Lee County School District Dr. Robert Butz, Principal 701 Chiquita Boulevard N Cape Coral, FL 33993 Document Generated On January 23, 2014
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 3 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 4 Additional Information 5
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. <br><br> 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? was opened in 1987 in North Cape Coral, FL. We are in the 33993 zip code, a wide-spread, predominantly residential area. The school occupies 121 acres of land and the open air facility is 212,000 square feet. In the last three years the residential areas surrounding the school have fluctuated based on the real estate market and has seen much a more transient population and single family homes becoming low-rent properties. There has been a small increase in commercial business in a gas station and dollar store being constructed opposite the school. In 2011 our school had several updates and remodels totaling approximately 13.5 million dollars. Some of those remodels include new lighting, painting, restroom updates, windows, two new computer labs, and a new HVAC system. More recently Mariner installed 28 new cameras to add to our monitoring system for a total of 32 cameras. Upon entrance through our main gate, visitors will see our newly remodeled courtyard, our bell tower several picnic tables and 2 outdoor lunchrooms around the perimeter of the courtyard and cafeteria. We also have a secondary courtyard, a traditional auditorium seating approximately 800 people and newly renovated cafeteria. Total student enrollment over the last three years: 11/12-1449; 12/13-1457; 13/14-1527. We have a 60% Free/Reduced lunch rate, 40% minority and a 31% mobility rate. Student attendance fluctuates between 92-94%. We have a low rate of staff change; of the 84 faculty members, 12 have been with the school 15+ years and some since the school's inception. Our ethnic population of the school is as follows: 59% White, 31% Hispanic, 5% Black (not Hispanic), 3% Multi-Racial, 1% Asian,.3% Native American. We also brought in 9 new teachers to the staff this year who have brought in a fresh wave of enthusiasm. The most challenging features of our community lie in our district being a school choice district. Marketing our school to stand out amongst four other high schools and encouraging students to travel to our school is our biggest challenge. One of our biggest attractors is being a school with different academy options as well as offering Industry Certifications and being one of only two Vet Academies in the Lee County School District. Thus, creating the opportunity to find ways of utilizing all stakeholders to get the word out to the community and market our school. The teachers, staff and administrative team are committed to working together with community members, district employees and all stakeholders to make Mariner the number one choice in the West Zone of the Lee County School District. Page 2
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 school's purpose statement is "Ensure Student Learning." The mission of is to provide a world class education in an environment that fosters rigorous academic excellence, personal virtue, life-long learning and responsible citizenship. Our vision "Every student will chart his/her own course for personal success." Through the practices of accountability, responsibility, parental involvement, differentiated instruction, respect for diversity, strategic planning for continuous improvement, visionary leadership, compassion, integrity, equal opportunity, effective communication and data based decision making, all stakeholders work collaboratively to ensure student learning and are active participants in each students' course for their personal success. Mariner embodies its purpose and every interaction with students is focused upon their purpose. We work with them in setting goals and determining their path to post-secondary success beginning in the freshman year through our ANCHOR Academy. Our teachers work with each of their classes to create class mission statements as well as goal statements to extend our purpose of the school to each individual teacher, class and student. In pairing our purpose along with Lee County District Initiatives of Planning for Learning, Rigor and Writing, Mariner has created a school wide vocabulary initiative where each week teachers use school wide Triton Root Words, introduce them in each of their classes, and post on word/vocab walls. As an added resource of providing support to ensure student learning, our Literacy Leadership team is comprised of our Admin team, Guidance Counselors, Department Heads and any other staff members that would like to participate. Our monthly meetings are data driven and help guide instruction of how we are meeting the purpose of ensuring student learning by addressing the four essential questions of "What do we want students to learn?" "How will we make sure they learn it?" "What do we do if they don't learn?" and, "What do we do if they do learn it?" Our course offerings cover all interests of our student body from courses designed to provide industry certifications to Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment options. In addressing our diverse group of students, our instructional programs are designed to meet each of those needs including Intensive Academics, Functional Skills, and Life Skills. Our ESE Para, Social Communication Para, Staffing Specialist, Reading Coach and Social Worker work together with the staff to help us provide equitable support and program to all students while putting student learning at the forefront of each course offering. Our students are provided with choice, support and guidance to their next level. We have a full-time college and career specialist who work with students in all aspects to prepare them as well as three guidance counselors who stay with them throughout their time at Mariner. Our school also provides services to meet the emotional, physical and social needs of each student. We have implemented our Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) to identify and support mentoring, mediation, counseling, referral and educational needs of our students. We offer after school tutoring as well as a vast array of clubs, sports and other activities. Each of these resources along with our staff's commitment to the purpose of ensuring student learning lends itself to the district vision of being "a world- class system." Page 3
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. has been recognized for numerous notable achievements over the past several years ranging from academics, to sports as well as extracurricular accomplishments and staff recognitions. Perhaps the most notable achievement in the past three years is the accomplishment of being the only high school in the West Zone to receive a school grade of "A" for three consecutive years in a row. This along with having the highest AP test pass rate in Lee County for 21012-2013 school year along with over 2,307 Industry Certifications speaks to our academic notable achievements. Our school data profiles show 3 year gains in Reading, Science, Lowest 25% in Reading, as well as our Economically Disadvantaged students. More specifically, our FCAT and EOC test results show Mariner High's 2 year gain at 12% points, up 9% points from last year's 1 year gain of 3% points in 9th grade Reading. In grade 10 Reading our 2 year gain was 6% points where last year's 1 year gain, we were -4% points. Our Algebra I students 2 year gain was up 9% points from last year's 1 year gain of 6% points. In terms of sports, our students have excelled in teams as well as individually. Mariner has had 55 athletic signings. We have also earned 3 District Champion Baseball titles, 3 District Champion Boy's Basketball titles, 2 District Champion Girl's Soccer titles, 1 District Champion Boy's Soccer title. In total Mariner High had over 5 million dollars in scholarship money awarded to students in the 2012-2013 school year. Perhpas most notable is our award winning staff at Mariner High. Janice Norton, Christine Diamond, Carolyn England and Dena Uebe are all Nationally Board Certified Teachers. Helyn Ferlazzo received the distinguished honor of Support Person of the Year, and Chris Lewis was recognized as Guidance Counselor of the Year. We also have a long list of Subject Area Teachers of the Year: Lucrecia Lucero, ESOL Teacher of the Year, Randall Cook, Law Teacher of the Year, Ligia Fleming, Spanish Teacher of the Year, Kelly Schoen, ESE Teacher of the Year, Jennifer Riley, Art Teacher of the Year, John Dereu, Social Studies Teacher of the Year, John Humphries, ROTC Teacher of the year. Steve Frank was also recognized as Lee County District Teacher of the year. Each of these are all testaments to our commitment to ensuring student learning at Mariner High. Our incoming freshmen each have the opportunity to acclimate themselves to high school through our Anchor Academy. This academy is implemented through our award winning ROTC program and is designed to make the transition to high school more seamless. Instructors orient the students to Mariner expectations, goals and purpose and help each student design their educational path as they navigate through high school. Perhaps the most notable achievement of implementing this academy is the decrease in freshmen discipline referrals by 62% and decrease of freshmen failing classes by 58%. Mariner High has made a commitment to improve in all areas of academics, with extra initiatives placed on Reading and Focus on Writing. Another opportunity for Mariner is to be successful is attendance and making efforts to maintain and increase our goal of 94%. It is our hope to increase the number of industry certifications throughout the course of the year and arm students with the soft skills needed to go out into the work force. It is the commitment of Mariner stakeholders to continuously seek to improve in our endeavor of striving for excellence in all realms of educating, ensuring student learning, and becoming a world-class school system. Page 4
Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. has strong ties in the community and a history of providing a well-rounded, solid educational base for students. Page 5