Executive Summary. Battle Ground High School

Transcription

1 Battle Ground School District Tim Lexow, Principal 300 W. Main Street Battle Ground, WA Document Generated On April 28, 2014

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 4 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 5 Additional Information 6

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. <br><br> 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? (BGHS) is one of the largest comprehensive high schools in Washington State with just under 2200 students and about 180 staff. Prairie High School (PHS) is the other comprehensive high school in our district with about 1400 students. BGHS not only offers all the requirements necessary for entrance into any university in the country, but also offers a full range of classes for high school and college credits. In addition, BGHS offers many electives i.e., Career and Technical Education (Agriculture, Air Force Junior ROTC, Auto, Business, Computers, Health Sciences, Home & Family, Photo, video, welding, and woods); ten different AP (Advanced Placement) classes and college tech prep classes. Our Running Start program continues to grow with more students than ever graduating from BGHS with not only a high school diploma, but also an Associates Degree from either Clark College in Vancouver or Lower Columbia College in Longview. Challenges: Changing graduation requirements and other unfunded mandates: A. State Test planning, scheduling, and monitoring require an extraordinary effort because of the continuously changing state guidelines for accountability of general ed, special ed, and ELL (English Language Learners) students. B. Record keeping has become a challenge i.e., a. Classification of students (9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th) by the credits they've earned determines which classes they take, whether or not they take state exams, and which privileges they have. b. Determining who's passed each of the required state tests and then scheduling students for retakes. (especially difficult for students who transfer in). c. Making and monitoring SLP's (Student Learning Plans) required for every student who has not passed all required state exams. d. Monitoring students progress on Culminating Projects and High School and Beyond Plans. (again especially difficult for transfer students). All of this is being done by a handful of classified staff, counselors, and administrators. It is additional work that's been added to traditional responsibilities. Another major challenge for a large segment of our student population is transportation. There are approximately students riding our regular busses and riding the smaller Special Education busses daily. Because of the complex rural road system in this 325 square mile district, many students are on the bus as much as two hours a day. The roads in many cases are so winding and rough that it is almost impossible to read let alone try to write out homework assignments while on the bus. By the time these students get home they are tired and have little energy left for studying. Many of these students have been doing this for their entire school career and the cumulative effect is that they are behind their peer's academic skills. It is usually impossible for these students to get help from their teachers or other resource people before or after school because of the transportation problem. We are continually trying to find ways to help students during the regular student day not only to enhance their learning, but also to improve their connections and relationships with our school community. A demographic challenge is the approximately 20-40% of the student population with religious beliefs that don't allow them to participate in sports or extra-curricular activities like band, drama, or ASB (Associated Students Body) leadership positions. In effect this makes BGHS a 3A school competing in a 4A category. In addition, the males in this group make up the single largest common denominator in the remedial Page 2

5 math, reading/writing, and vocational classes. This is in part due to their families' traditional careers in the construction trades and subsequent low interest in higher level academics. It is very difficult with this population mix to get 100% community and student commitment to improve overall academic performance. Another challenge is the Running Start Program that encourages students to take classes at community colleges and receive both high school and college credits. The state saves money by doing this because students get an associate degree faster and thereby require fewer years of public school funding. The Running Start Program is taking many of the best students out of the building. Running Start has made it difficult for us to offer AP (Advanced Placement) or Honors Classes. For example, if one our students takes a yearlong English class at the community college, they get the equivalent of about $800 of college credits. However if a student wants to take an AP English class at the high school, the student has to pay about $80 for the AP Exam. If they have a conflict on exam day, they have to pay an additional $40 to reschedule the exam. If they pass the exam, they may or may not get credit from the college they plan to attend. In addition, our AP English class is probably the more demanding class and therefore a risk of lowering high school GPA (Grade Point Average). A final challenge to note for BGHS is the high number of entering 9th graders without grade level skills. For example, most high schools would have the majority of its 9th graders enrolled in an algebra 1 class or higher. However, at BGHS approximately one half of our entering 9th graders are in remedial math classes. Middle School staff constantly share their frustration that many of the 8th graders don't care about their grades because there's little accountability. Many 8th graders have failed multiple classes and still move to high school. Many have learned they don't have to do any work to stay in school and continue this pattern at high school often becoming major discipline problems and dropping out. This situation has caused many problems including a major morale problem for the middle and high school staffs. Page 3

6 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. Battle Ground School District's Mission: The mission of the Battle Ground Public Schools is to unite the community and together prepare students to be resourceful citizens in an ever-changing world by providing relevant and challenging experiences that create excitement for learning The Mission of is to create a dynamic learning community where staff, students, and citizens are dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, life-skills, and personal growth. Belief Statements: 1. Teaching and learning occur best in a safe environment. 2. Our school instills awareness of and respect for diversity. 3. Learning is a life-long process. 4. Our students learn through effective teaching that is relevant and engaging. 5. Parental and community involvement are key to the success of our students' education. 6. Effective educators hold high expectations for every student at BGHS. 7. All students can meet their individual potential for learning. 8. Our school promotes trust between our students and staff. 9. BGHS provides the opportunity for students to become good communicators. 10. Our high school provides the opportunity for students, staff, and community to collaborate. 11. BGHS prepares our students for the changing expectations of our society and promotes responsible citizenship. In order to accomplish this, we incorporate the Nine Characteristics of Successful Schools based on OSPI's research: 1. A clear and shared focus. 2. High standards and expectations for all students. 3. Effective school leadership. 4. High levels of collaboration and communication. 5. Curriculum, instruction and assessments aligned with state standards. 6. Frequent monitoring of learning and teaching. 7. Focused professional development. 8. A supportive learning staff. 9. High levels of family and community involvement. Page 4

7 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. Notable Achievements: 1. Received the Washington State Achievement Award for four years in a row. 2. Named: "School of Distinction" last year. 3. Recieved an "A" grade from the state last year. Areas of Improvement: 1. Use Homeroom data management system to better use data for decision making. 2. Alg II 2hr. block class -PILOT 3. Continue to pilot the Algebra 1A/1B & 2hr. alg I. block classes 4. Implement common core and align the EOC with the Alg/Geom district curriculum 5. Develop SpEd math classes to improve IEP student EOC success. Pilot team taught Alg 6. Prepare for Smarter Balanced Assessment in math. 7. Improve literacy with improved read/write curriculum and strategies 8. Prepare for Smarter Balanced Assessment in ELA. 9. Improve access to technology. 10. Improve safety and security (reduce bullying/harassment). Page 5

8 Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. As can be seen in our demographic chart, we have several challenges and being a large high school, it's interesting to look at actual numbers of students affected. For instance having 36% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch translates to about 732 students and about 12.4% special ed. equals about 252 students. Keeping the numbers in perspective is important as we build intervention systems to support and encourage student learning. Often it is difficult for students to get help from their teachers or other resource people before or after school because of transportation. Some of the ways we help students during the regular student day are with the Lunch Study Hall (LSH); Wednesday tutorials/homeroom; and directed studies classes for both special education and general education students. We also help students connect and build stronger relationships with our staff and school community with our Wednesday club/activity/homeroom time; Students Trying to Reach Incoming Peers Experiencing School (STRIPES) mentor program; Rachel's Challenge Program; TEEN TRUTH assembly. In addition, we have worked closely with the Superintendent, City of Battle Ground, and community agencies to support a coordinated effort to provide a comprehensive mental health, anti-bullying and suicide prevention program. Dr. James Mazza, Director of Educational Psychology at University of Washington and a nationally recognized expert, helped facilitate this effort. Finally, we are in the third year of our Speed, Strength Training (SST) sports development classes and have continued piloting our own version of special freshmen SST/Health sports development classes. SST classes help our athletes not only meet their health/fitness graduation requirements, but also support our extracurricular athletic programs with a dynamic conditioning program. Page 6