Executive Summary. Lead Academy. Mrs. LaVoe Mulgrew, Principal 1704 Heiman St Nashville, TN

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1 Mrs. LaVoe Mulgrew, Principal 1704 Heiman St Nashville, TN Document Generated On February 28, 2013

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 3 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 5 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? LEAD Academy, an open-enrollment public charter school, opened in 2007 as a fifth and sixth grade program to serve students from lowincome families zoned to attend a persistently low-performing school. It has since expanded to the current capacity of grades five through eleven serving 560 students on two campuses in Nashville, TN.The middle school is on the Brook Meade campus and the high school is on the Heiman Street campus. LEAD Academy will graduate its first class in the spring of The LEAD community, comprised of the students and families served, are overwhelmingly from underserved populations within the city of Nashville. 90% are members of a minority race or ethnicity, 91% fall within federal poverty guidelines and 60% of whom live in North Nashville neighborhoods relatively close to LEAD Academy High School. Most families participate in TennCARE, Tennessee's version of Medicaid. LEAD Public Schools provides transportation for 75% of the students. 13% of the current high school population are special education students. Two dedicated special education teachers work with these special needs students. While very few of our students' immediate family members have college experience, most express a strong desire to see their child reach full potential and achieve acceptance to an institution of higher learning. Although LEAD serves students from all over Metro Nashville, most students live in North Nashville neighborhoods that historically struggle with pervasive problems including working poverty, high crime, lack of access to good nutrition and low graduation rates. All of these areas of need come together to create a living environment high in mental, physical, and emotional challenges for youth and adults. According to the most recent report by the Foundation on Education Choice on the fiscal consequences of Tennessee's high school dropout rate, each high school dropout costs the state nearly $3,000 per year in lost tax revenue, Medicaid services, and incarceration costs. LEAD's first high school graduating class of 50 would represent a savings of $150,000 alone, not to mention the benefits of putting young people with leadership skills and strong moral character back into the community where their potential is unlimited. We have 20 staff members including faculty, staff and 5 administrators. 75% of the staff is white and 25% is other including Hispanic, Pacific Islander and African American. 40% of the staff is male. 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. Our Vision: We will do "Whatever It Takes" to graduate 100% of our students and send them to a four-year college or university. Our Mission: LEAD exists to support, educate, and train the next generation of responsible citizens. Over time, LEAD Public Schools' students, staff, and families will help transform the educational expectations of our community, creating a national model for excellence in urban education and neighborhood redevelopment, and prove that all students can graduate from high school and be accepted to a four-year college/university if given the proper support, training, and education. Along the way students will learn and exemplify the tenets of the LEAD Ethos: Commitment, Discipline, Courage, Self-Reliance, and Service. During and after their tenure at LEAD Academy students will go on to positively impact their communities as principled leaders with a great academic foundation. Even before LEAD received its charter, LEAD's founder, Jeremy Kane, went door to door in the North Nashville neighborhood meeting families, talking with them about their needs and desires, and building relationships with community stakeholders. As the former head of the Tennessee Charter School Association, he studied the charter school movement, realizing the importance of a grassroots campaign to truly understand the community and target population. As a result, LEAD developed strong relationships with churches, community centers, businesses, service providers and individuals who all have an interest in the community becoming stronger. Today, LEAD students continue that tradition of community outreach. Each year LEAD students complete service-learning projects and participate in multiple activities designed to enhance the communities in which they live. Upon graduating from LEAD the average student will have visited two-dozen higher education institutions. The classroom practices at LEAD cultivate and support the mission with a clear focus on total participation, high expectations for each student at the appropriate level and close attention to the concepts, skills and content necessary for college and career readiness as well as EOC and ACT success. In LEAD teachers across the curriculum have focused on strategies for writing and the close reading of text to improve our ACT performance. Math and science teachers have been reading Writing to Learn: Strategies that Work by Joan Countryman and other disciplines have been focused on writing argumentative essays in anticipation or the English III writing assessment and the Common Core literacy skills. In order to support our EPAS\ACT, MAP and EOC testing, LEAD teachers create on interim assessments at the end of each quarter that include essays, ACT type text or math questions as well as teacher made questions related to specific classroom instructional strategies. The professional development focus has focused on literacy strategies, critical thinking and differentiation strategies based on Tomlinson's work on content, process and product. The LEAD content area teachers work closely with the special education teachers to meet the IEP expectations and requirements. Provisions are made for students who need modifications such as extra time, read alouds or other adjustments on standardized tests as well as teacher created interim assessments. Page 3

6 The TEAM teacher evaluations are used as a growth model for LEAD teachers as they practice and hone their skills. Each classroom teacher will be observed and post conferences will be held. After the first round of observations the data indicated that questioning and assessment were the collective areas of weakness among the staff. The Director of Instruction meets with teachers individually and as a group to address strategies that might improve student success through more effective classroom teaching. Likewise, the commitment to college attendance is more than mission statement. Each student at LEAD Academy has multiple opportunities to visit colleges on school sponsored trips during the school year. Students have visited campuses as diverse as the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University to the U.S. Naval Academy and Emory University. 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. LEAD Academy started its high school in 2010 with creation of its first 9th grade class. During each year since, the school has added another grade and now has grades 9-11, graduating its first class in LEAD High School's Program of Studies requires all students to meet graduation requirements for the regular Tennessee diploma with a concentration in humanities or art. Students must master the content in all core subjects before being promoted; LEAD Academy does not accept credit recovery for failed classes. In addition to participation in the school's rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum, LHS students must take four years of Crew (advisory), an essential part of the LEAD Academy academic program that provides the means for weaving LEAD's ethos focused on commitment, serving others, courage, discipline and self reliance into the fabric of the school culture. The focus of Crew, which meets daily for 40 minutes in grade-level and gender specific groups, is the social/emotional development of students needed for college readiness. The curriculum for Crew is designed for each grade level around the central questions: 1. Who Am I? 2. How Am I Doing? 3. What Are My Plans For The Future? College visits throughout the year, culminating in an overnight trip in the spring, are central to the school's mission to ensure that every LEAD student graduates and attends a four-year college or university. We believe student exposure to college campuses throughout our area helps them envision attending a university upon graduating high school. In addition to our fully developed Program of Studies, crew, and college readiness work, LEAD High's other notable achievements are the establishment of the EPAS/ACT assessment program grades 9-11; addition of NWEA MAP testing in grade 9; offering the first AP class-- English language and composition; addition of Mac laptop cart (student/computer ratio is 3:1); addition of three varsity athletic teams (cross country, girls' and boys' basketball) to our roster of junior varsity teams; creation of student-led clubs and weekly community gatherings; and the establishment of a partnership with Fisk University to share facility space, including the college's gym, track and science labs. In addition, LEAD high school students have scored in the top third of all non-select MNPS high schools on their EOC tests in 2011 and Our students understand and "own" the data that is represented on the "data wall." Faculty development is a critical part of the LEAD Academy model. Bi-weekly instructional professional development sessions are held to enable teachers to hone their craft. Planning, assessment and reflection are explored using the lenses of Frameworks (TEAM and AdvancED Standards and Practices, Content Area Standards, UbD and Common Core); Skills (Common Core and Subject-Specific Skills); Concepts (Interdisciplinary and Subject specific); and Content (subject area standards and beyond as well as interdisciplinary connections). LEAD teachers work in teams to ensure that cross-curricular instruction occurs in all areas of the school. In addition to the bi-weekly instruction PD, teachers also meet regularly in content and grade-level teams to plan, share and discuss lesson plans, student issues, and other topics relevant to their work. Finally, the addition of two central administrative positions during the school year -- including a full-time college counselor and director of student services -- has enabled LEAD to improve its work with students while ensuring that teachers receive the support they need to achieve excellent student outcomes. Page 5

8 The changes in the charter school law in Tennessee now allow students from any school and any socio-economic class to choose to attend a charter school. As a result the potential for greater diversity in the student body is a real possibility over the next three to five years. While the plans are to stay in the north Nashville area which is predominantly African American, less restrictive laws and greater awareness of the charter options in Davidson County will likely result in a less homogenous student body. In addition to a more diverse student body, LEAD will continue to implement curriculum choices to meet the needs of college bound students through additional Advanced Placement and possibly the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for juniors and seniors. Page 6

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. LEAD Academy is committed to its mission to graduate 100 percent of our students and to send them to a four-year college or university. We continue to improve our academic model, striving to provide students and teachers with the best learning and teaching environment and practices. This year teachers have begun to move beyond weekly lesson plans into unit plans using the Understanding by Design curricular model to create standards based plans with a focus on rigor and high-quality student work. Much work is also being done at the school to ensure that teachers are well trained in using the Common Core standards. In addition to adding additional AP courses, LEAD is exploring the possibility of adding the International Baccalaureate program; furthering our partnership with Fisk University; developing internships with students and area businesses and organizations for summer and schoolyear work/study; and adding a senior capstone class for all eligible seniors. The Data Coordinator has developed a plan for analyzing the EPAS and MAP data that will inform PD, instruction and assessment packages. Preliminary analysis and teacher led discussions have identified reading as the weakest area for LEAD students on the EPAS. The weakest scores were in the humanities passages perhaps that is because that is the last passage on the test. We have opportunity for great professional growth and student achievement as we begin to use the data collected in the first semester. As our systems and procedures become more formalized through our content area teams and our grade level teams we expect a high percentage of our students will be career and college ready by ACT standards. Our in-house ACT goals for LEAD Academy include an ACT composite of 18 for , 18.5 in and 19 for The individual student goals are 21 but we expect an annual growth rate of 2 points over the next three years to reach our goals. We engaged the student stakeholders Jan 23 in LEAD data day in which individual students receive one on one feedback and goal setting sessions. Parents as stakeholders will be involved in data discussions at CREW dinners at evening meetings. We are committed to focusing on our use of data systemically to improve student achievement over the next few years. Finally, LEAD Academy is committed to diversifying its student body by offering a wide range of programs that might appeal to college bound students of all socio-economic levels and ethnicities. The Student and Family Engagement Coordinator and the Resident Director of the High School will visit local schools to recruit students in the spring. The Director and the Resident Director have attended school choice and charter school fairs already this year, and they will continue these efforts to attract a diverse student body. LEAD Academy High School is in full compliance of Tennessee Charter school laws that establish open enrollment for all students. When a grade level reaches its capacity, a lottery system will be used to determine admission. Page 7