Ms. Marcie Trombino 5401 S. Kirkman Road Suite 550 Orlando, FL 32819 Document Generated On February 5, 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 4 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 5 Additional Information 6
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
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?, LLC (FCA) is an education organization based in Florida and is part of the Connections Education family of education service providers. FCA provides Florida-certified teachers and administrators, a powerful Education Management System known as Connexus, and award-winning courses and curriculum to Florida school district partners. FCA opened in 2003-04 as a school serving students in grades 3-8. Legislative changes in 2008 changed how FL virtual schooling worked. Florida Virtual School (FLVS) was the leading provider of part time virtual courses (but not schools) in grades 6-12, while FCA and Connections Academy had significant expertise in supporting full time virtual schools for grades K-12. Given that the two organizations shared similar visions, it was natural for FCA to partner with FLVS to offer a full-time, K-12 virtual school in the state of Florida. FCA currently has a partnership with Florida Virtual School (FLVS) to provide services for the FLVS Full Time Public Program (known as FLVS FT K-8), serving more than 4,600 students in grades K-8 throughout Florida. FCA also provides services to Florida school districts as a stateapproved virtual instructional program (VIP) provider. FCA, partnered with FLVS, provides an excellent opportunity for students seeking an educational option outside of traditional Florida brickand-mortar schools. Our students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have many different reasons for enrolling: they may be gifted and need a challenging curriculum; be struggling academically and need an individualized approach; be dealing with social, discipline, and other issues; or be elite athletes or performers who need flexible scheduling for education. In the FCA model, Learning Coaches facilitate instruction for students under the supervision of certified, highly qualified teachers, who use curriculum and materials provided by FCA. Teachers work closely with students and Learning Coaches to create a Personalized Learning Plan for each student, and each student's progress is tracked through a proprietary Education Management System known as Connexus. FCA's main office located in Orlando, Florida where the lead principal, three school administrators, and the school support staff report daily. All of the other instructional staff members work from their dedicated home offices throughout the state. All teachers have their Florida Professional Certification, are highly-qualified, and receive extensive training on educational best practices and online learning. Each teacher is dedicated to our students' success and the unique nature of the online program ensures that the teachers get to know their students as individuals. Since our students are also located through the state of Florida, we make it a priority to create a sense of community amongst all stakeholders. Some of the strategies we use to build community include frequent telephone and WebMail (secure internal email) communication with our families, field trips, newsletters, message boards, weekly LiveLesson (online classroom) sessions, Learning Coach sessions, and online clubs and activities for our students. We work daily to fulfill our mission: to help each student maximize his or her potential and meet the highest performance standards through a uniquely individualized learning program. Our student body has grown tremendously over the years: SY 2003-2004: 343 students enrolled SY 2004-2005: 217 students enrolled SY 2005-2006: 496 students enrolled Page 2
SY 2006-2007: 690 students enrolled SY 2007-2008: 940 students enrolled SY 2008-2009: 747 students enrolled SY 2009-2010: 982 students enrolled SY 2010-2011: 1,017 students enrolled SY 2011-2012: 2,233 students enrolled SY 2012-2013: 3,495 students enrolled SY 2013-2014: 3,918 students enrolled SY 2014-2015: 4,400 students enrolled (projected) As our enrollment has grown, so has our staff, ensuring that we continue to provide each student with the uniquely individualized learning program that is the cornerstone of our mission. Page 3
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. 's purpose statement is described in the school's mission, vision, and beliefs. Mission Statement: We aim to help each student maximize his or her potential and meet the highest performance standards through a uniquely individualized learning program. Vision Statement: Our vision is for the teachers, students, and parents to be empowered to create a safe, engaging, positive, and supportive student-center environment. In this collaborative setting they are responded, motivated, and challenged through authentic learning embedded in a relevant and rigorous curriculum. Positive communication will be used to foster efficacy and interest in life-long learning. Belief Statement: We believe it is our responsibility to create a student-centered, results-oriented school environment with a focus of achieving high levels of academic performance. We believe effective teaching is our most important contribution and that all students can learn and must learn at those high levels of achievement. We embody these values through a culture of high expectations for all stakeholders. We believe it is our responsibility to help all students learn, and this can be seen in the daily actions of our instructional staff, administrators, and support team. The FCA team collaborates in Professional Learning Communities and participates in ongoing professional development to ensure instructional decisions are data-driven and student-centered. Page 4
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. FLVS FT K-8, partnered with FCA, raised the overall school grade on the state report card from a C in 2012-2013 to a B in 2013-2014, and was the top-performing online school in the state. We received recognition from Governor Rick Scott as the school ranked 27th out of 1,649 Title 1 schools in the state for Reading proficiency. We have shown very strong Parent Satisfaction Survey Results for the last three years. Highlights from the 2013-14 school year results include: - 90% of parents rated our school with an A or B - 95% of parents report their child is satisfied with the program - 91% of parents report feeling the program is flexible - 95% of parents say the curriculum is high quality - 90% of parents say the teachers improve the learning experience - 92% of parents recommend the school to parents whose children are not enrolled in the school. Areas for Improvement All stakeholders are committed to student achievement and the continuous school improvement. We have made it our priority to focus on mathematics instruction and interventions to ensure our students are able to meet and exceed new rigorous standards. Page 5
Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. There is no additional information at this time. Page 6