perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This summary is structured for the school to reflect on how it provides teaching and learning on a day to day basis. Page 1

4 Description of the School Describe the school's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced in the last three years. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the school serves?, named in honor of the third President of the United States of America, has a rich history. Since its inception as Thomas Jefferson Junior High in 1928, it has served a dynamic and diverse population. Under the leadership of D.W. Waters, Jefferson's first principal, the school transitioned to a high school in 1939 at the Highland Avenue campus in the Tampa Heights community and graduated its first class in Having outgrown its physical capacity and no longer meeting modern educational requirements, the campus closed in After undergoing extensive renovations, the campus reopened in 2000 and now serves as D.W. Waters Career Center. The site named to honor Waters, due to the efforts of the TJHS Alumni Association, was added to the U. S. National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 2007, and stands as the oldest high school building in Tampa, Florida, that first served as Hillsborough County High School from Today, JHS is located in an urban business district. We are home to approximately 1600 students; 22% White, 31% Black, 44% Hispanic, and 3% Asian, Native American or Multi-racial. JHS is also a Title 1 school with over 78% of the student population receiving free or reduced lunch. JHS has earned school grade of B on the state rating system for last two years. The faculty is extremely stable in comparison to other schools in the district. Most of the teachers have worked at JHS for five years or longer and several have worked at JHS for 30 years. In the last year there were only 2 teacher vacancies. Our leader since 2012, principal Van Ayres is a Jefferson graduate. Page 2

5 School's Purpose Provide the school's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the school embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students. Purpose- Jefferson High School's purpose is to be an accelerator for our students and an engine of growth for our community. Mission- Our mission at Jefferson High School is to identify the educational needs of our students; provide a variety of learning experiences to meet those needs; and endow students with the confidence to pursue their goals. Vision- is committed to providing a comfortable and caring environment where a student's participation in varied learning opportunities will develop a responsible, independent learner motivated to pursue life goals. Page 3

6 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement Describe the school's notable achievements and areas of improvement in the last three years. Additionally, describe areas for improvement that the school is striving to achieve in the next three years. Both our magnet and traditional programs have brought great esteem to the Jefferson legacy. Science: Last year Jefferson High School opened the 896 Chapter of the Science National Honor Society. The qualifications for membership quite rigorous: - Membership is for junior and senior students only - They must have taken or be in Science honors classes/science AP classes - They must have at least a 3.5 GPA in all of their sciences 26 members were inducted in the inaugural year. This year, another 18 are being honored. The science department has fostered the growth of many rising scientists: - Celine Sanchez is a Jefferson's Sunshine State Scholar in Science and Mathematics - Yudiseth Ruiz and Betty Barcelo were both recognized and honored as the Museum of Science and Industry/University of Tampa National Hispanic Scientist of the Year - Jefferson's top four graduating seniors from are currently pursuing careers in the sciences Maritime and Marine Science Academy - Maritime & Marine Science Academy has increased enrollment from 15 students in to 42 this year. - We held our academy celebration ceremony this year on October 16, 2014 which included many of our port partners, school board members, & Mayor Bob Buckhorn - We dedicated our 9,700 lb. ship propeller, which was donated from our Port Tampa Bay partners. Our welding students fabricated the stand for the propeller. - Jefferson has a new partnership with the Florida Aquarium where we can have field trips/ guest speakers that can be designed for our curriculum content(all of Jefferson High School, not just our program) - Academy visit from Senator Kathy Castor on October 22, Agreement with Maine Maritime Academy to accept 1 qualified Jefferson High School student per year Career and Technical Education - All of our 11 Career and Technical Education teachers are nationally certified in various areas of the industry, including information technology, culinary arts, and welding. - Our students have ranked #1 in industry certification overall in the District for four years. - We have two national partnerships with the Academy of Business and Finance Honors: National Academy Foundation (NAF) and Virtual Enterprise International (VEI). - Our Alumni Association contributes annual academic and need based scholarships since Culinary Arts Criminal Justice Our Senior Criminal Justice Academy students were presented with the following awards last year: Fisher & Holland Family Foundation United States Marine Corp Scholarship Award United States Army Scholarship Award DAR Good Citizen award Page 4

7 TJHS Alumni Association Scholarship Mark Garcia Memorial Scholarship Carolyn Keiser Wolfe Scholarship Keiser University Scholarship Merilyn Aguilar Memorial Scholarship Additional student successes include: * The biggest annual event that takes place in the Academy is the Florida Public Service Association State Conference. The event consists of approximately 30 competitive Criminal Justice events and is attended by Criminal Justice High Schools throughout the State of Florida annually. During School Year our Academy students participated in 3 ½ days of competition in Ocala, Fl. Our students competed against other students from Criminal Justice schools and won 2nd place in the state. * Last year we had two of our Academy Completers - take the bar exam and pass; they are now Attorneys. * For two years in a row we had two of our students receive Scholarship awards from the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyer in Tampa, Florida * Several of our students have been selected as members of the Hillsborough County Mayor's Task Force *Several of our students have become 911 Police Dispatchers in Orlando, Gainsville, Tampa, & Temple Terrace, as a result of taking our 911 Emergency Telecommunicator course. * Last year one of our student was appointed as a Correctional Law Enforcement Officer - at one of our jails in Florida as a result of our C.J. Program & curriculum. * Another student of ours was appointed a Deputy Sheriff Officer in Hillsborough County several years back. * As a result of our Externship Program at the courthouse. Three of our students are employed at the Hillsborough County & Circuit Courthouse as a Court Reporter. * Two other students are also employed at the Courthouse in various other positions. * Three of our students have also been employed as Private Security Officers, 2 in New York and one in Florida as a result of our Academy Security Officer Program curriculum. * On Oct. 31, 2014, at a recent Tampa Bay Lightning game, Daniel Erickson, a C.J. Academy student, efforts were recognized by the Tampa Bay Lightning when he was honored as the game's Community Hero. He also received a $50,000 check to further his America's Promise Alliance charity efforts. That money will also be split between different charities, including the United Way, to further his efforts to raise graduation rates. Other school-wide accomplishments: For the second year in a row, our value-added measures across mulitple subject areas show above average growth for our students. Last year's VAM scores in 10th grade Reading, Algebra, U.S. History, and Biology were ranked in the top 10 across the district. Growth was further demonstrated in our Writing scores which were the highest in the district out of 27 schools. Page 5

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9 Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. In 1973, the current Cypress Street campus opened as a comprehensive high school under the leadership of Dr. Sam Horton. Jefferson was honored to host President Jimmy Carter's town hall meeting in In 2001 the International Studies Magnet program was added, making our campus population the most diverse in the district. The mission of Jefferson High School Center for International Studies is to identify the educational needs of our students; provide a variety of learning experiences to meet those needs; and to endow students with the confidence to pursue their goals. To that end, the Alumni Association was founded in 1989 with the goal of rewarding academically talented "Jeffersonians" in pursuit of higher education. To honor high achievers and establish role models, the Jefferson Alumni Hall of Fame was created in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the original Jefferson High School. To date, 95 inductees have been honored, including Ricardo "Rick" José Casares ( ), an American football star for the Dragons '50, University of Florida, and Chicago Bears. This fall, to honor him, the athletic field house bears his name. Twenty Jefferson graduates proudly serve as members of our instructional and support staff. We believe the commitment and commemoration of these outstanding Dragons will always solidify our place in the community and in the world. Page 7