Executive Summary. Clay Virtual Academy

Transcription

1 Clay County School District Dr. Saryn Hatcher, Principal 2306 Kingsley Ave Orange Park, FL Document Generated On February 7, 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 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? (CVA), started in 2011, is Clay County's 41st public school. provides an at-home, computerbased, teacher-led learning environment for students in urban, suburban, and rural parts of Clay County. Furthermore, CVA enrolls students from counties across the state of Florida, and Florida residents whose families are currently working out of the country (military, missionaries, etc.). CVA also offers the opportunity for students enrolled in other Clay County Public Schools to take online courses via an on-site Virtual Learning Lab at their traditional "brick and mortar" schools. provides unique learning opportunities for "jet-pack" students, or those students who desire to tackle learning at an accelerated pace. CVA offers courses year-round, allowing for flexibility in student pacing. The student demographics of are fluid. Currently, there are 385 full-time students, 86 part-time students, 62 homeschooled students, 1,220 Virtual Learning Lab students, and 2,000 "jet-pack" students enrolled with CVA. Enrolled full-time at CVA, there are 86 ESE students, 27 students with 504 plans in place, 0 ELE students, 121 LSE students, and 35 hospital/homebound students. We are currently working with students living in Italy, Hawaii, Philippines and other parts of the country and world. We currently have 546 students enrolled in school 7004 (full-time/blended); our demographic data for race in school 7004 is 438 White, 38 Black, 2 Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native, 11 Asian/Pacific Islander, 41 Hispanic and 16 Multi-racial. Within school 7004 we have 235 male students and 311 female students. is Clay County's only K-12. We have 42 staff members and 42 adjunct teachers. Elementary teachers are using content from Connections Academy (partnership with FLVS Franchise) as the basis for teaching in Kindergarten through fifth grade. This content is supplemented with standards-based, teacher-created material that is presented to the students in a variety of formats - video, audio, interactive virtual classroom session, and print materials. CVA is a franchise of Florida Virtual School (FLVS.) The Secondary courses (grades 6-12) are primarily taught through the FLVS platform. CVA employees both full-time teachers and adjuncts for the 6-12 (Secondary program). Other online learning programs are used for a small percentage of our classes. These programs include, but are not limited to, Math XL, Blackboard, and Achieve3000. Once again, this content is supplemented with standards-based, teacher-created material that is presented to the students in a variety of formats - video, audio, interactive virtual classroom session, and print materials. 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 mission at is to offer a virtual education experience which allows students to dream, achieve, and soar anywhere, anytime, on any path. will provide students a learning path in an innovative online environment, where mastery learning is the outcome of each child's motivation, organization, and dedication, to prepare them to be leaders in a global marketplace. is committed to: *Offer individualized and challenging curriculum with academic integrity at all levels *Collaborate, plan and offer virtual learning experiences for our parents, students and community *Set aside time to plan, learn and cooperate as leaders and teachers weekly *Continue to work with our county, school and stakeholders to offer the best virtual solutions for Clay County students *Strive to make virtual learning fun and engaging and to prepare students for the next level, whether it be junior high, high school, college, military or work *Trust, share and offer solutions to problems versus barriers, fear and complaints *Be proud that we are educational innovators...we are pioneers of the virtual world *Make mistakes, admit our faults, re-adjust and move forward...learning to become better and stronger has grown to be known as the "virtual school with the personal touch". Although CVA provides students with an opportunity for distance education, students and parents are encouraged to reach out for face-to-face assistance and opportunities for social interaction. CVA provides students with on-site tutoring, held in the computer labs of our state-of-the-art facility, housed on the campus of Orange Park High School. Students are encouraged to attend field trips, both virtually and in-person. Many family-oriented activities are provided for students throughout the school year, including the annual CVA family picnic, skating events, and parent nights at Chick-fil-a. CVA's business partners are many. Companies from across the county support the learning environment and encourage student success at. Through the donation of prizes, food, money, and venue space, the following business partners have helped to support : Skate Station Fun Works, CiCi's Pizza (Orange Park), Chick-Fil-A (Oakleaf, Middleburg, Orange Park), Jeremiah's Italian Ice (Orange Park), Jimmy John's (Orange Park), RPM Automotive (all locations), Tijuana Flats, and Applebee's (Orange Park). Teachers and staff at work to build positive relationships with families through communication by phone calls, text, , course announcements, face to face sessions, virtual classroom sessions, tutoring opportunities, forcing slides, and school-wide quarterly newsletters. New students and parents are required to attend orientation at the CVA office each semester; returning students and parents are invited to attend orientation annually. During orientation, teachers and administration discuss course policies, school policy and strategies for success in virtual learning. CVA faculty closely monitor data obtained from district and state assessments in addition to individual student grades and progress. In addition to online instructional materials, teachers assist students through increased communication and tutoring, online collaborative sessions, and face to face meetings. Page 3

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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 grown to be known as the "virtual school with the personal touch". Although CVA provides students with an opportunity for distance education, students and parents are encouraged to reach out for face-to-face assistance and opportunities for social interaction. CVA provides students with on-site tutoring, held in the computer labs of our state-of-the-art facility, housed on the campus of Orange Park High School. Students are encouraged to attend field trips, both virtually and in-person. Many family-oriented activities are provided for students throughout the school year, including the annual CVA family picnic, skating events, parent nights at Chick-fil-a, award ceremonies for all grade levels and high school graduation. 's most outstanding accomplishment is our tremendous growth. At our inception, in 2011, CVA employed eight staff members, with an enrollment of 100 students. To date, CVA's staff has more than quadrupled and our student enrollment is over We have a state-of-the-art building and are in the process of renovating a new building to accommodate continued growth. During our growth period we have maintained average or above average test scores in most areas, and assisted our county in graduating seniors with their online course requirements. CVA has also provided support to the hospital/homebound program by working with students in the traditional program or through the transfer of students to CVA full-time. When meeting with our students, parents, and teachers, the dedication, one-onone instruction/support, and high quality academics our school produces is apparent Over the course of the next three years, is striving to maximize the number of students who master content and successfully complete courses. With that in mind, all teachers and staff will implement strategies to increase student engagement and achievement in every subject area and grade level. More specifically, the goal at CVA is to see 75% of students making learning gains on the reading portion of the FSA at the end of the school year, with the expectation for achievement levels to increase consistently from year to year in the future. Working to increase parental involvement and student motivation, has implemented a continuous improvement model. In weekly Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings, all CVA teachers collaborate about strategies to improve parental involvement in monitoring student progress in one or more of the following ways: (1) Academic Success Team: Teachers identify students who are behind pace, haven't submitted work in over one week, have a D/F average, and/or those who are not returning teacher contact. In proactive fashion, parents of students who are identified as meeting two or more of the criteria are contacted by a member of the Academic Success Team. In collaboration with students and parents, Student Success Plans will be established and tracked for these students; (2) Best practices for digital learners, including student motivation programs/incentives: Teachers will share research-based best practices that are successfully working to motivate students in their virtual classrooms and increase student success; and/or (3) Teacher training: Teachers will seek out and receive training pertinent to the needs of their students, as deemed necessary by the members of the PLC. Moreover, since there is a proven correlation between parental involvement and student success, CVA's goal is to see families involved in and excited about learning. The successful implementation of strategies in regard to student motivation and parent involvement will be tracked through FLVS student completion and grade reports, Math XL reports, Achieve 3000 reports, Blackboard reports, and any other available progress monitoring data (ex. Performance Matters Testing, One Clay Writes assessments). Additionally, PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) will log and track all Academic Success Team contacts and/or techniques used for motivating students. Administration will also log all parent/student contact and provide teachers with the necessary training regarding best practices in the digital Page 5

8 teaching environment. Student attendance is tracked via their course pacing. Students not on pace are considered truant. Clay Virtual Academy emphasizes mastery of all content. Students are allowed to work on content mastery while keeping up with the pace expectations. 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. is a non-traditional public school. We offer educationally sound academics in a setting that works for a variety of students. We support students with a variety of health and medical conditions, military families, student athletes, and those who just don't fit the box of traditional schooling. We are proud of our growth and student success. We provide a safe haven for students who feel bullied or uncomfortable in a traditional school setting. We believe we are innovators and pioneers in virtual teaching at. We actively participate in our school PLCs and those with our virtual companions in other districts. Many of our staff members host trainings both statewide and at conferences in other counties. Page 7