Executive Summary. Houston Peace Academy. Abdah Khalifa, Principal Old Louetta Rd Spring, TX

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1 Abdah Khalifa, Principal Old Louetta Rd Spring, TX Document Generated On October 2, 2015

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 4 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? (HPA) is a non-profit Islamic school functioning under the Islamic Education Institute of Texas (IEIT). IEIT is a subsidiary organization of Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) which oversees five other Islamic Schools. HPA has a 7 member Advisor Panel (AP) represented by all stakeholders. AP assesses the needs for the campus and monitors budgets, finances and continuous improvement. The school began as an Islamic Montessori in 2009 in a leased modular unit behind Masjid al-salam in the Champions area of Northwest Houston. It is located approximately 29 miles from downtown Houston, at Old Louetta Rd in Spring, Texas.. HPA is located in the same school Zone as Klein Independent School District. HPA started with only 8, 3-5yr old students. Today, with over 100 students enrolled from pre-school to grade 5, the school is continuously striving to exceed its stakeholders' expectations. Student body of the school comes from immigrant families, mostly second generation American parents. The ethnic demographic of HPA is 5% African American, 33% white, 61% Asian and 1% European. In the student body there are 57 girls and 44 boys. staff consists of a Principal, Vice Principal, Early Childhood Director, two administrative staff members and 13 full-time and part-time teachers. The school comprises of a multi-ethnicity staff from Middle East, Pakistan and second generation Americans. Most of them hold a Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree or Certifications in their particular area of expertise.. All of our teachers are Bilingual which has added another unique dimension to HPA learning experience. The early childhood and kindergarten curriculum is centered around the principles of famous Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori.. HPA Montessori program is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child's natural psychological, physical, and social development. It is a multi-age group classroom setting with AMS trained staff to ensure the implementation of the true Montessori philosophy. Due to a long wait list of students for the Montessori program, HPA added a second section, which increased our student body from 45 to 73 for the school year. Each year, a new grade was added culminating in the addition of grade 5 for the school year. The elementary curriculum is based on the NGA Common Core Standards across all subject areas, which has been adopted by 42 states in North America. Envision Math was replaced by Math in Focus/Singapore Math in the school year. Project-based modeled instruction for Social Studies, Islamic Studies and Science is reinforced with extra field trips for upper elementary grades. To enhance differentiated instruction and encourage technology usage, resources like IXL for math, Stem scopes and Brain Pop for science, Raz-Kids for reading and comprehension skills, and the Collins system for writing is included in routine instruction. The emphasis from the beginning has always been to strive for excellence in everything HPA does, which is based on an Islamic principle. To revive the beauty of Islam in students, the school implements a Character Education Program, which is based on the 7 Habits of Happy Kids. In addition, the Arabic and Islamic studies program consists of Bureau of Islamic and Arabic Education (BIAE), Noorania, and "I Love Islam" Curricula. The school also administers IOWA test of basic skills (ITBS), Developmental Reading Assessments (DRA) and unit/benchmark testing to monitor student progression. Being a non-profit organization, finances are a challenge and play a key factor in every decision made. To maintain high standards and provide the best possible service, organizes a much-anticipated annual fundraiser, where student creativity and performance, and the school's accomplishments are shared with the stakeholders. The fundraising target is set based on the needs of the school for the upcoming school year Two of the initial main struggles for the school were lack of community support and challenges related to the physical facilities. The school has been operating from three separate locations within the same premises. Deficiency of resources and manpower have created other Page 2

5 challenges like lack of control over the heating and cooling systems, water outages, fire panel issues, control over shared wall space etc. Over time, the school's committed and courteous staff that collaborate to build a reputation for excellence have garnered increased parent and community support. In the Summer of 2014 Advisory panel approved the purchase of a permanent modular building structure to accommodate the lower elementary grades. This would allow campus operations from just two locations instead of three and an increase in student body. Delay in the completion of construction due to multiple reasons and the resignation of our Vice Principal in late summer of this year, resulted in a stressful beginning of the year. However, the Advisory Panel immediately hired an experienced Vice Principal to ensure stability and construction got back on track and the project is now scheduled for completion by the end of October Page 3

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. Our mission statement is: " promotes Islamic values, academic excellence and respect for all creation in a positive, safe environment, to produce confident contributing members of society." The mission is reviewed annually and posted around the school. Our Motto is: "Courtesy, Collaboration, Commitment" 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. offers small class sizes and low teacher to student ratios (10:1). The school has grown steadily and in the school year, HPA had a staff of 15 full time and 3 part time employees to cater for a student body that has increased 12 fold by in 5 years. Courtesy, Collaboration and Commitment among staff has to a certain extent made up for the deficiencies in the facilities. Despite the schools challenges in relation to facilities and funding, HPA continues to improve the program offering, activities and service projects. Administration ensured that the staff was trained for Singapore Math before implementing the program. Training for differentiation was included in on-campus PD at the beginning of the year. The school has a strong focus on technology and uses programs such as IXL, Stem scopes, Brain Pop Junior, Brain Pop, Studies weekly and Raz-Kids. Last year the school added a computer lab and a library. The staff created Shutterfly pages for each grade including an Arabic page to communicate with parents. Additional field trips per class in , linked with project based learning made lessons more relevant and provided opportunities for discovery, hands-on learning that helped to create new and memorable experiences for the students. We also adopted the 7 Habits of Happy Kids program, aligned it with Islamic beliefs to create a pathway for our students to become responsible members of society. is working towards becoming a more data driven campus every year. In order to assess achievement and student progression, the school conducts DRA and IOWA testing. HPA students participated in the Private School Interscholastic Association (PSIA) Competition and Texas Math and Science Coaches Association (TMSCA) Competitions during the school year. HPA students secured several (high?) positions at the state level for PSIA Math and Spelling and were in top 25 for TMSCA General Math. The school also held its second Scholastic Book Fair in 2015 and exceeded its goal of $2,000 in sales. At HPA, success is enhanced by the participation of parents. The PTA was very active during the school year. They supported the school to raise funds through bake sales, school T-shirt sales and the hot lunch program. PTA assisted the school with many events throughout the year such as Moms and Muffins, Dads and Donuts, the Hajj ceremony and the Qur'an celebration to allow other parents to see their children in action. The school has a proper gymnasium/multi-purpose Hall for morning assembly, PE and lunch. Areas of Improvement Data collected from the IOWA testing scores suggested that the main area for improvement across all grade levels was listening skills. The schools staff and parent surveys also showed a need for better logistics in terms of classroom locations. Parent surveys indicated only satisfactory performance in Arabic program and communication. Due to shortage of funds, it has been challenging to find trained and experienced teachers especially for Arabic. Training for new staff has been a challenge every year. The new lower elementary location will however be completed soon and will resolve the logistical issue. The Arabic program and its communication to parents has been improved to ensure parent satisfaction. Page 5

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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. Despite its size, the school has participated in PSIA and TMSCA competitions. HPA has hosted inter-school events, like Qur'an spelling Bee and Basketball Tournament and also organized the district wide professional development in has come a long way since the day it opened its doors to the community. The school has seen its share of ups and downs but what keeps the organization going and sets it apart are the supportive parents and the dedicated staff that work together tirelessly to ensure the success of it's students and the school. Page 7