Jefferson High Middle College for Advanced Studies Portland Public Schools Margaret Calvert 5210 N. Kerby Avenue Portland, OR 97217 Document Generated On October 13, 2016
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. 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? Jefferson High School Middle College for Advanced (JHSMCA) studies is located in North Portland and has been serving students since it opened in 1909. Currently, we serve a student population of 594 students, which is up from 527 students Fall 2015. During the 2013-14 school year 77% of our students qualified for free or reduced lunch. For the past three years, there has been a shift in how meals in schools are reviewed for free meal programs and our school has been designated as a CEP or Community Eligibility Provision school with breakfast and lunch provided free for all students. During the 2014-15 school year, 15% of our students qualified for special education services, 13% of our student body had been identified as current or monitored English Language learners which means that 4.6% of the student population was served in ELD classrooms and the remaining 8.4% of students had received ESL services at some point, but have exited the program. This fall, our study body identifies itself racially with these percentages: 44.9% African American, 25.5% White, and 15.2% Latino and 8.6% identifying as multiple or more than one race, making Jefferson Middle College the only school in Oregon with these demographics. Jefferson is located in an urban community that continues to exhibit great pride in its academic, athletic, and extracurricular success. The pillars of our school as a Middle College are the Health/Sciences Biotechnology program which has been in existence for over fifteen years, the dance program with its world-renown performance company the Jefferson Dancers (41+ years), and our partnerships with Portland State University (PSU) and Portland Community College (dating back over a decade) and Self-Enhancement, Inc. (SEI). We are into the third year of Jefferson as a 100% Middle College Program, with all students enrolled in dual credit classes in Junior and Senior years. In order to earn a Jefferson Middle College diploma, students are expected to earn 12 college credits in addition to the minimum 24 high school credits. Portland Public Schools started a process of redesigning its high school system in the fall of 2011. At that time, Jefferson's academic program honed its focus to provide all of our students access to college credit while they are completing their high school graduation requirements. We expanded key partnerships with PCC and SEI. We continue to deepen our connection to post-secondary institutions who provide scholarship and gap-funding opportunities for Jefferson Middle College graduates As a 100% focus option school, we continue to work on striking a balance in how we serve students from our immediate attendance area (dual assignment area) with the increased pull that comes from having a portion of our population transferring in from the district at large. The majority of our staff is White while most of our students are African American. We continue to work to create a culturally and racially responsive environment where our students of color will find success not only in high school but also the confidence and skills to persist in post-secondary education. 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. The mission of Jefferson HS-MCAS is to create a collaborative and inclusive educational environment that actively promotes respect for diversity and requires cooperative and individual learning. Students of Jefferson will be well prepared to meet challenges, set and attain goals, contribute to their communities and continue the process of learning and developing throughout their lives. Jefferson High School - Middle College for Advanced Studies (JHS- MCAS) wants students to have a high school experience while also exposing them to the college environment. The dedicated and passionate teachers at JHS - MCAS work to challenge and support students so they can be successful whatever their goal; a two year degree, getting a certificate or a career program or going into a four year university. Although we reached the 100% Middle College mark two years ago with every student enrolled in our school expected to graduate with transferrable college credit, we continue much of the work that went into the creation of the Middle College in 2011. Jefferson has a strong partnership with SEI (Self-Enhancement Inc.). SEI coordinators are mentors to Jefferson students and provide a wide-variety of academic and social-emotional support to students and wrap-around services for students and families. The 9th grade academy structure was created as a part of the transition to being a Middle College and within that structure, students travel as a cohort to their core classes, receive additional academic support in reading and writing, and have a core group of teachers who meet regularly to plan, discuss problems of practice, and communicate with parents, guardians, and SEI mentors. The Health Science BioTech progam continues as an integral part of the academic vision at Jefferson. Students in the HSBT take four years of math and four years of science. Jefferson has a teacher-coordinator who maintains community partnerships with Oregon Health and Sciences University, Legacy Emmanuel hospitals, and a large variety of STEM (science, technology engineering, and math) opportunities for students, including job shadows, fieldtrips, and internships. Students who participate in the Health Science BioTech program also support the On-Track OHSU! program by coaching students from our neighboring elementary schools twice a year on the Jefferson campus. Jefferson also maintains in highly acclaimed dance program open to all students. The dance companies, Jefferson Dancers and the JD2s, are comprised of Jefferson's most advanced and dedicated dance students. All of our Jefferson dancers and JD2s are full-time Jefferson students who are also expected to earn college credit as a part of their diploma expectations. 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. Most notable areas of achievement include the following: 1) Increased graduation and completion rates for 2012, 2013, and 2014 (54.7; 58.3; 66.9%) and (66.7; 80.0; 74.8%) respectively with a reported graduation rate for the class of 2015 at 80%. 2) The number of students completing college level course work. For example: At the end of the 2013-14 school year, approximately 780 college credits were earned by our class of 2015 students by the end of their Junior year and close to 1800 college credits were earned by the class of 2015 by the time of their graduation. The class of 2016 earned 1282 PCC credits and over 1200 credits from PSU through Senior Inquiry for a total close to 2500 credits. Continued areas of challenge 1) Even with graduation gains, there is still room for improvement. Looking specifically at the class of 2015, where we experienced a dramatic increase in graduation rates, a gap still exists. White students had a 92% graduation rate and Latino students had a 69% graduation rate. 2) As reported in previous Executive Summaries, more students are on track for graduation but the growth we are seeing with on track data is not mirrored in the state testing data with approximately 24% of last year's juniors earning a mark of a 3 or 4 in ELA(the level of college readiness and score needed for essential skills) and 10% earning a mark of 3 or 4 in Mathematics. 3) While we are headed down the right path with college credits, almost half of the class of 2017 is not yet on track to earn 12 college credits. 35 students have already completed 12 or more credits and 85 students have 4 or more college credits. All Seniors are enrolled in a dual credit/senior Inquiry course, so we expect to see a big increase in numbers right before graduation. 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. We have seen growing enrollment with a freshman class this year nearing 200 students. Our second largest class of students is the sophomores. With a young group of students relatively new to Jefferson, this has an overall impact on resource allocation and climate and culture work at school. Page 5