Executive Summary. St. Paul Catholic School

Transcription

1 Archdiocese of Kansas City, KS Mrs. Tonia C Helm, Principal 920 S Honeysuckle Dr Olathe, KS Document Generated On January 9, 2015

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 3 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. 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? opened its current doors in For over 60 years, we have provided a rigorous academic curriculum infused with Catholic values and moral teaching to families in western Olathe, KS. Due to a shift in the demographics of the parish and neighborhood, we have experienced a decline in our enrollment. We have maintained between students in grades PreK through 8 over the past three years and currently are putting together a comprehensive marketing and development plan to address the empty seats. In addition, many of our families struggle financially, and therefore require tuition assistance. We are blessed to receive money from the Catholic Education Foundation to assist families in need. Our student population is 3% Asian, 5% Black, 2% Multi-racial, and 90% white. Twenty-four percent of our student body is Latino. Our student body is similar to the city of Olathe which, according to the 2010 census, is 4% Asian, 5% Black, 3% Multi-racial, 4% other race, and 84% white. Approximate 10% of the population in Olathe is Latino. We have 13 staff members at St. Paul. They are 100% white, and 8% Latino. Three have masters degrees and ten have bachelors degrees. As a result of the decreased numbers, it has been necessary to restructure our classrooms, combining many grade levels in order to ensure a prudently-managed budget. However we are pleased that we have been able to accomplish this and still provide direct grade-level instruction in reading and math through creative scheduling and support from ancillary classes. St. Paul is blessed by its diversity. We host one of the Archdiocesan Hispanic Ministries as well as the Archdiocesan Deaf Ministry. We believe that a school should reflect the parish community and work to provide information in both English and Spanish. Our students attend Spanish class 3-4 times each week, and we often feature American Sign Language in our concerts and programs. 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 purpose statement at St. Paul is: Inspire. Educate. Evangelize. Our schools mission statement is: In union with families, educators, and the St. Paul community, embraces Christ as the foundation for a dynamic curriculum by which we nurture, educate and empower each student to achieve their full spiritual and academic potential. We have five Core Values with corresponding Belief Statements: EMBRACING CHRIST: We believe in forming life-long disciples of Christ by celebrating Mass together, cultivating a communal and personal prayer life, and practicing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. At St. Paul, each student is assigned to a Saint Family. These multi-age groups allow students to get to know students and teachers they might not see every day. We sit in our Saint Families each week at Mass, and our younger students are blessed with older students to set the example of "excellent Mass behavior!" We also dedicate time each day to prayer. We spend the first and last ten minutes of each day offering petitions, reflecting on behavior, and making resolutions for the following day. Finally, each month we work to "Feed the Hungry" with our Can Day. On this day, students can either bring aluminum cans to recycle or a canned good for Catholic Charities. Students also visit the elderly in our area nursing homes. APPRECIATING DIVERSITY: We believe that God is the Creator. Therefore, as God's children we are proud of the diversity of St. Paul Catholic School which reflects the beauty and dignity of the human family. We are blessed with families from a variety of different countries including Mexico, Sudan, Honduras, Columbia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nigeria, Kenya, Philippines, and China. Students come to St. Paul with a variety of educational abilities and needs, and each family has different gifts, talents, backgrounds and experiences they bring to our community. We focus on providing the students with quality literature that cultivates an appreciation for the truth, beauty, and goodness in our world, and our School of Virtue teaches students how to demonstrate respect and appreciation for the differences in their classmates. Our Student Improvement Team (SIT) works to address any challenges students might face in the classroom so each child can achieve their God-given potential. RECOGNIZING EQUALITY: We believe we are all made in the image and likeness of God, saved by Jesus Christ, and our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We promote a vision to live a life of service for the good of the Church and world community. At St. Paul, every grade level has the opportunity to participate in Corporal Works of Mercy. Over the past two years our students have collected canned goods for Catholic Charities, served at the St. Mary's Food Kitchen, raised money for Food for the Poor, adopted a child through the Samaritan's Purse Organization, collected pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, made cards for sick children in the hospital, and cheered up the elderly at our area nursing homes. Our staff works hard to help children understand that whenever they do anything for the least of their brothers and sisters, they do it for Jesus. CULTIVATING KNOWLEDGE: We believe in a pursuit of knowledge that uses both our faith and reason. Students are encouraged to Page 3

6 develop a world-view and moral decision-making skills that are grounded in the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith. At. St. Paul, our 5th-8th grade teachers use a classical Catholic approach to teaching English language arts. Students reach the stories of Aesop and Homer to study narrative writing, word analysis, grammar, skills like paraphrasing, and the writing process. The analysis of each story always includes the moral and how the character arrived at this realization and the virtues associate with it. This past week in 3rd and 4th grade social studies, the students learned that the patron saint of navigation is St. Brendan (who actually might have discovered America before Christopher Columbus). They are also studying the different regions of the United States and different Native American ways and traditions. They have been reading the story of Kateri Tekakwitha to help put it in perspective! We are convinced that faith and knowledge cannot be separated. We must look at everything through eyes of faith! NURTURING RELATIONSHIPS: We believe that the formation of a child is a collaborative effort between the parents, the parish, and the school community. is here to support parents in their sacred ministry of educating their child(ren) in the Catholic faith. Teachers communicate both formally, and informally with parents regarding their child's academic progress, moral development, and social relationships. Equally important are the relationships formed among parents. It is helpful to get to know other parents who have "been there and done that." I can't tell you how many times I have called another parent whose child has already graduated from high school to ask them a question or ask their opinion about a specific situation. They have given me great moral guidance and encouraged me in the academic and spiritual formation of my children. 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. A major achievement over the past two years includes the accomplishments of our graduating eighth graders this past year as they moved onto their respective high schools. Out of the seven students who took the placement test at St. James Academy, one scored in the top 3% and two scored in the top 1%. One student was accepted in to the Distinguished Scholars program at Olathe North High School, and another was accepted into the Aerospace & Engineering program at Olathe Northwest High School. In addition, many are taking multiple AP courses. did not make AYP in math during the school year. However, we have made AYP/AMO in both and We attribute much of our academic success to the partnership we established last year with the Andover ecademy, a virtual school in the Andover School District in Wichita. We were fortunate during the school year to receive a trial subscription for Pearson's SuccessMaker software. This software provides students with individualized practice in reading and math. One of our Required Actions from the last school improvement cycles was to increase student accessibility to technology. We were able to add two Smart Boards, 7 ipad Mini's, and 50 laptops for instructional use. This past fall, we had a $23,000 donation that allowed us to buy brand new computers for our computer lab and teacher workstations. Looking ahead, we recognize that utilizing data to drive our instruction is an area that could be improved. We have added using Aimsweb to benchmark and progress monitor our students, but our staff has asked for additional professional development in this area. 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. St. Paul Catholic Church is preparing to move our entire campus to a new location. We have 22 acres at 115th and Lone Elm Rd. and are in the process of creating the parish infrastructure that will allow us to begin our Capital Campaign. We will be tripling the size of our school. Therefore we are currently working to establish "best practices" in all areas of school life that will help to make this transition a smooth one. Page 6