Executive Summary. Denby High School

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1 Education Achievement System-EAS Ms. Tracie McKissic, Principal Kelly Road Detroit, MI Document Generated On September 3, 2014

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 3 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 4 Additional Information 5

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? is situated in the most violent crime community in the United States according to the FBI (2012). The school has a population of 682 students who range from academically at-promise to academically at-risk. The demographics include 99% African American students and less than 1% White and Hispanic. In 2012, Denby became part of the Education Achievement Authority, a state-wide school system, due to its Persistently Low Achieving status. Under a new district, a new staff was hired. The staff, while diverse in make-up, is also relatively inexperienced. More than half of the current instructional staff has less than five years teaching experience. In April 2013, the principal at the time, K.C. Wilbourn, was sent to address climate and culture issues at a neighboring high school. As a result, assistant principal, Tracie McKissic, became interim principal for the remainder of the year. During her tenure, she successfully supervised the North Central Accreditation process where the school was the first of the EAA schools to be accredited without modifications. Ms. McKissic has also maintained the culture and climate in the school which continues to be a safe-haven for students who witness the horrors of high crime and wide spread poverty beyond their school day. The school is located within 1.5 square miles of four other public high schools (Osborn, East English Preparatory Academy, Heart Academy, and Chandler Park High School), but has maintained a steady population of students. The majority of students who walk through the doors have a wide range of problems, many of whom also lack basic foundational skills--- the average student's reading level is 5th grade and their average grade level equivalency in math is 3rd grade. With such low levels of proficiencies, even as the school continuously demonstrates anywhere between 1-3 grade levels of growth in both math and reading (as demonstrated by Performance Series Scores), they students are still far behind reading and math levels required to meet proficiency on state standardized tests. Inevitably, this perpetuates the PLA status cycle that has been difficult to break. 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. The school's purpose is to offer every student the opportunity to receive a quality education in a safe and least restrictive learning environment. Our goal is to utilize every effort to close the achievement gap and adjust academic services to strengthen cognitive and emotional growth for all students so that they are prepared to meet a globally competitive world with success. The vision is to inspire urban innovators who master the skills to positively transform self, family and community. Our mission is to create college and career-ready life-long learners who are productive citizens in an ever-changing global society. From a holistic standpoint, the faculty of believes that education is most valuable to an individual when that person is able to recognize it's relevance to his/her life. Creating lofty, data driven standards helps guide the school to an area where relevancy and rigor cross paths to create a high quality education. By targeting learning gaps through data driven decision making and then connecting those standards to project based learning, Denby student's are provided the opportunity to immediately apply their classroom skills into the world in which they live. Whether it's in consultation with Detroit Future City, creating an urban garden, rehabilitating a community park, or engaging in civic projects, the students of are afforded opportunities to apply their classroom skills to real world scenarios. In doing so, they become empowered with the idea that knowledge is, in fact, powerful and as a result of that new found knowledge, they become agents of change for the communities in which they live. That, along with a steadfast focus on improving foundational skills, is the definition of a college and career ready student. 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. Denby has continued to increase scholarship dollars for students who are economically disadvantaged seeking higher education. During the school year nearly $7-million dollars was garnered for graduating seniors. Of the 207 seniors who entered Denby in 2012, all but 1 student graduated. 77% of those students have completed the FAFSA and are registered to attend a 2 or 4 year school. Over the past three years this number has steadily increased. Over the past year, Denby partnered with the organization Next Generation Readiness (NGR) who helped streamline portfolio based learning into the senior class. Come the start of the school year, a plan is in place to take portfolio learning and expand it throughout all grade levels. The basic premise behind portfolio learning is that students begin a process of building upon skills from one unit to the next. They learn how those skills relate and interact with one another and, through student chosen community programs, are able to apply what they've learned in a practical manner. Other areas of improvement include closing the achievement gap in all core subjects (ELA, SS, Math, Science). Come the start of the school year, Denby will roll out a brand new curriculum that is based on the Instructional Learning Cycle (as provided by WayneRESA) and interwoven into NGR's portfolio learning. By targeting specific learning gaps, becoming more proficient in tracking student data, and scaffolding learning skills, teachers will have greater opportunities to both identify areas of weakness and respond to areas of need. Finally, Denby is in the closing stages of developing a behavior action plan (PBIS) that will promote positive reinforcement as well as reducing student suspensions by creating systems of support that meet the needs of the students both cognitively and emotionally. Page 4

7 Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. is not just a school, but a learning village that builds capacity, courage, and hope in students who are faced with multiple challenges associated with poverty and the urban core. We work in tandem with community partners and parents to increase opportunities and exposure for students by providing a safe and nurturing environment. Historically speaking, schools were constructed in such a way that they appeared as fortresses from the street. They were a community's beacon of strength that not only educated the children from within, but protected those children as well. For so many years, successful schools in this country were anchors of community service. They educated children, provided safe havens for families in need, offered adult education and job placement services for the adults, and gave back to the communities in which they reside. It is the goal of Denby High School to return to such a position--to stand as a fortress of education, hope, and progress for the entire community to benefit from. Page 5