Title-One School
Thomasville City
Schools
W. Fred. Scott , Sr. Elementary School
Title I Schoolwide Plan
2008-2009
- Comprehensive
Needs Assessment
The school leadership and the SACS improvement committee
have identified areas of ongoing improvement and limitations. Data is continuously collected from the
state and national mandated assessments: Criterion Referenced Competency Tests
(CRCT), the Georgia Writing Assessment, and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills
(ITBS). The school utilizes several
diagnostic assessments as well: Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing
Skills (GKIDS), System to Enhance Educational Performance (STEEP), STAR
- Schoolwide
Reform Strategies
Schoolwide reform has been the
focus of
· Use of Georgia Performance Standards for all students in grades Kindergarten through fifth.
· Continuous implementation of Learning Focused Schools Instructional Strategies.
· Scheduled common planning time for grade level collaboration daily.
· Implement 5x5 daily observational walk- throughs.
· Leadership team and faculty awareness walks to be conducted
· Professional learning opportunities are provided for continuous growth in instructional practices, the Georgia Performance Standards, and overall schoolwide improvement including Professional Learning Tuesdays for all grade levels.
· Continue To disaggregate test data to identify areas of improvement and guide instruction in the classroom.
· Utilize after school tutorial program.
· 21st Century Grant
· Utilize the Fast ForWord Program
· Utilize a mentoring program for selected 5th grade students.
· Utilize a full time Literacy Coach to assist teachers and administration with instruction and the overall operation of the school.
· Provide a full time EIP teacher.
· Administer STEEP reading and math assessments to students in grades 1-5 three times per year to document student progress.
· Utilize the computer lab for mathematics.
- Instruction
By Highly Qualified Teachers
- Implement a teacher mentor program to assist beginning teachers.
- The certified teaching staff meets the criteria of the highly qualified teacher. All teachers teach within their certificated area.
- The Literacy Coach meets with teachers to plan and evaluate instruction.
- High
Quality and Ongoing Professional Development
- Provide high quality professional development for all staff in order to enable all students to meet the state and federal standards for student academic achievement.
- Train teachers to use the Georgia Performance Standards in their teaching methods.
- Continue using the Learning-Focused Schools Strategies.
- Implement 5x5 daily observational walk-throughs and analyze results by category and grade level.
- Continue to utilize RESA to provide ongoing professional development for paraprofessionals. Provide a mentor teacher for teachers who are new to the school.
- Three early release (1:00 dismissal) school days for participation in professional learning opportunities.
- Provide opportunities for peer observations in the local school district and other districts.
- Continue participation in Fast ForWord training and I-Pass math.
- Continue to utilize Alderman and Associates discipline strategies and BARKS, our schoolwide management program, to maximize instructional time.
- Provide training for teachers on the disaggregating of test data to identify areas of improvement.
- Strategies
to Attract Highly Qualified teachers
- Provide small class sizes.
- Provide paraprofessional in Kindergarten.
- Use staff members to recruit other staff members.
- Collaborate with local colleges and universities to bring in student teachers and volunteers.
- Provide team-building activities for staff.
- Assign mentor teachers to new teachers on staff.
- Strategies
to Increase Parental Involvement
- Host school-wide/grade level parent workshops.
- Provide additional opportunities for parent participation, such as PTO meetings, student performances, student recognition programs, fundraisers, etc.
- Expand PTO membership to give parents opportunities to coordinate school projects and activities.
- Collaborate with local businesses to provide rewards and incentives for student accomplishments.
- Continue utilization of newsletters, flyers, progress reports, and home-school agendas/communicators to facilitate communication.
- Plans
for Assisting Preschool Children in the Transition From Early Childhood
Programs
- Assist parents with health document requirements.
- Provide orientation for parents of pre-kindergarten student entering school.
- Schedule articulation meetings between pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers.
- Develop transitional packets including grade level expectations for parents.
- Continue to request preschool students’ instructional folders.
- Continue to utilize the kindergarten teachers to administer readiness test to preschool children prior to enrollment.
- Measures
to Include Teachers in the Decisions Regarding the Use of Academic
Assessments
- Utilize the leadership team to outline and review the instructional program.
- Use RESA consultants to assist teachers in enhancing their performance in the classroom.
- Assign all staff members to SACS School Improvement Process Sections to provide opportunities for input in the accreditation process.
- Continue to utilize weekly grade level meetings for all grade level members to provide input into the academic process.
- Organize committees (Hospitality, Honors, STEEP and Accelerated Reader, Parent Involvement, Discipline, Fund Raising, Events and Public Relations, Student Work, and Leadership Team) to allow for staff input.
- Participate in system wide development of content units, pacing guides and benchmark assessments.
- Continue to utilize the Pyramid of Interventions to meet the academic and behavioral needs of at-risk students.
- Activities
to Ensure that Low Performing Students Master the Proficient or Advanced
Levels of Academic Achievement Standards.
- Monitor student progress using grades, progress reports, academic improvement plans (AIP), report cards, and observations.
- Monitor
student progress using STAR
- Create Academic Improvement Plan for struggling student in need of additional learning opportunities.
- Review test scores from standardized and norm-referenced testing.
- Provide after school tutorial program for students with academic needs.
- Provide summer school for students performing below expectations on the CRCT.
- Administer state-provided benchmark assessments to identify and address the learning needs of low performing students.
- Utilize The Pyramid of Interventions for academic and behavioral support of students.
- Sponsor parent meetings, conference days and open houses to assist parents in helping their children reach academic potential.
- Implement I-Pass Math in grades K - 5 to advance levels of academic achievement.
- Utilize Fast ForWord Programs in grades 1-5 to remediate and accelerate reading and language skills during after school tutorials.
- Utilize classroom volunteers and reading buddies to provide additional opportunities for reading practice.
- Implement
the Failure Prevention Portfolio for all students who scored 805 or below
on the CRCT in
- Coordination
and Integration of Federal, State, and Local Services and Programs
- Coordinate all programs in accordance with state, local and federal mandates.
- Use system wide emergency and safety plans.
- Provide pupil services and social worker services through the central office.
- Utilize system nurse in implementing Growth Development, and intervention program in grade 5.
- Project
EXCEL, mentoring program collaboration with
- DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program initiative with the Thomasville Police Department.
- GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) program initiative with the Thomasville Police Department.
Thomasville City Schools
Title
I Parent Involvement Policy
2008
– 2009
Parental involvement plays an integral part in the academic success of our students. The faculty and staff at Scott Elementary encourage parents to take an active stand in their child’s education at home and at school. Additionally, parental support is critical in our efforts to provide a quality education to enable our students to meet and/or exceed state academic standards. Therefore, we believe a strong collaborative partnership among school and home is vital for improved academic achievement.
Part 1: Parental Involvement Guidelines
Scott Elementary agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:
1. The school will jointly develop with parents a Parent Involvement Policy that the school and parents of students enrolled at Scott can agree on.
2. The school will facilitate and implement the Parent Involvement Policy. Copies of the Policy will be distributed to parents of students enrolled at Scott.
3. The school will adopt the school’s home-school compact as a component of its Parent Involvement Policy. The compact outlines the responsibilities of the student, teacher, parent, and principal. It will be sent home at the same time as the Parent Involvement Policy.
4. The school will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information in an understandable format in a language parents understand.
5. The school will conduct a needs assessment each year to determine focused areas to be addressed for continued success of its educational program. Parents will be given the opportunity to provide feedback and make recommendations for improvement.
6. The school will involve a parent advisory council in the annual review and revision of the Parent Involvement Policy.
Part 2: Implementation of the Parent Involvement
Policy
1.
The leadership and
staff at Scott strongly believe that parental involvement is crucial to the
success of our students. Therefore,
our Parent Involvement Policy outlines a plan to fully engage parents of participating
students in Scott’s educational programs. To ensure that the Parent Involvement
Policy is distributed and accessible to all parents and the local community,
the Policy will be:
·
sent home at the
beginning of the school year with students;
·
posted on the school
website; and
·
distributed and discussed at PTO meetings and school programs.
2.
Since parents are an
integral part of their child’s education, Scott Elementary seeks to
involve parents in decisions related to the operation of the school, its
programs and activities. Parents are
given opportunities to participate through the following means:
· Parent-Teacher Conferences
· Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)
· School Council
3.
To foster a positive
relationship between home and school, Scott staff will make every effort to
organize parent involvement activities that include a broad range of
programs. Scheduled events will be
conducted at flexible times throughout the school year. The following activities are scheduled
to attain our school improvement goal for parental involvement:
· Open House
· Back to School / Title I Night
· Parent Workshops
· Dinner and a Movie Nights
· Student Assemblies
· Classroom Volunteers
· Muffins for Moms / Book Fair
4.
Various accountability
measures are in place to ensure that the needs of students are addressed. Parents are encouraged to meet with
teachers to address specific concerns and areas of need. The following measures are utilized to
help parents monitor their child’s academic progress:
·
Weekly or Bi-weekly
Progress Reports
·
Midterm Reports
·
Report Cards (each
9-week Period)
· Parent-Teacher Conferences
· Attendance Letters / Referrals
· Individual parent conferences to discuss standardized test results
5.
Effective
communication between school and home is an important goal of Scott
Elementary. Information about programs
and other activities are sent to parents in a timely-manner and a format, and
to the extent practical, in a language the parents can understand. The school utilizes the following means
to inform parents of system and/or school events.
·
Flyers
·
Monthly newsletters
·
Student agendas
·
Parent/Student
Handbook
·
System and
school’s websites
·
Community scroll on
local television
·
Local newspaper
calendar
·
Daily (K-1st)
and weekly (2nd – 5th) Home / School Communication
folders
6.
Realizing that parents
are equal partners in the education process, school staff provides support for
parents to help their children’s learning at home. Specific instructional activities to
assist our students and parents and to promote education beyond the
instructional day, the school offers:
·
CRCT Online Assessment
System
·
Math Mastery
(web-based for home use)
·
I-Pass Math (web-based
for home use)
·
After-School Tutorial
Program
·
Home Web Links
including the Georgia Department of Education website with Georgia Performance
Standards access
·
21st
Century After School Program
7.
To advance student
learning, Scott Elementary utilizes its business partners and service groups to
enhance education. Local community
resources support academic initiatives at the school. The initiatives include the following
items:
·
Student mentors
·
·
Classroom volunteers /
special speakers
·
Incentives to students
for academic performance and citizenship
·
Incentives to parents
for parent participation
8. To the extent feasible and appropriate, Scott Elementary will coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with programs, such as Head Start, public preschool, and other Pre-K programs. To accomplish this task, the school takes the following actions.
·
Provide orientation for parents of
pre-kindergarten students entering school;
·
Utilize the Pre-K Liaison Committee to assist in
explaining the transition from pre-school to parents; and
·
Facilitate
articulation meetings between pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers.
9. Scott Elementary educates its teachers and support staff in recognizing parents as valuable contributors in improving student achievement. School personnel collaborate to identify effective strategies to strengthen lines of communication between the home and the school.
10. Scott Elementary utilizes its school counselor and the system’s school social worker to collaborate with various community agencies to help parents obtain necessary information and resources when situations arise.
Part 3: Adoption of Parental Involvement Policy
This policy was adopted by
School ► Student ► Parent
2008 – 2009 COMPACT
(Please sign and return
this form to your child’s teacher.)
As a teacher, I will…
•
Believe that each student can learn; • show respect for each child and his/her family; • provide an environment conducive to
learning;
• help each
child grow to his/her fullest potential; • provide meaningful and
appropriate homework; • enforce school and
classroom rules fairly and consistently; • maintain open lines of communication
with student and his/her parents;
• demonstrate
professional behavior and a positive attitude.
As a Student, I will…
• Attend school daily and arrive on
time; • read at home and at school everyday; • always put forth my best efforts in class; • obey the BARKS rules; • work cooperatively with my classmates, teachers,
and other school staff; • show respect for myself, my school and
other people; • come to school with my homework
and my supplies; • believe that I can learn and will learn.
As a Parent/Guardian, I will…
• Make
sure that my child attends school daily and is on time; • provide a quiet
place at home that will enable my child to study; • work with my child to see
that all homework assignments are completed; •
communicate regularly with my child’s teacher(s) about his/her
progress; • support the school in
developing positive behaviors; • show respect and support
for my child, the teacher, and the school
As the Principal, I will….
• Provide a safe and
orderly environment that is conducive to learning; •
assist teachers in providing high quality instruction; • provide an environment that allows for
positive communication among teachers, parents, and students; •
maintain an open door policy.
Teacher:
_______________________________________ Date: ______________________
Student: _______________________________________ Date: ______________________
Title One Policy is available in Spanish
upon Request