Executive Summary. Rosemary Middle School

Transcription

1 Georgetown County School District Mr. Michael J Caviris, Principal County Line Road Andrews, SC Document Generated On March 28, 2013

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? is located in Andrews, SC and is a rural area located in Georgetown County. The attendance area includes the city of Andrews, Sampit, North Santee, Oceda, Big Dam, Puncheon Creek and Lambertown. There are two feeder schools-andrews Elementary and Sampit Elementary. At the current time we serve 491 students in grades 6th-8th grade. Of those students served over 80% of our student population is on a free and /reduced lunch program. In the last three years, has seen a 7% increase in free and reduced lunch applications and acceptance. Due to the recent economic changes and rising gas prices, parent participation has decreased lately. Because of this, we have an increase in transient population of students moving in and out of our attendance area. In addition, our Hispanic population has grown. Our staff is constantly looking at new and innovative ways to provide meaningful interactions with our public. We have recently begun combining events to help decrease the amount of travel to and from school. The demographic makeup of our school is 50% African-American, 49% Caucasian, and 1% Hispanic. In addition, our gender demographics comprise of 50% male and 50% female students. As far as teaching staff is concerned, our staff consists of 32.5 teachers, of which six are African-American and 27 are Caucasian. Using the teacher survey results and examining the teacher turnover percentage it was determined that focus needed to be directed on teacher retention, especially as it relates to salaries and the rise of the cost of living in our area. Gas prices have created a need for teachers to look at other closer cites or leave the profession to help with their current needs. Currently, nine teachers are either going through first year teacher induction or formal evaluation. Based on that evidence, one of our hurdles each year is educating our staff on the diversity and culture of our school, students, and community. Two-thirds of our staff is from the Andrews or surrounding area, which assists in creating positive community based relationships. Furthermore, 11 of our current teachers have been employed at for at least the past 5 years if not longer. One of the main challenges that faces is increasing the partnership between the school and community. We would like to encourage more parental involvement in the everyday student school life such as academics, student learning, and parentteacher relationships. Some examples of parent involvement initiatives that are in place now include making special efforts to meet with parents at times more convenient for them, providing parents with their child's individual test results and an interpretation of the results, providing parents with information on the district's curriculum and assessment program, providing frequent, two way communication between home and school, providing parents an opportunity to participate on decision making groups, designating space in schools for parents to access educational resource materials, including parent involvement expectations as part of the principal's and superintendent's evaluations, and providing parents with information pertaining to expectations held for them by the school system, such as ensuring attendance and punctuality of their children. 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 of is to create a safe, innovative learning environment which will enable each student to achieve academic, social, emotional, and physical potential to become a responsible, productive citizen and lifelong learner. We believe... - The primary focus of administrators, teachers, and staff is to improve student achievement. - Active involvement of parents, teachers, students, and community is essential to education where teachers, administrators, parents, and students work together. - Technology is an essential element in learning. - A challenging, integrated curriculum is a gateway to meeting high academic standards. The school embodies its purpose through several programs and our expectations for our students. The teachers at RMS collaborate in PLTs for effective planning and implementation of instruction across all content areas and grade levels. Common planning is used effectively, teachers to work with peers to assess the needs of students and strengthen the instructional best practices. The Curriculum Coach has a set planning time to meet with all grade level teachers to coordinate curriculum training and review data. One program that we have established is balanced literacy. Balanced literacy is a framework designed to help all students learn to read and write effectively. The program stands firmly on the premise that all students can learn to read and write. This balance between reading and writing allows students to receive the effective teaching needed in order to be successful, while allowing students to work at a level that is not frustrating for them. The model RMS is using is based on the research of Marie Clay, Irene Fountas, and Gay Su Pennell. Students read and write each day independently and in group settings (both large and small). Teachers are differentiating instruction for small groups. Sixth grade 100 minute blocks for ELA and math have fostered a desire for students independently reading a book of their choice. Now students expect to have time for independent reading in all classes. Another program that we have incorporated into our curriculum is literacy across the content. Teachers in all content areas are infusing content literacy into instruction. RMS has established print-rich classrooms and all classrooms have Smart Board technology. Many teachers had established word-walls based on past and current vocabulary studies. Many of the classrooms had ample classroom library sets with all of the classes displaying attractive, inviting classroom environments. RMS has a school-wide focus on literacy. Students are engaged in non-fiction writing activities across the curriculum bi-weekly. Reading enrichment is provided for 7th grade. Students are allowed to read silently for 30 minutes and they keep a journal about the selections they are reading. All English Language Arts teachers have an extensive classroom library. RMS is currently collecting informational texts to be included in Science and Social Studies classrooms. 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. Using the PASS data, RMS was able to note specific areas of improvement. Subject areas such as English Language Arts and Math contain a high percentage of students that were below basic (ELA 45%BB) and (Math 39%BB) five years ago. Our current percentage of students not meeting state standards has significantly decrease to Not Met (ELA 41%) and not met (Math 31%). We attribute this decrease in Not Met students to the collaborative efforts of our teachers in Professional Learning Teams, Balanced Literacy, and Data Decision Making and extended time in classes. Staff members are looking collaboratively at student and teacher work during professional learning teams. Content teams meet weekly to study the standards to decide what we want each student to learn, what strategies will be used to facilitate learning, how will teachers know when each student has learned, and how will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning or exceeds the learning expectations. Common assessments are created by the teams and data analysis is shared by team members. Across all four contents and three grade levels, teachers meet monthly to analyze an assessment of a presenting teacher's evidence of student learning, alignment to state standards, and rigor of the assessment. This team offers suggestions for adjusting the instruction of new/different strategies to use for students that had difficulties and/or to students who meet/exceed the standards. At RMS we are committed to providing rigorous academic experiences. The use of our Professional Learning Teams allows teachers the ability to share assessments and teaching strategies with others. During this processes selected teachers present a previously taught lesson, provide standards covered and the assessment chosen to measure learning. Teachers in the groups are allowed to review this material and answer the following questions. What was being taught, did the instruction relate to the standard, does the assessment measure understanding, etc. Professional Learning Team meetings that are across curriculum teams have increased the teachers' awareness of vocabulary and strategies that are consistent. has established a data room, and students are charted each map administration to show individual growth and progress to assist with improving student academic achievement. The school employs multiple data sources: MAP, PASS, district benchmark tests and common assessments. Teachers have instructional conferences with administration each 9 weeks to review progress and set goals. Teachers maintain data notebooks throughout the year to assist with student improvement. Teachers are using MAP data to assess students in the core curriculum areas and to set student goals. Students take MAP in the fall, winter, and spring. Target growth for each student is discussed with his/her teacher during a data conference. The school does target their AYP categories (disabled population) and students. RMS has targeted their students who did not meet AYP and the students are in the enrichment classes for both math and ELA. RMS also targets their bubble students in PASS and MAP. Our school wide goal for the next three years is to incorporate technology into the learning environment. We realize that our teachers are at various levels as it pertains to integrating technology. The RMS faculty participated in staff development last year and currently this year with Dell technology. Administrators attended staff development last year that pertained to integrating technology and student engagement with this. Select teachers have been chosen to participate in professional development given by Dell Technology. These teachers are incorporating more student engaging technology lessons that pertain to their subject area. At the end of the school year, these teachers will present to our staff their learnings. Additionally, these teachers also will participate and have their students participate in our school district's technology fair in May. 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. Students are allowed to improve and make up missed assignments. RMS offers several ways for student to get extra help. Extra help is offered before during, and after the school day. The 6th grade ELA and Math classes are offered for 100 minutes. RMS mandates all students who are below-basic on PASS in ELA and/or math attend a remediation lab to reinforce concepts using an internet-based programs. The school has initiated the Cobra Club which allows student to make up or redo work because of Fs, Ds, zeros, and incompletes on assignments, allowing for extra help and additional time to bring work up to expected performance. This clearly will account for lower retention rate in grade 8. Another avenue of making up missed or failing assignments is through Homework Center offered here at school. Students are encouraged to sign up, and they attend homework center every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon from the February 12th, 2013 through May 2nd, Last, enrichment classes are being offered to remedial students and to students that meet or exceed learning expectations. Our school's professional learning teams are focusing on standards, strategies, evidence of student learning, and re-teaching. Teachers are more aware of the rigor of instruction, rigor of assessments, and assessments matching the standards. These meetings also facilitate trust and communication to share strengths and weaknesses when asking for assistance. Concluding, 's discipline program, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), has help reduce student referrals. Professional Development has been provided to teachers so that the program will be consistent and effective in their instruction, and PBIS lessons have been taught to students to exemplify good behavior. Page 5