Executive Summary. Sequoyah Middle School

Transcription

1 Clayton County School System Mr. Lonnie White, Principal 95 Valley Hill Rd SW Riverdale, GA Document Generated On March 4, 2013

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. 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? of Riverdale Georgia is nestled down in the valley of Riverdale on the banks of the Flint River. The school is located 20 minutes from the world's busiest airport (Hartsfield/Jackson) and downtown Atlanta. In August of 2005, 930 plus students of various backgrounds and ethnicities were ushered into the newest middle school in Clayton County under the leadership of the principal. Sequoyah Middle was the first middle school to have as part of its policies a uniformed school dress code for students. In year two of principal's administration, school test scores improved from the inaugural year. At the end of the 2006 school year, a new principal was named. Under the new principal's leadership, student test scores continued to show improvement, and in the school year, met the testing requirements set by the state of Georgia and "made" adequate yearly progress (AYP) for the first time. This trend of improved scores continued in the school year as test scores at continued to climb. In July of 2010 the faculty and staff of welcomed a new principal. since has met AYP three years in a row and in earned the Title I School of Distinction. continues the journey each day of leading students into excellence through implementing the best instructional and operational practices. The student demographic for Sequoyah Middle school is: Black %, Hispanic %, Asian - 2.5%, White - 1.0%, Multi-Racial - 1.7%, Gifted Students - 5%, Students with Disabilities- 8.9%, English Language Learners- 6.5%, Economically Disadvantaged %. The staff demographics of Sequoyah are 82 total staff with 62 classroom teachers. The average years teaching experience is 10 years. The breakdown of educational degrees are 16 teachers with Bachelor's degrees, 30 teachers with Master's degrees, 14 teachers with Specialist Degrees, and 1 teacher with a Doctoral degree. The average household income in Riverdale, Georgia per the last census count was $47, The percentage of students who receive free and reduced lunch is 94% which is the highest ever in the school's history. The city of Riverdale has 4,590 housing units, median home values $90,500.00, high school diploma average 7%, and 15.1% Bachelors degree of higher. Many of our students are living in non-traditional homes. During the 2012 registration period, the registration data identified that 81.2% of our student live in single parent homes. These challenges often manifest in behavior concerns and poor academic performance with some of our students. We also have a challenge of a 40% transient rate among our student population. During the school year, the leadership team incorporated the Effective Behavioral Instructional Support management strategy (E.B.I.S).) to help identify, manage, and prevent behavior problems in the school. To maintain a safe and orderly learning environment, Sequoyah has a myriad of policies and procedures in place. The school has an emergency preparedness plan that is not only implemented by the staff during monthly practice drills, but also practiced by the staff during pre-planning to ensure its implementation with the students is accurate. Sequoyah has a School Resource Officer (SRO), a uniformed law enforcement officer, assigned to the school for the safety of all, as well as to provide guidance to students specifically through gang awareness classes incorporated as part of the Social Studies curriculum in sixth grade. Numerous protocols are in place at Sequoyah for students. These protocols are communicated to all students during town hall style meetings conducted by the school administrators. There is a consistency in behavioral expectations throughout the school through the use of a school-wide discipline plan. This plan is communicated to faculty during pre-planning. A supporting discipline guide is provided to each teacher in the beginning of the year. Students are briefed and have visible to them standardized classroom rules that are posted in every classroom. Each teacher follows the same steps prior to an office referral. Through this disciplinary system, students are aware of consistency of behavioral expectations. There are standard procedures for routine operations during the school day such as walking in the hall, classroom transitions, locker and restroom breaks, and movement as an individual student. A parent liaison position was created from our Title I funds to help our families with identifying resources to help bridge the gap in achievement, family relationships, and school support. We also have an on-site social worker who assists with our attendance and transient rate concerns. Page 2

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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. The original vision and mission statement was developed in 2005, 's inaugural year, by the school's leadership team. This team was composed of selected members of the faculty and staff. This original mission statement was a compromise developed from multiple mission statements that were suggested by team members. This mission statement was presented to the faculty for approval. In July of 2009, held a leadership team retreat. These team members, consisting of grade chairs, department heads, counselors, representatives from special education, English secondary to other languages (ESOL), the Connections faculty, and school administrators reviewed the mission statement that had been previously developed. During the comprehensive review of the school's Improvement Plan, the leadership team revised the original mission statement and developed a vision statement. After the leadership retreat, the revised mission statement and new vision were shared with and approved by the faculty. Once approved, these documents were presented to parents/guardians, community members, and business partners at Parent, Teacher, and Student Association (PTSA) and other community involvement meetings. The mission and vision were presented to students as part of daily morning announcements and welcoming addresses by the school's principal. The last revision of the school mission took place during the summer leadership retreat in July of The revised mission and vision now reads: Mission - "To provide the opportunity for educational and social foundations needed to succeed in an ever-changing world." Vision - "To become the "HIGHEST" achieving middle school in the state of Georgia." Motto - "Our Excellence Will Exceed All Expectations." The schools also adopted a school affirmation that is repeated daily by students and teachers: "I am a Sequoyah Warrior, I won't be denied my education, I won't be denied my destiny, I won't be denied my future. My excellence will exceed all expectations." Sequoyah Middle school through its mission and vision has a daily focus of building the educational capacity of our students through instructional, enrichment, and remediation programs. The following programs have been implemented over the last three years to help with school improvement. The programs and strategies include: quick, interim, and common assessments, focus on effective planning, distributed team work, disaggregate the data for AYP content areas, data notebooks (using data to drive instruction), implementation of study skills courses in connections, tutorials (open to all students), Study Island Pull-outs (Math and Language Arts/Reading), Reading 180 classes, CRCT Afterschool Remediation, flexible grouping/pullouts, and the use of Turning Point clickers (Technology Enhancement School Improvement for Data Analysis and Assessment). 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. has improved in the areas of academic achievement and operational management over the last three years. In the area of academic achievement our school under (No Child Left Behind) was recognized as a Title I school of Distinction. Our school also posted the highest writing scores on the eighth grade writing exam in with 85% passing rate. The schools reading bowl team from 2010 until 2012 placed second or better in the county, regional, and state wide reading competitions. To assist our students in academic achievement, we have incorporated the following strategies and programs for our students: Operationally, Sequoyah middle school transitioned to a new schedule that went from offering six classes to five classes daily. The grade level concept was revised to learning communities. Students are now house by mixed grade levels in academic team houses. Sequoyah also added a gender academy in the seventh grade and a technology academy in sixth and seventh grades. In 2012, the school celebrated its first team athletic championship as the girls volleyball team completed an undefeated season and won the county championship. The process of continuous improvement is the focus of weekly team, grade level, and department meetings. While the meetings might not specifically address the topic as such, all conversations are focused on what has occurred within the realm of the particular group since the last meeting and what the group can do to improve on what has happened. Much information is shared within the parameters of these meetings. At these meetings, the team leader, grade level chair, or department head provides vital information from the Leadership Team as well as receives feedback and suggestions to take back to the Leadership Team. This open dialogue makes every faculty member at part of the improvement process. External stakeholders, parents and community members are informed about and encouraged to be part of the continuous improvement process through Curriculum Nights, PTSA meetings, Parent-Teacher Conferences, Connect-Ed calls, the school/teacher websites, homeroom advisement sessions, the school's marquee, flyers, surveys/compacts, teacher contacts, parent liaison contacts, and word of mouth. Student stakeholders are informed via progress reports and report cards, online grade book, parent/teacher conferences, homework hotline, school/teacher website, homeroom teacher/student advisement sessions, and the daily morning WSMS news broadcast. It is also the school's goal to focus on continuous achievement in the areas of mathematics; closing the achievement gaps between all subgroups; implementing common core instructional strategies in all academic areas; and maintaining a structured and orderly environment conducive to learning. 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. During the school year, implemented the house concept which can be understood as a "school within a school" with the belief that each student's total educational experiences would be enhanced i.e. academic learning, personal development, and group citizenship. Teachers and students are organized and grouped in interdisciplinary teams in order to provide and receive instruction and learning. In these teams or houses, teachers share the same students, the same schedule, the same part of the building, and the responsibility to share in the planning of the major academic subjects which students encounter during the day. Under this model, the following key practices are implemented in interdisciplinary teams of teachers; common planning time for teams of teachers; flexibility in scheduling of classes; students assigned to the same homeroom; cooperative learning and problem solving as an instructional approach, and writing across the curriculum; exploratory courses; parental involvement in workshops in early adolescence; and parents as volunteers in the middle grades. The school is divided into four houses, three being academic and one exploratory. Page 6