AdvancED School Executive. Summary. Carmel Christian School

Transcription

1 AdvancED School Executive Summary Carmel Christian School Mr. Van Wade, Headmaster 1145 Pineville Matthews Rd Matthews, NC 28105

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 AdvancED School Executive Summary 2 Section 1: Introduction 2 Section 2: Student Performance 4 Section 3: Challenges and Opportunities 6 Section 4: Conclusion 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. The Executive Summary contains four sections with prompts to guide the school to write its unique story; these are suggested prompts and all do not need responses. It might be helpful to write first the narrative offline before entering the ES into the web-enabled system. Page 1

4 AdvancED School Executive Summary Section 1: Introduction Provide the school's mission statement. What process was used to create the mission statement? Describe how the school engaged its stakeholders to parents and community members in the development and fulfillment of the mission statement. Describe the community in which your school is located. What are the unique features and special challenges of your school community? Briefly provide demographic information with regards to both students and staff and the community at large. "Carmel Christian School exists to provide an excellent education rooted in biblical context that equips students to reflect Christ to the world". This mission statement was approved by the Carmel Christian School Committee (school board) in The development of the mission statement occurred through input submitted by various stakeholders of the CCS community, and was refined through a series of monthly discussions, edits and presentations until the Committee was satisfied that the mission statement truly reflected the desires of the stakeholders and was enduring in its essence. Today we continue to use this mission statement as a framework for the development of all programming at Carmel Christian School. Students and teachers recite the mission statement in classes and Chapel services. The Senior Executive Staff use the mission statement as a basis of the decision-making process throughout the school year. The mission statement is posted on the walls, our website and family handbooks so that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of the ultimate goal of Carmel Christian School. Carmel Christian School, a ministry of Carmel Baptist Church, is located at 1145 Pineville-Matthews Road on the church campus in the town of Matthews, North Carolina, and considered to be included in the Southeast section of Charlotte, North Carolina. The school is a private, Christian school, grades K-10, with a student population of 568 (planning to add 11th grade and 12th grade in the next two years). The surrounding suburban community is comprised of people who are mostly English speaking, years old, white, married homeowners who have a median income of $75, per year. The average completed education of the surrounding community is almost evenly split between high school diplomas and completed college degree programs. These community demographics are reflected in the faculty, staff and student populations of the school. The school shares all facilities of Carmel Baptist Church, including classrooms, office space, the Uptown Auditorium, a unique, technologically advanced, multi-use small auditorium and the Worship Center, a larger multi-use facility for chapel services and special programming. The school partners with the church in the use of the Media Center, cafeteria, and computer labs. The WEE School, with a pre-school student population of approximately 800 students, six months old through T-K, feeds into Carmel Christian School through the regular admission process, as students transition into the school's kindergarten classes. The athletic programming at CCS is enhanced through the use of the ROC Gym for physical education classes, basketball and volleyball. The facility is also used by community members, church families, students, faculty and staff. Ball fields located on the campus provide practice areas for football, baseball, soccer and softball. The trend of growth at the school has presented the administration and Committee with several challenges in regard to the management of the growth. Due to the unique nature of the shared church and school facility, the growth of the student population and the addition of the upper school are causing strain on the facility which also provides classrooms and office space for other ministry needs. The administration is currently working to provide the best possible solutions for the need of additional classroom space. The growth of the athletic programming in relation to the current facility is also a challenge for the school. The ROC Gym is a wonderful Page 2

5 facility; however, due to the needs of the church and the growth of the student population, including the addition of the upper school sports, the school is facing constant scheduling conflicts and limitations of programming due to size constraints. The same issues surround the use of the ball fields and the lack of a track facility on campus. Page 3

6 Section 2: Student Performance Give a brief description of your school's vision about students and their performance. Provide a brief summary of student performance in your school. What are your goals and how will you know you have achieved them? Describe the variety of your school's student performance assessments. How does your staff engage in meaningful analysis of student work in order to modify instruction? Describe the school's student support programs and services. In what ways does your school ensure community/parent involvement in the life of the school? "Carmel Christian School will be the school of choice for those students desiring to make an impact on the world for Christ now, while developing their heart, soul, and mind to impact the world for Christ in their futures". This vision statement for students, together with the mission statement of the school, reflect the desire for students to graduate from Carmel Christian School with an excellent education, based upon Christian values, which will enable graduates to continue their education at the best colleges, universities, and vocational schools in country. In addition to the excellent academic foundation that is provided for graduates is a Christian foundation that will enable them to make godly choices as they become productive members of society and leaders in their families, churches and communities. Students at Carmel Christian School, on average, are working one year ahead of grade level when compared to the Charlotte Mecklenburg School system in most content areas. Students who leave CCS to attend school in the CMS system and other local private schools usually enter at the Honors or above level in high school. The school uses ERB standardized testing. Independent norms are used to compare scores to other private schools nationwide. Overall, students performed in the top 30th percentile of the ERB mastery of content. Quantitative Reasoning, while above the national norm, was the weakest area of testing results.. The school is working to address this issue. Last year the math curriculum was reviewed and enhanced. Teaching techniques and classroom assessment are under review this year by the new heads of lower and middle school. In addition to ERB, the school uses Children's Progress in grades K-2, Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math, PSAT, SAT, WrAP testing and classroom assessment to understand student performance. The Academic Resource and Research Center (ARRC) supports the faculty in classroom assessment and analysis of student scores and performance. Instruction can be modified for students as needed through the analysis and recommendations that result from the classroom teacher and ARRC working together to provide the best possible academic scenario for each child. Students are provided academic support through teacher tutoring times incorporated in each teacher syllabus, the Academic Resource and Research Center (ARRC), and follow-up by the heads of the lower, middle and upper schools. In addition, upper school students are provided support and direction through the school guidance counselor. Middle school students have advisors in place to aid with academic and social issues. The Parent Teacher Fellowship (PTF) provides programming support for students and faculty, providing funding and volunteers for events such as "See You at the Pole", VIP Day, Field Day and class parties. When needed, students are provided emotional and psychological support through the Counseling Center of Carmel Baptist Church. Athletic and fine arts programming is supported by the Booster Club. The school ensures community involvement in the life of the school through the sharing of the facility with the church and the community at-large. This process requires that open communication with all stakeholders through the planning of programming and facility usage. The open nature of the campus allows for continuous discussion and input from community and church members. Opportunities for parent involvement are published over the summer through the volunteer handbook. Other volunteer needs are posted on the website, communicated through and occasionally published in the church bulletin throughout the school year. Parents can be seen volunteering on campus most any day in various areas school-wide including the school office, media center, cafeteria, various athletics activities, and in the classrooms. The school website provides all stakeholders with a complete and up-to- Page 4

7 date list of programs and activities. Page 5

8 Section 3: Challenges and Opportunities What are the major challenges your school has faced in the last 3 years and how have you addressed those challenges? The growth of students, faculty and staff and the impact on the facility has formed the biggest challenge for the school. The last three years have seen our student population increase from 371 students K-8 to 568 students, K-10. The faculty and staff have increased from 58 to 89. This 65% overall population growth has strained the facility in regard to classroom space, athletic space, cafeteria space and the ability for the administration to keep pace with all related personnel development and training. The addition of the upper school has presented challenges in regard to ensuring that the programming for this division of the school is at the same level of quality that is offered to lower and middle school students. These challenges include new faculty, curriculum, facilities, support programming, the development of a guidance office and athletic programming at the upper school level. Providing proper academic support for students with learning differences school-wide has been a challenge that has also increased with the overall growth of the student body. This year, the school was able to hire lower and middle school heads of school. The addition of these positions has helped address the personnel challenges inherent with the addition of faculty, student assessment, student discipline, parent communication and planning for future growth. The Head of School and the Committee, together with Carmel Baptist Church, have reviewed all options related to student growth and the impact on the facility. At this time, the plans are being put into place to bring modular classrooms onto campus that will allow for growth over the next several years. The Head of School has directed the athletic director to investigate outside options for various sports fields, facilities and activities. The school is considering bringing food vendors onto campus next year for the upper school lunches. The addition of talented upper school faculty has allowed the school to stay within the framework of the vision and mission statements as we introduce programming that is on level with that of the lower and middle schools. A well-balanced curriculum has been put into place for the upper school. A guidance counselor for the upper school has been hired to provide continued student and family support. Athletic programming is undergoing review to better understand the current interest of students and institute appropriate programming for students in grades Overall academic assessment and support has been dramatically enhanced through a new multi-faceted approach to technology, web based assessment tools and the ARRC in the last three years. Students and faculty receive assistance with all areas of analysis related to student assessment and individual academic planning. Page 6

9 Section 4: Conclusion What is your school most proud of and why? Is there any other information you would like to share with the public and the school community? Carmel Christian School offers an excellent academic and faith-based education at a reasonable tuition price point when compared to other private schools in the Charlotte, NC area. Multi-faceted technology is continually being incorporated to enhance student and teacher performance. Student services continue to become more robust as the needs of our growing student population emerge. The addition of the upper school has provided new programming and development that has taken the school overall to a higher level of performance. The athletic programming has been enhanced as the school begins to develop the athletic potential of students in grades K-10. Our facility is beautiful and offers potential for continued growth. The atmosphere is open and welcoming for families. More than all of these things, the school is most proud of the fact that the mission and vision statements that are in place for students are being fulfilled in the lives of alumni. Many alumni are now attending outstanding colleges across the southeast region of the United States. Several of these students are in leadership roles both in ministry and the communities in which they live. One is now teaching second grade at Carmel Christian School. By watching the progress of these young men and women thus far, the school sees that not only are they successfully pursuing their academic and career goals, they are indeed reflecting Christ to the world around them. Through the recent addition of the upper school, the school is confident that the mission and vision of Carmel Christian School will only be enhanced in years to come. Page 7