Holy Heart of Mary High School 2011-12 School Development Report One Heart Among Us Vision Holy Heart welcomes each member as equal and diverse within a safe and caring learning community. We recognize individual potential and promote academic excellence. We facilitate the life-long pursuit of learning and educate compassionate, contributing citizens within the global community.
Table of Contents Contents Message from the Director of Education Message from Principal Overview of School 3-4 Year School Development Plan Summary Report on the School s Most Current Data
Message from the Director of Education In December, 2011, Eastern School District approved a three-year strategic planning process which centered on developing our schools as caring, professional and purposeful places of learning and excellence. This school report for 2011-2012 highlights the activities of your school and your efforts to achieve your school-based goals, in keeping with the District s mission and its vision for the future. The information provided is very helpful as we continue to pursue excellence for our District through a planning process which emphasizes continued professional growth and development. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate each school on the success achieved to date as evidenced by this report. I acknowledge, with gratitude, the efforts of our teachers, administrators, support staff, parents and community representatives, particularly through schools councils. By working together, we can achieve the best possible learning environment for our students. I encourage you to dialogue with our stakeholders on this document and on our District objectives. As we move forward with our new Strategic Plan (2011-2014), I look forward to your continued support and cooperation in the achievement of the specific goals and objectives listed in this plan. Keep up the good work! Sincerely, BRUCE VEY, PhD CEO/DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION (Acting)
Message from Principal The 2011/2012 school year was the second year of our second School Development cycle. I would like to commend our School Development Team under the leadership of Ms. Rose Sutton for their initiative with the continuing process of school improvement. The 2012/13 school year will see a continuation of goals and objectives for our school. This year was an exciting year for Holy Heart as we begin the restoration process for the school. In 2012-2013 we anticipate the replacement of theatre seats, a full replacement of the gymnasium and replacement of all the external windows. The Holy Heart Theatre experienced another successful year and remains an important resource for our school and the community at large. We are nearing completion of the restoration process, and it is hoped that in the near future the theatre will once again provide financially for resources to help improve the educational experience of our students. Completion of the new seats will be done by November 2012. This year we received a continuation of the Youth Innovation grant to support a program piloted by several Holy Heart teachers. The World at Your Fingertips provided opportunities for students in our Science 2200 courses to access ipad and ipod Touch devices to supplement learning. Students in our Special Needs program found this project especially beneficial. This year the school also received a significant grant from The McCain Foundation to prepare the school for 21 st Century learning program called Bridge to Success. The program will see students recover credits in a formal way and enable those that take advantage of the program to strive for academic success. At Holy Heart we were proud to meet the needs of students across a wide range of learning abilities through our Instructional Support program, our International Baccalaureate program, Advanced Placement courses and each of the distinct subject departments in our school. We were also very excited to have the LEARN program continue to serve our immigrant and refugee students who arrive with significant gaps in their education. We remain committed to promoting literacy in both official languages and were proud to also offer students the opportunity to choose courses in Spanish and Italian. Our aim is to allow each individual student to achieve his/her personal best in a safe, caring and socially just learning environment. Sincerely, Sheldon Barry Principal
Overview of School Our School Community Holy Heart High School is part of the Eastern School District which has 119 schools with approximately 40,000 students. The school has an enrolment of 911 students from grades 10 to 12 and has been the largest school in Newfoundland and Labrador. Our school staff includes teachers, student assistants, clerical staff, maintenance staff and cafeteria personnel, totaling approximately 79 people working at the school. In addition to the Principal, Holy Heart has two Assistant Principals and eight Department Heads. We have one seven-hour secretary and one five-hour secretary. Holy Heart offers the full provincial high school curriculum. We also offer a range of Instructional Support programming, English as a Second Language (ESL), a Literacy Enrichment and Academic Readiness for Newcomers program (LEARN), Early and Late French Immersion, Advanced Placement Programming, and we are the only school in Newfoundland to offer the International Baccalaureate program. There are over 60 rooms at Holy Heart including choral, instrumental, home economics, instructional support, and industrial arts rooms. Also four computer labs, art room, gym, fully functioning theatre, and language labs are used regularly for instruction during the school day. The school facilities also include: a fitness center, resource center, and physics, chemistry, biology, and physical science laboratories. Other specialized areas include a Partnerships center, ESL classrooms, International Baccalaureate Centre, Guidance Centre and Special Services classrooms. These areas are now integral components of the instructional space at Holy Heart and are, in a way, reflections of the changing organization of educational process for each student. The gradual change in the physical placement of learning spaces has demonstrated the benefit of designated areas for the successful implementation of specialized programs. Key Highlights International Baccalaureate Program Holy Heart has been offering the IB Programme since 2000 and annually outperforms the world averages. As the Diploma Programme goes beyond its fourth decade, there is a strong sense of this programme being more relevant than ever. When it started in 1969 it was designed for a small, internationally mobile community of students, but today, in an increasingly globalized world, it is the curriculum of choice for students from all types of background.
The IB is committed to constantly developing and improving the Diploma Programme both through an ongoing process of curriculum review and by modifying the programme for use in new contexts. These developments are obvious in the review and reworking of curriculum, as evidenced by a new Biology Curriculum last year, and a new History Curriculum implemented this year. Students may participate, at the Diploma level, completing courses in all 6 areas as well as Theory of Knowledge, Creativity Action and Service, and the Extended Essay, or as certificate students in individual courses. Bridge to Success The teachers and administration of Holy Heart of Mary High School recognize that a portion of our student population is at risk of leaving school without successfully meeting graduation requirements. We can refer to these students as potential early school leavers. The research is conclusive that the students most at risk of leaving are between grade 10 and grade 11. Students who have not been successful in the grade10 school year often feel the challenge is too great for them to return. Our goal at Holy Heart of Mary High School is to create a positive environment that is directly resourced to bridge the gap for these students. The aim of this program is to have students participate in credit recovery rather than having students redo full courses, repeating outcomes they have already achieved. When students receive failing grades in courses it does not mean they have failed all components. Students would have been successful in their ability to demonstrate competency in certain outcomes. Our belief is that the student should then work within a specific environment to master the remaining skills to complete the course. This year we are doing a pilot in credit recovery. We have students in grade 11 who have failed English 1200 and English 1202 in grade 10. This alone would require a student to finish high school a full year later than their peers. We created a credit recovery class for 15 of these students. The objective was to allow the students to finish assessments that they would have not completed in the previous year. Currently 11 of the 15 students have completed the English 1200 and English 1202 and are working on the English 2202, thus putting them back on the path to graduate with their peers. To expand on this pilot we are converting a classroom into a resource room for this specific issue. Students at risk will be identified by teachers in June. Rather than students having to redo the entire course, they will work only on the missing outcomes. We then directly support these students to complete assessments through the credit recovery program. The current pilot is very small scale; however we wanted to see some small success before we moved this initiative forward to positively affect more students. The current
pilot is done in a single teacher s classroom; the proposed expanded program would have a separate room and dedicated staff and tutors to reach upwards of 150 or more students. We can accomplish this by having a dedicated room for the 7 slots within a school timetable. The room can accommodate 25 students per slot, notwithstanding the likelihood of after school and lunchtime programs being built into its structure. The room will be designed so that a student can work independently, with a peer tutor and/or teacher, or online. In order for this to be effective we will have to have a program developer create resource books for the courses students need for graduation. Guidance Highlights Guidance and counselling services at Holy Heart High are vital to the promotion of a safe and caring learning community whereby individual potential and academic excellence can be achieved. Our program is comprehensive and is based primarily on the developmental needs of our diverse population. It adheres to an over-riding commitment to the promotion of healthy and responsible students who will be productive contributors to our global community. Our goals are empirically established via a needs assessment and are aligned with the overall goals of school development. While our top priority has been the development of a programmed approach to Guidance and Counselling, we remain responsive to the individual needs of our students as they attempt to meet the challenges in their personal and academic lives. During the 2011-2012 school year, we continued to work towards the shared goals established from our 2010-2011 needs assessment and the school wide goals established through school development. The main components of our program include: (1) Student Academic Advising (2) Special Services (3) Counselling individual, crisis, family, grief (4) Assessment RTS, internal wait-list for assessment (5) Career Development/Post Secondary Planning/Scholarships/Funding (6) Peer Tutoring/Peer Mentoring/Peer Counselling (7) Responsive Services and Coordination Duties (8) Consultation with outside agencies (9) Students with Unique needs - International Students, Students with Mental Health Issues, Student High Risk for Quitting, Homeless/Independent Living Highlights for 2011-2012 Assessment wait-list was completed for all students transitioning to postsecondary or with immediate programming concerns Tutoring hours to the school was extensive and significantly contributed to academic success within our school (1464 hours of tutoring was logged at HHM
this year by 35 student offering approximately 100+ students from this school and our feeder schools with approximately $14,640 paid to our students in the form of tuition vouchers) Transitional Planning was offered to all graduating HHM students early in the school year. Individualized career services were offered in addition to exposure to a cascade of post-secondary options and community based supports (MUN Concurrent studies, CDLI, Youth Services, Ronan Center, LMAPD, Choices for Youth, ANC, Student Loans) Contribution to Cultural Inclusion was significant through the continuation of our International Club Given the increased demands for counselling, special services support, and assessment projected for the 2012-2013 school year, it is our intent to focus on the critical areas our program for which our specialized training can be used. These services include: (1) Counselling (2) Assessment (3) Student Programming/Special Services (4) Career Development/Transitioning (5) Student Support Services via school wide programming (e.g. Peer Tutoring, Peer Mentoring, Peer Counselling Transitional Planning and Career Planning).
3-4 Year School Development Plan The 3-4 year School Development Plan outlines our school s goals and objectives over the life of the plan. Goal: To improve student achievement and wellness by engaging the school community in best practices to enhance teaching and learning. Year Objective Objective 2010-11 To engage and motivate students through integration To promote the overall well-being of the school of best teaching practices community 1.1 Review resources on Inclusion Conference; Provide DI resources in resource centre and create a staff DI conference ex. Interest surveys 1.2 Research on inclusion and co-teaching; Co-teaching conference on First Class; A sign-up process for teachers interested in co-teaching during the 2011-2012 school year 1.3 Inventory of technology in our school; Assessment of use of technology in our school 2011-12 1.1 Provide DI directed at specific curriculums; Have individuals who are comfortable with a DI technique provide a mini in-service during staff meetings 1.2 Ensure that teachers co-teaching together have shared prep times in their teaching schedules; Inform staff of different models of inclusion and co-teaching, through documents and staff meeting presentations 1.3 Lunch & Learn sessions to share tech. experience and ideas. Full-day in-service: Sharing our Technologies. 2.1 Survey staff to various means of technology they use or like to learn more about to use as a tool for communication teaching/learning (e.g. blogs) 2.2 Schedule of possible wellness activities for 2011-12 school year 2.3 Walking lunch time club 2.1 Teach teachers how to set up a contact list in First Class so that they can have a contact email list for each class and homeroom; Telephone (with privacy) for each floor and access to Winschool on two efficient computers in the staff room; Student focus group on learning styles and student/teacher interactions; Initiate a professional learning community on topics that relate to communication and best teaching practices 2.2 Lunch Time Movies for students; Establish RNC liaison in school; Student- owned bulletin board
2012-13 1.1 Establish a collegial circle that will take leadership with DI and provide support for other staff 1.2 Effective communication of what inclusion and coteaching is to parents and students; Create a roll-out plan for the inclusion model and Inclusion committee be a leading force of co-teaching and inclusion in the school; Provide ongoing training for staff as to best models of inclusive teaching, through inviting learning specialists into the school and building experts from faculty. (Training could include off-site visits, shadowing pilot schools and PD Days) 1.3 Lunch & Learn sessions and in-service to share tech. experience and ideas and learn about new technologies. 2.3 Walking lunch time club; Improve communication of events; Pursue wellness grants and idea of a school sponsor 2.1 Develop professional learning communities on topics that relate to communication and best teaching practices 2.2 Calendar of staff/student activities; Continue creation of liaisons 2.3 Increase the number of physical activities and the communication of these activities
Report on School Development Plan 2011-12: Objective: To engage and motivate students through integration of best teaching practices 1.1 Provide DI directed at specific curriculums; Have individuals who are comfortable with a DI technique provide a mini in-service during staff meetings Commendation: Sharing of DI strategies by teachers during staff meetings Recommendation: Work within departments to spread one DI strategies to all classes in subject area 1.2 Ensure that teachers co-teaching together have shared prep times in their teaching schedules; Inform staff of different models of inclusion and co-teaching, through documents and staff meeting presentations Commendation: Increased opportunities for co-teaching Recommendation: Continued focus on inclusionary methods as part of regular instruction in all subject areas 1.3 Lunch & Learn sessions to share tech. experience and ideas. Full-day in-service: Sharing our Technologies. Commendation: Lunch and Learn sessions for new teachers Recommendation: Expand Lunch and Learns for all teachers to introduce new technologies Objective: To promote the overall well-being of the school community 2.1 Teach teachers how to set up a contact list in First Class so that they can have a contact email list for each class and homeroom; Telephone (with privacy) for each floor and access to Winschool on two efficient computers in the staff room; Student focus group on learning styles and student/teacher interactions; Initiate a professional learning community on topics that relate to communication and best teaching practices Commendation: Greater use of email as a form of communication between school and home; sharing of professional literature around best teaching practices and creation of school climate Recommendation: Use student focus groups to collect data on learning styles 2.2 Lunch Time Movies for students; Establish RNC liaison in school; Student- owned bulletin board Commendation: Facilitation of lunch time shows for students Recommendation: Follow through with provision of studentowned bulletin board 2.3 Walking lunch time club; Improve communication of events; Pursue wellness grants and idea of a school sponsor Commendation: Partnership with Breakfast Program; Members of Student Council doing daily announcements Recommendation: Continue to pursue wellness grants
Summary Report on the School s Most Current Data PUBLIC EXAM RESULTS 2011-2012 0.0% 61.8% 62.5% 66.4% 67.2% 68.1% 60.5% 58.4% 60.8% 55.0% 59.1% 72.3% 72.9% 67.5% 66.4% 70.8% 77.7% 77.7% 70.9% 72.0% 60.4% 65.0% 66.0% 66.5% Holy Heart Of Mary Regional High 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% School ESD
GRADUATION STATUS 2011-2012 Prov/Dist School Potential Graduates Number Honours Number Academic Number General % Grad % Honours % Academic % General PROVINCE 5041 4661 1358 1915 1388 92.46 29.14 41.09 29.78 35.07 400 HHM 207 187 73 81 33 90.34 39.04 43.32 17.65 25.60 % nongrad + gen PUBLIC EXAMS 3 YEAR TREND Exam Mark 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 School Province School Province School Province School Province French 3200 82.0% 68.3% N/A 68.1% N/A 69.6% N/A 68.4% Francais 3202 69.7% 70.1% 75.2% 72.4% 74.8% 69.8% 72.3% 73.1% Math 3204 57.1% 58.9% 52.0% 58.0% 53.1% 58.2% 55.0% 59.4% Math 3205 71.0% 74.9% 71.5% 75.3% 80.5% 77.9% 77.7% 76.4% World History 3201 60.4% 63.6% 55.6% 61.5% 63.1% 65.6% 66.0% 67.1% World Geography 3202 57.3% 63.2% 51.8% 58.8% 57.3% 64.4% 60.4% 65.7% Histoire Mondiale 3231 74.3% 65.8% 74.3% 62.5% 68.4% 63.0% 66.4% 70.8% Biology 3201 54.5% 58.4% 57.5% 60.7% 61.1% 60.5% 61.8% 62.4% Chemistry 3202 56.8% 62.2% 64.4% 66.4% 64.4% 66.9% 66.4% 66.2% Physics 3204 72.5% 67.2% 66.7% 65.5% 75.9% 70.8% 70.9% 71.6% Earth Systems 3209 61.1% 56.3% 70.0% 56.0% 66.0% 57.4% 68.1% 59.6% English 3201 59.9% 60.2% 63.5% 64.6% 60.8% 63.4% 58.4% 60.5%
GRADUATION STATUS 3 YEAR TREND 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 School Province School Province School Province School Province Honours 35.8% 23.1% 39.9% 25.2% 32.3% 26.1% 39.0% 29.1% Academic 44.3% 40.9% 41.6% 39.5% 49.7% 40.6% 43.3% 41.1% General 19.8% 36.0% 18.5% 35.2% 17.4% 33.3% 17.6% 29.8%