Executive Summary. St. Joseph's Private Language School Sharm El Sheikh-American Section

Transcription

1 St. Joseph's Private Language School Sharm El Sheikh-American Section Mrs. Amel El Maghraby, Director Banks Street Um el Sid, Hadaba South Sinai Sharm El Sheikh46619 Document Generated On February 18, 2015

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 3 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 4 Additional Information 5

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? The current enrollment of the school is now at 229, which shows an increased population of about 30 new students from last year and a significant increase since we first opened in 2000 with 36 students.. Egyptian students account for 77% of the student body. The rest, 23%, is comprised of foreign students coming from countries like: UK,,Italy, Russia, Former Russian Republics, USA, Turkey, Norway, Syria, etc. The Egyptian students usually come from families of a high financial economic status. They are children of local businessmen i.e. hotel owners, hotel managers, tourist or tourist-related company owners and managers. Foreign students come from families who have relocated to Sharm from their countries of origin after buying properties here or mixed marriages - Egyptian father, foreign mother. Also some parents work in tourist-related outlets, like dive centers, catering businesses or company owners. Tourism is the major economic force in Sharm el Sheikh and the economic resources available reflect both the rise and fall of tourism as well as student population. We feel we have been lucky because we have experienced an increase in student population each academic year. We have 34 full time teachers from Egypt, United States, United Kingdom, Serbia, Romania, Russian, Lebanon, Syria, and other European countries. A teacher student ratio has remained the same for the past three years at 1: 7. 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. Mission Our mission is to implement quality standards into our curriculums and teaching approaches to make our students stand out in society academically and professionally. Vision Our vision of the school is to make it a place where children feel safe, learning is an exciting experience and students are provided with the opportunities, which secure their successful future in the chosen careers. Our vision is to make the school a place where everybody feels respected and appreciated regardless of their nationality, religion or culture. Our vision is to make sure the level of education is high, teachers are professional and the curriculums meet the standards of excellence. Purpose Our purpose is: In our pursuit of academic excellence, we aim to provide quality education to our students by hiring qualified teaching staff with professional knowledge and experience. We aim to create an atmosphere of happiness, security and constructive encouragement to promote students' positive attitude towards learning. We aim to propagate ideas of tolerance and understanding towards different nationalities, cultures and religions. We aim to encourage our students to exercise the value of cooperation, responsibility and self-discipline. We aim to foster the habits of care for the environment on a local as well as global scale. We aim to educate, encourage and challenge all students to fulfill their emotional, social and physical potential. We aim to make our students aware of the benefits from the opportunity of studying and living alongside people from various parts of the world, thereby facilitating the total development of each child within every-changing global society. We strive to achieve these purposes through rigorous academic projects, fine art programs, anti-bullying training and participating in international exchange programs (ie our students represented Egypt as part of a seven nation, 32 district of China cultural exchange program). Page 3

6 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. Most notable is the increase in our student population despite a local depressed economy. Community service, assessments and the importance of differentiated teaching within the classroom is another improvement. Despite the majority of our students being non-english readers when they first arrive at our school, our students' SAT scores have steadily improved. Teaching strategies and student involvement of their learning are now mandatory and have shown a slight increase in student achievement. Our goal of having 85% of our student body scoring within 2 SD of the international student mean has been met - but this does not mean we are satisfied with the level of our students. We will continue to follow our school improvement plan until we are able to bring most of our students to the mean or above. This is an area of concern for the administration and will continue to be monitored over the next few years. Integration of technology within the classroom and teaching is another area we hope to improve upon. We have installed a school wide wifi system, interactive boards in grades 1through 6, tablets for middle and high school students as well as an Educational Management System (EMS) which allows teachers to electronically submit most of the paperwork of years gone by.safety throughout the school and playground is now monitored daily resulting in any concerns being addressed quickly before an accident can happen. We have met our challenges through the following methods: 1-A flexible framework for learning with multiple entry points is being addressed through differentiated learning by using different learning worksheets and variable tasks within or outside classes: ESL lessons. 2-By empowering students to take charge of their learning through quarterly project,team work resulting in presentations, visual media and portfolios. 3-The authentic use of technology is addressed through the use of tablets, interactive boards, and etextbooks. 4-We encourage students' and teachers' to reflect on teaching and learning through sharing their own experiences, listening to their suggestions and identifying their challenges. This is done through the Students Council as well as the monthly teacher self evaluations and weekly followup reports. 5-Developing 21st Century skills by promoting student's interaction with their community and reinforcing their technological skills through the use of tablets, etextbooks, and the creation of powerpoint and multimedia presentations. We strive to create a school wide learning community. Page 4

7 Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. Our school is unique due to its location within a multicultural touristic city and the small number of students. Being small allows each teacher to be an advocate for the students. We celebrate our diversity through recognition of multicultural holidays and ways of life. Our students and their families feel like the school is their home away from home, and despite increasing in size, St Joseph's Private Language School hopes to continue so that students understand that learning is fun and enjoyable. Page 5