Troy School District Dr. Lara Dixon 4333 John R Troy, MI 48085-3699 Document Generated On March 22, 2013
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? is a comprehensive high school located in Troy, Michigan. Troy is a metropolitan city in Oakland County and a suburb of Detroit. Troy is known for safety, the arts and commerce. Per the 2010 Census, the population was 80,980.00, making Troy the 11th-largest city in Michigan by population and the largest city in Oakland County. There are approximately 30,703 households and 22,443 families residing in the city. 34.7% of residents have children under the age of 18 living with them; 62.8% of residents are married couples. The average household size is 2.63, and the average family size is 3.14.The racial makeup of the city is 74.1% White, 4.0% African American, 0.2% Native American, 19.1% Asian, 2.6% from mixed or other races.. In 2011, Troy was ranked the safest city in Michigan, as well as the 19th safest city in the nation. In 2008, Troy was ranked 22nd on a list of "Best Places to Live" in the United States by CNN Money, using criteria including housing, quality of education, economic strength, and recreational opportunities. In 2008, Troy ranked as the fourth most affordable U.S. city with a median household income of approximately $79,000. Troy is well known,both in Michigan and nationally, for its exemplary public school district. The Troy School District has six National Blue Ribbon and 13 State Exemplary Schools. Both Troy High School and were named to the list of the 1000 Most Outstanding High Schools in the United States by Newsweek magazine, were given College Board's AP Honor Roll status, and have a 97% graduation rate, with 94% of students going on to higher education and enrolling in over 70 different collegiate programs, including the University of Michigan, Michigan State and Ivy League schools such as Cornell, Yale and Standford. Graduates consistently and collectively are awarded collegiate scholarships in excessive of 6 million dollars annually; typically over a dozen students are awarded partial to full athletic scholarships. Last year for the fourth time, Athens was named by Newsweek as one of the Nation's Top High Schools, ranking us number 422 in the United States and 7th in Michigan. We also had exceptional individual and team achievement: 75 of our students received state, national awards and international awards in the areas of: Federal Challenge Team, Future Problem Solvers, Japanese Speech Contest, Chinese Quiz Bowl, and Academic All-State Players/Teams. 13 Red Hawks were honored as National Merit Scholars; 7 were finalists. 2 students earned a perfect ACT, and 59 % of students took AP classes. 6 teams and 6 individual athletes competed at the State Championship level. All Red Hawks worked together to raise over $36,000 in one week for the I've Got You're Back Foundation. (This year, students earned $41,056 for the Angels of Hope charity, an organization that helps Michigan students battling cancer and their families.) The band and orchestra received all A's at their MSBOA Festivals. These are only a few of the many, many accomplishments. Troy is a comprehensive high school that has experienced changes in enrollment, demographics, programs and staff. Since opening the International Academy in Troy and graduating three large class cohorts, enrollment at Athens has decreased from over 2000 students in 2008 to our current enrollment of 1549 students. The socioeconomic status has increased from 3% to 17%. The enrollment of African American and Asian students has slightly increased. The majority of curricular options has remained the same. However, there has been an increase in the AP options and enrollment, an increase in the number of students attending OTEC, the creation of two ASD center programs, and an increase in the number of students in self-contained special education programs. Page 2
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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 purpose of is to provide students with the experiences and skills necessary be successful in their post-graduate pursuits. Our mission is to Ensure Learning Today - Inspire Learning Tomorrow. Our vision is that will become an exemplary learning community that supports innovation and is committed to continuous improvement. will be a place where a collaborative community develops curriculum, instructional strategies, and assessment to ensure all students learn. We believe that every student needs to: Be college and career ready when they leave our halls. Be able to read, write and think critically. Embrace challenges. Be supportive of each other. We believe that we have the responsibility and capability to help all students improve and succeed. We hold high standards for ourselves and our students. Our goals and beliefs are shared, discussed, published and guide all of our programs and actions. 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. Accomplishments: Achieved AYP Ranked 422 Best H.S. in the U.S. by Newsweek Ranked 7 Best H.S. in Michigan Increased ACT composite by from 22.3 to a 23.2 Increase # of Juniors at or above proficiency level as measured by the Explore to ACT by 27% Increased Socio-Eco Sub-Group ACT Composite, over the last five years, from a 16 to a 19.79 Increase # of Socio-Eco Sub-Group Juniors at or above proficiency level as measured by the Explore to ACT by 28% Increased student measured writing proficiency by 38.5% Increased student measured reading proficiency by 23% Increased student measured math proficiency by 40.3% Increased the # of AP test takers by 12% and improved our AP Equity & Excellence Score by 5.7%, earning the highest score of 42.2% Athens has ever had. Improved student attendance (measured by decrease in students with 10+ absences) by 44% Decreased student suspension by 21% Areas for Improvement: Continue to improve our support systems and instruction practices, resulting in higher achievement for students. Athens was designated a FOCUS school in 2012. We are working to mitigate our achievement gap between the top 30 percent and the bottom 30 percent. We want to deepen our relationship with individual students and staff. We want to expand our support networks, such as: our student staff mentoring program, student data days, small group seminars, and improve communication. We want to increase and deepen our instructional practices by furthering our work with vertical and horizontal alignment. We want to continue our ABC focus, which will increase student engagement, student understanding of concepts and student success. We want to continue to develop our ability to guide students optimally and our commitment to understanding and using effective best practices. 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. Our A,B,C Focus guides our school achievement work. We believe that if all students are actively engaged, understand and can effectively apply information, and if we know and celebrate what we do well, building upon our successes, our students will be college and career ready and our school improvement goals/vision shall be achieved. Success is predicated on understanding the connection between our own actions and the outcomes we get so that we continue to improve our school, our instruction, and ourselves to yield greater success for all. The following questions help us evaluate our progress: Are students making progress? How do I know? What evidence do I have? What exactly am I doing to make progress? What is not working? Which actions or strategies are not working? How do I know? What do I do about it? Page 6