School Improvement Plan

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School Improvement Plan

2017-2018

School Improvement Plans remain in effect for two years, but a School Leadership Team may amend as often as necessary or appropriate.

Draft Due: October 3, 2017 Final Copy Due: October 17, 2017

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

2 Merry Oaks Contact Information

School:

Merry Oaks International Academy

Courier #:

⁴⁵³

Address:

3508 Draper Avenue

Phone Number:

980-343-6422

Charlotte, NC 28205

Fax Number:

980-343-6505

Learning Community:

^NELC

School Website:

http://schools.cms.k12.nc.us/merryo aksES/Pages/Default.aspx

Principal:

Brittany Slagle

Learning Community Superintendent:

Charity Bell

Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Team Membership

From GS §115C-105.27: “The principal of each school, representatives of the assistant principals, instructional personnel, instructional support personnel, and teacher assistants assigned to the school building, and parents of children enrolled in the school shall constitute a school improvement team to develop a school improvement plan to improve student performance. Representatives of the assistant principals, instructional personnel, instructional support personnel, and teacher assistants shall be elected by their respective groups by secret ballot....Parents serving on school improvement teams shall reflect the racial and socioeconomic composition of the students enrolled in that school and shall not be members of the building-level staff.”

Committee Position Name Email Address Date

Elected

Principal Brittany Slagle [email protected] 8/30/2017

Assistant Principal Representative Pamela Bland-Bostick [email protected] 8/30/2017

Dean Representative Kylene Collins [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Karen Lovins [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Dawn Piccirillo [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Jayme Diehl [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Amanda Wrinn [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Robert Walton [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Madison Brown [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Dawn Mills [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Jasmine Davis [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative April Webb [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Faceta McDuffie [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Keara Williams [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Ronald Monroe [email protected] 8/30/2017

Teacher Representative Chelsea Domino [email protected] 8/30/2017

Parent Advocate Jon Landon [email protected] 8/30/2017

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PTA President Linda Davis [email protected] 8/30/2017

Parent Representative Angela Watkins [email protected] 8/30/2017

Parent Representative Petra Zettl [email protected] 8/30/2017

Vision Statement

District: CMS provides all students the best education available anywhere, preparing every child to lead a rich and productive life.

School: Growing Mighty Oaks.

Mission Statement

District: The mission of CMS is to maximize academic achievement by every student in every school.

School: At Merry Oaks, we provide a quality education by inspiring a lifelong love for learning.

Merry Oaks Shared Beliefs

1. All students can and will learn.

2. Our families and our community are an essential part of our success.

3. Diversity and talents will be value and celebrated.

4. Teachers will provide purposeful instruction with high expectations for themselves and their students.

5. We meet the needs of each child, each day.

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4 Merry Oaks SMART Goals

● Provide a duty free lunch period for every teacher on a daily basis.

● Provide duty free instructional planning for every teacher under G.S.>115C-105.27 and 201.1 with the goal of providing an average of at least five planning times per week, to the maximum extent that the safety and proper supervision of students may allow during the regular student contact hours.

● Provide a positive school climate, under CMS regulation JICK-R, by promoting a safe learning environment free of bullying and harassing behaviors.

● Increase college and career proficiency for grades 3-5 on the NC Reading End of Grade Test from 23.39% to 30% and meet or exceed growth as measured by EVAAS. Increase reading proficiency in K-2 from an average of 58% to 75% as measured by Reading 3D TRC (Total Reading Comprehension) Assessment

● Increase college and career proficiency for grades 3-5 on the NC Math End of Grade Test from 55.93% to 60% and meet or exceed growth as measured by EVAAS.

● Increase college and career proficiency for 5th grade science on the NC Science End of Grade Test from 53.26% to 60% and meet or exceed growth as measured by EVAAS.

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5 Merry Oaks Assessment Data Snapshot

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11 Merry Oaks Profile

Merry Oaks Elementary School is a Title I Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade elementary school serving approximately 666 diverse students in Charlotte’s Eastside community. We are located in the Historic Merry Oaks Neighborhood, bordered by Central Avenue and Eastway Drive. Our community is home to both native Charlotteans, new arrivals from across the United States, as well as a growing immigrant and refugee population.

Our students come from many countries such as: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Congo, Republic of Congo, Cuba, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Puerto Rico, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, United States of America, and Vietnam. Approximately, 51.7% of our students are English Language Learners. We believe that the richness of our students' native languages and cultures are an asset to our school community. We are proud to learn from and about our unique and diverse student population. At Merry Oaks Elementary School, teachers are striving to make a difference in the lives of children who face the challenges associated with limited English language proficiency and socioeconomic status in the city of Charlotte.

Merry Oaks provides the unique opportunity to engage with a truly diverse student body that serves a high population of English Learners. Our school is recognized in the highest tier of poverty (Tier 4) with more than 95% of our students as Economically Disadvantaged.

Description of School and Student Services: Merry Oaks International Academy provides educational programming for students in pre- kindergarten through 5th grade. The Pre-K through 5th grade staff is committed to focusing on a Balanced Literacy approach for all students in grades K-5 using the Teachers College-Readers and Writers Workshop Model. The math department also follows the workshop structure. This model allows us to provide solid instruction for all students according to their instructional text level to develop the stages of reading.

Merry Oaks uses a combination of self-contained and departmentalized classes to allow for high-quality daily instruction. In addition, Merry Oaks has implemented an Intervention/Enrichment block (WIN-What I Need) during the day to differentiate our instruction to meet the needs of the diverse learners in our building in the areas of math and literacy. Merry Oaks teachers meet in Professional Learning Communities each week to collaborate on student learning and instruction.

The School Improvement Team-School Leadership Team meets once a month to facilitate the collection and analysis of data to monitor student achievement in order to ensure implementation based on research based practices. The School Improvement Team will work collaboratively with the math, reading, and school climate to monitor the data and assess our needs.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the current program for improving the education of low achieving students: Merry Oaks has shown tremendous progress over the past two years as a Title I school and continues to strive for continuous school improvement. The level of effectiveness of Merry Oaks has increased significantly as evidenced by improving the school's letter grade from a D to a C and earning a state

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letter grade of a B in 3-5 overall math. As of the 2015-2016 school year, our school is no longer on the North Carolina low performing list. We also exceeded EVAAS growth in all areas. During the 2016-2017 school year, we finished the year again exceeding growth according to EVAAS as well as earned the school report card grade—C. According to performance data from the 2016-2017 school year, 54.1% of Merry Oaks 3rd-5th grade students were proficient in both reading and math as measured by the End of Grade Assessments Overall Composite.

Priority Need Areas for the Core Instructional Program:

Limited English Proficient Students: There is a significant gap in reading between LEP students and the entire school body. Last year, only 25.1% CCR and 37.8% GLP students were considered proficient. Additionally, ACCESS data shows that we exited 6 student or 3.6% of our LEP population from ESL services. This year Merry Oaks has 319 LEP students or 51.7% of our population. Limited English Proficient student language proficiency is as follows:

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6

19 50 114 27 0 0

We also have approximately 44 newly LEP identified Kindergarten students. We have identified that many of our LEP students fail to exit ESL services due to low performance in writing.

Small Group Instruction: Through observations and staff discussions, the effectiveness of small group instruction can be enhanced by providing increased support and training for teachers and support staff around strategy groups and guided reading. Teachers, teacher assistants, and Title I Tutors will receive training and support with guided reading and strategy group instruction based upon student performance data. Merry Oaks uses a push in model staffed by two Title I tutors, specialized reading and math teacher coaches, and Instructional Assistants to provide more intensive, daily instruction for students not at grade level.

Individual Instruction: Teachers, assistants, and Title I tutors will receive training and support to increase the effectiveness of individual

instruction, differentiation, and conferring. Struggling learners will receive weekly support and conferring to address small learning challenges and provide additional instruction to support their growth in literacy and math.

Math Workshop: To support our goal of increasing student math proficiency, Merry Oaks will implement a 60 minute math workshop each day.

Teachers will use quarterly formative assessments, weekly common standards aligned assessments, and MAP math data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our individual students. Students will be divided into small instructional groups to focus on providing interventions or enrichment

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instruction to meet their individual needs. ELL, Special Education, and Title I Staff will collaborate and support the classroom teachers in the implementation.

School Improvement Strategies: Currently, Merry Oaks International Academy offers the following interventions to meet the diverse needs of our learners:

● LLI: Merry Oaks utilizes Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) curriculum in our general population, ELL and EC

programs. Leveled Literacy Intervention, funded through Title I, is a research-based program that provides targeted small group instruction to meet the needs of students performing significantly below grade level expectations in reading. Merry Oaks uses the program to support the lowest achieving students in each grade level. The LLI program compliments our balanced literacy initiatives and supports student learning in decoding, fluency, comprehension, and writing. We have designed a daily word work/English Language Arts intervention period to provide LLI for our students. Students will work with our literacy facilitators, our Title I tutor, and Teacher Assistants to improve their performance as readers. The groups will consist of no more than four students to ensure targeted instruction. The instructional team will meet to determine which students are served and assess the progress and fidelity of the program.

● Letterland: Letterland, funded through Title I, is a unique, phonics-based approach to teaching reading, writing and spelling to 3-8 year olds. The Letterland characters transform plain black letter shapes into child-friendly pictograms and they all live in an imaginary place called Letterland. It uses simple stories about the Letterland characters, explain the full range of dry phonics facts so that children are motivated to listen, to think and to learn. These stories explain letter sounds & shapes, allowing children to progress quickly to word

building, reading and writing. The use of characters and actions to teach phonics is supported by scientific research. The Letterland system is also in line with research on memory and the way we learn. Each Letterland character has a personality and lives in a realistic

environment filled with alliterative objects. By integrating phonics with life experience, they provide children with a systematic and

motivating framework for learning all 44 sounds and their spellings and for developing full literacy. Merry Oaks uses this program in K-2nd grade.

● Words Their Way: Words their Way, funded through a district initiative pilot and Title I, aligns students’ spelling development into the following five research-based stages. This developmental model recognizes the synchronous nature of reading, writing, and spelling, and has identified common characteristics of readers, writers, and spellers along the literacy continuum. This is currently used throughout K-5th grade at Merry Oaks during the WIN block.

● Intervention / Enrichment Block for Reading and Math: Merry Oaks K-4 provides a 45 minute Intervention/Enrichment Block for Math and Reading every day. All staff (teachers, facilitators, and assistants) work collaboratively to provide target small group and individual instruction to meet student learning needs. Staff uses Universal Screening tools, Unit Assessments, and formative assessments to divide

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their students to meet their individual needs. Staff monitors their students’ progress moving students as needed and when they change their academic focus. The WIN Block is supported and funded by the District.

● Subject Specialization: 3rd - 5^th grade classes: Students in 3rd grade through 5th grade receive specialized instruction in the content area subjects. Teachers were selected to teach reading and writing or math and science based upon prior assessment data. This strategy provides opportunities for teachers to specialize in a single subject and increase their content knowledge and pedagogy skills while meeting student learning needs.

● Inquiry Implementation: The teachers are working on creating rigorous plans to engage student learning and meet the science and social studies on each grade level. The delivery of instruction allows students to question and wonder, in order to give purpose for their learning.

Students have tasks, and real world problems that they are asked to solve using inquiry and research skills. Each inquiry lesson also has a reading component, to apply reading strategies to nonfiction text, which supports our school wide effort in increasing student reading proficiency.

● Instructional Support for Teachers: This year, Merry Oaks has five instructional coaches and interventionists to support high quality professional learning and support for all teachers in K-5.

Highly Qualified Staff: The faculty of Merry Oaks is dedicated to supporting the academic success of all students. Each member of the faculty and staff brings a wide variety of skills and experiences to the school setting, creating a warm and motivating environment for learning. We have an ADM allotment of 4 Pre-K teachers, 32 K-5 teachers, 2 EC teacher, 4.5 ESL teachers as well as an allotment for Physical Education/Health, Art, and Music totaling 48 certified teachers. We share our Speech-Language Pathologist and Psychologist with other CMS schools. Additionally, we have 8 Instructional Assistants, 2 secretaries, 4 part-time Title I funded Tutors, 1 parent advocate, and 1 BMT. Our instructional leadership team is comprised of a principal, an assistant principal, one Deans of Instruction, and five specialized coaches (literacy and math).

Merry Oaks has 100% highly qualified staff members. In the event that a staff member is not highly qualified, parents of the affected class are notified every four weeks of the status. The administration works with human resources to help teachers meet needed requirements to be highly qualified. Merry Oaks also has several staff members that are bilingual and offer support to the Spanish speaking community represented in the school population. The Student Services staff consists of a part-time school psychologist, social worker, two school counselors, and one

Communities in Schools Site Coordinator.

The North Carolina School Report Card is sent home with every student which outlines the highly qualified staff at Merry Oaks. In addition, it is presented at the annual Title I Meeting. During long term absences of Highly Qualified teachers, we work together as a professional learning community and with the human resources department to replace them with a highly qualified substitute. In the event that this is not possible a letter is sent home to all parents affected from the principal. Merry Oaks sends home the parents Right to Know letter in the fall and spring of every year.

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Teacher Recruitment and Placement

Recruitment Efforts and Strategies: The administration of Merry Oaks accepts teacher resumes throughout the school year should a vacancy occur. Merry Oaks administration works to receive references from effective teachers to recruit new team members.

Teacher Retention Activities: Merry Oaks administration uses several activities to gauge teacher morale and satisfaction with working conditions.

Throughout the year, teachers complete a school climate survey that provides information on key aspects of school operations, school leadership, student behavior, and teacher morale. The principal/assistant principal meets with teachers in January and May to complete mid-year and end of year conferences. During these individual conferences the teacher, principal and assistant principal meet to discuss job performance, student achievement and issues that arise throughout the school year. These conferences are very teacher specific and help to guide the administration team as they prepare for the upcoming school year as to the best placement for teachers and students. During these meetings the administrative team listens openly and encourages teachers to do the same. This process has been very effective in developing relationships with staff members and determining the long term goals and aspirations of teachers. It is also a great venue to discover morale issues and areas in which we can improve the culture of our school.

Beginning Teacher Support Program: Merry Oaks provides all first year, second and third year teachers with a certified mentor to support teachers in areas of instruction and licensure compliance. We also help orient experienced teachers who are new to Merry Oaks by including them in this program as optional participants. Mentors are responsible for helping acclimating new staff members to our school culture and expectations. This is a great tool that has been very successful in providing support to new teachers as well as distributing the leadership throughout the school building.

All mentors and mentees attend monthly support meetings. New Teacher Support Meetings are held monthly and topics include: active engagement strategies, classroom management, use of instructional technology, data driven instruction, the NC Teacher Evaluation Process, and school-based procedures.

High Quality and Professional Development: Merry Oaks uses the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model to ensure high quality instruction and professional development for our teachers. Our school has nine PLC’s (Pre-K - 5th, ESL, and EC) that meet on a regular basis to discuss curriculum standards, review student performance data, and plan interventions and enrichment for students based upon results. Each professional learning community (PLC) selects a lead teacher who also serves as a member of the SLT. The lead teacher serves as the voice of the team and they help to guide school improvement. Each PLC is provided 280 minutes of planning block per week. PLC sessions are attended by an assigned member of the administrative team and grade level instructional facilitators. In addition two Wednesdays every month is devoted to professional development during after school staff meeting.

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A focus for this year’s professional development is on developing strong professional learning communities to strengthen working relationships and establish collaborative communities focused on positive learning outcomes for students. Our second goal is to strengthen our instructional program by increasing our small group effectiveness and use of differentiated tasks through the use of data and rigorous activities. Our professional learning communities will improve learning and teaching by focusing on mastery teaching, data driven instruction, and providing corrective actions and enrichment to meet individual needs. Differentiated professional development will also occur with grade levels and varying options of professional development sessions. The SEF and PLC’s will help determine the Professional Development needs at Merry Oaks. In addition, we have formed an Instructional Leadership Team to help with the needs assessment of all staff for professional development. Merry Oaks PD plan will address many different areas that teachers determine they need help with and will utilize many different teachers as leaders in this format.

Our professional development focuses around these four areas:

1. Data Driven Instruction-How can teachers effectively assess, analyze, and act on student performance data to accelerate student proficiency and growth?

2. Professional Learning Communities-How can teachers work together collaboratively to support high levels of student proficiency and growth?

3. Best Practices for Literacy and Math Instruction-What are the best practices for teaching reading, writing, and math with struggling learners? How can we best differentiate for all needs?

4. Creating Rigorous and Strategic Small Groups and Differentiated Activities-How can we utilize our data to create rigorous and strategic small group plans and differentiated tasks and implement them into our instructional framework?

All of our teachers participate in the coaching and feedback model. Members of the Merry Oaks Instructional Team use the coaching and feedback lever designed by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo to support individual teacher growth. Merry Oaks teachers receive a weekly 15-30 minute observation and a 30 minutes feedback session designed to support accelerated instructional growth for each teacher. During the feedback sessions, teachers receive tangible action steps to address small instructional actions that result in high-yield growth for teachers and students.

Parental Involvement: The administration, staff and parents of Merry Oaks International Academy believe that the improved academic achievement of each student is a responsibility shared by the entire school community, including the school district, school, community members, school administration, staff, students, and parents. Various means are used to solicit parent requests, verbally or in writing, to address parent needs and concerns. The requests are placed with the appropriate personnel in order to review and respond in a timely manner. The parent advocate and the Parent Involvement Committee make recommendations for school improvement. We receive and process parent requests through monthly newsletters, ConnectEd, and family activities.

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● Agendas: Teachers use an agenda system to maintain written communication with parents. Teachers will check and sign scholar agendas on a daily basis.

● Progress/Report Cards: Teachers will prepare scholar progress reports and report cards at the designated time periods.

● The Wildcat Weekly: Each quarter, the parent advocate will publish this parent newsletter. This includes information from each grade level team.

● School Leadership Team: Meets once a month, facilitates the collection and analysis of data to monitor student achievement in order to ensure implementation based on research. The School Improvement Team will work collaboratively to monitor the data and assess our needs.

School Leadership Team: The Instructional Leadership Team/SLT, Family and Student Services Team, and the PTA are all in place to work together to make decisions for the school. Parents are invited to join the School Leadership Team and encouraged to join the PTO. The Instructional Leadership Team develops the academic goals and professional development and after sharing those plans with staff, consensus is met by the entire staff to put the final plan together.

School Community Partnerships: Merry Oaks actively recruits faith-based organizations, local businesses and local civilian groups to develop partnerships. We encourage organizations to visit the school and learn Merry Oaks’ vision and plan to increase student achievement. Partners are offered various opportunities to assist with academic, attendance and behavior programs. They serve as student mentors, reading buddies, sponsors, chaperones, classroom helpers and testing proctors throughout the school year. Donations of school uniforms, school supplies, book bags, and other needed items are provided.

● LAWA

● Communities in Schools

● Holy Trinity

● Caldwell Baptist

● Second Harvest Food Bank-Mobile Pantry and Backpack Program

● Assistance League of Charlotte-Operation School Bell & Mobile Pantry

● Latin American Coalition

● Chris Canty Foundation

● CMPD

● Project 658

● Thrivent Financial

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● GEP-Great Enrichment Program

● City Church

● Verizon Wireless

● Heart Math Tutoring-Google Fiber

● Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation

● MONA-Merry Oaks Neighborhood Association

● Our Bridge

School Grade Level Transitions

Entering Kindergarten Transition Strategies: In order for parents and students to experience a smooth transition into kindergarten, we provide a Beginner’s Night and Curriculum Night to introduce parents to the expectations of the kindergarten program. Students attend and complete

activities with the Kindergarten teachers. We conduct several Open House events at flexible times to give parents several opportunities to visit Winterfield. We also use a staggered entry process to provide opportunities to begin building relationships and assess incoming kindergarteners.

Teachers administer the Kindergarten Entry Assessment, (KEA) along with baseline results from Reading 3D and MAP Reading and Math to assist with early identification of students learning strengths and needs. The school psychologist receives a “Transition to Kindergarten” form for Pre-K students that are EC or experiencing difficulties. These students are given services immediately upon entrance to Kindergarten.

Middle School Transition Strategies: Most of our rising middle school students attend Eastway Middle School. Counselors and principals from feeder middle schools come to discuss student schedules, transitions and expectations for current 5^th graders. We arrange field trips for our 5^th Graders to visit middle schools to get an idea of how the middle school operates. In addition middle school transition IEP meetings are held for all rising EC 6^th graders. The School Counselor meets individually with each rising 6^th grader to ensure appropriate class placements and to discuss schedules.

Teacher Involvement in Assessment: Each grade level and Professional Learning Community has a grade level lead as well as a coach to support the grade level. PLC Coaches were trained in holding data-driven PLC meetings. Additionally, PLC grade level leads meet each quarter to discuss and implement one component of effective data-driven leadership (i.e.: SMART goals, action planning, etc.) Coaches, administrators, and teachers are involved in the process of tracking student growth towards defined goals. Parent data reports are created to update parents on students’ progress toward math and literacy goals. PLC time is used to analyze student math, literacy, and behavioral data for two fifty minute blocks and one 80 minute block during planning time.

All teachers have been trained to use Mastery Connect to analyze and monitor student mastery of the Common Core State Standards. Mastery Connect is used to assess the standards, monitor student performance, individualize

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instruction based on current assessments, and communicate this information to colleagues, administration, and parents. Additionally, Merry Oaks uses additional literacy assessments to monitor student progress and inform instruction and intervention support.

Coordination of Federal, State, and Local Programs: Merry Oaks coordinates all Federal, State and local services so that students have the best opportunity for success. The Title I resources received are used to provide Tutors to create additional opportunities for targeted intervention and small group instruction. Title I funds have been used to expand technology and instructional resources (Smart Boards in the majority of classes, LCD projectors, document cameras, iPad, a wealth of instructional software, Chrome Books) and to provide expanded training

opportunities for teachers, teacher assistants, and other staff members to ensure we have the skills necessary to address the needs of our total school community. Focused attention will be given to professional development that offers strategies for helping teachers succeed with Limited English Proficient students, students with different learning styles by improving students’ literacy skills and ability to acquire knowledge from text. All training opportunities will be based on researched-based research before being selected and approved by our PD committee, administration, or facilitators. Teachers and staff will receive credit for trainings through the CMS MyPD system for hours met and as implementation of the training activities are documented in lesson plans and/or observations.

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20 Strategic Plan 2018: For a Better Tomorrow

Goal 1: Maximize academic achievement in a personalized 21st-century learning environment for every child to

graduate college- and career-ready Four focus areas:

I. College- and career-readiness

II. Academic growth/high academic achievement III. Access to rigor

IV. Closing achievement gaps

Goal 2: Recruit, develop, retain and reward a premier workforce

Five focus areas:

I. Proactive recruitment

II. Individualized professional development III. Retention/quality appraisals

IV. Multiple career pathways V. Leadership development Goal 3: Cultivate partnerships with families, businesses,

faith-based groups and community organizations to provide a sustainable system of support and care for each child Three focus areas:

I. Family engagement

II. Communication and outreach III. Partnership development

Goal 4: Promote a system-wide culture of safety, high engagement, cultural competency and customer service Five focus areas:

I. Physical safety

II. Social and emotional health III. High engagement

IV. Cultural competency V. Customer service Goal 5: Optimize district performance and accountability by

strengthening data use, processes and systems Four focus areas:

I. Effective and efficient processes and systems II. Strategic use of district resources

III. Data integrity and use

IV. School performance improvement

Goal 6: Inspire and nurture learning, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship through technology and strategic school redesign

Four focus areas:

I. Learning everywhere, all the time II. Innovation and entrepreneurship III. Strategic school redesign

IV. Innovative new schools

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21 SMART Goal (1):

Duty Free Lunch for Teachers

Provide a duty-free lunch period for every teacher on a daily basis.

Strategic Plan Goal:

Goal 4: Promote a system-wide culture of safety, high engagement, customer service, and cultural competence.

Strategic Plan Focus Area:

Physical Safety, Customer Service

Data Used:

^N/A

Strategies

(determined by what data)

● Task

● Task (PD)

Point Person

(title)

Evidence of Success

(Student Impact)

Funding

(estimated cost / source)

Personnel Involved

Timeline

(Start—End)

● Interim Dates

Design and Implement a schedule for cafeteria supervision between the hours of 10:30-1:00pm.

Assistant Principal, Pam Bland-Bostick

Safe and orderly cafeteria;

smooth and timely transitions between classes; teachers will not be required to supervise children while eating their lunch

$0 Administrators,

BMT, Lunch Monitor

August 2017- June 2018 October 27 January 19 March 21 June 8 Hire Cafeteria Monitor to assist with

cafeteria supervision between the hours of 10:30-1:00pm.

Assistant Principal, Pam Bland-Bostick

Safe and orderly cafeteria;

smooth and timely transitions between classes; teachers will not be required to supervise children while eating their lunch

District

Funding Lunch Monitor August 2017- June 2018 October 27 January 19 March 21 June 8

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22 SMART Goal (2):

Duty Free Instructional Planning Time

Provide duty-free instructional planning time for every teacher under G.S. 115C-105.27 and - 301.1, with the goal of providing an average of at least five hours of planning time per week, to the maximum extent that the safety and proper supervision of students may allow during regular student contact hours.

Strategic Plan Goal:

Goal 1-Maximize academic achievement in a personalized 21st century learning environment for every child to graduate career and college ready.

Strategic Plan Focus Area:

Academic Growth/High Academic Achievement, Access to Rigor

Data Used:

Teacher Survey, Insight Survey

Strategies

● Task

● Task (PD)

Point Person

(title)

Evidence of Success

(Student Impact)

Funding

Personnel Involved

Timeline

(Start—End)

● Interim Dates

Design master schedule to provide 50 minutes for 4 days a week of instructional planning time to all K-5th grade and special area teachers. One day a week, each PLC will meet for a 80 minute planning block.

Work with team of teachers to devise innovative solutions to meet district time requirements and best practices.

Principal, Brittany Slagle

Scheduling Committee

Increase in assessment scores in reading, math, and science (MAP, Reading 3D, and EOG’s)

Master Schedule

$0 Grade Level

Teachers, Administration, and Instructional Team

August 2017- June 2018 October 27 January 19 March 21 June 8

Provide quarterly planning days to provide additional instructional planning time

Instructional Coaches

Increase in assessment scores in reading, math, and science (MAP, Reading 3D, and EOG’s)

Agendas from quarterly planning days

$3400 each quarter / Title I Funds

Grade Level Teachers, Administration, and Instructional Team

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23 SMART Goal (3):

Anti-Bullying / Character Education

Provide a positive school climate, under CMS regulation JICK-R, by promoting a safe learning environment free of bullying and harassing behaviors.

Strategic Plan Goal:

Goal 4: Promote a system-wide culture of safety, high engagement, customer service, and cultural competence.

Strategic Plan Focus Area:

Physical safety, social, and emotional health

Data Used:

Merry Oaks Suspension rates, 2016-2017 disciplinary referrals for bullying

Strategies

● Task

● Task (PD)

Point Person

(title)

Evidence of Success

(Student Impact)

Funding

Personnel

Involved Timeline

(Start—End)

● Interim Dates

Bully Liaison / Bully-prevention

● School-wide anti-bullying plan and training for all staff on appropriate responses to allegations of bullying.

● School-wide activities to support anti-bullying month (October)

● Conduct weekly classroom guidance lessons in October.

● Individual/small group counseling sessions as needed.

School

Counselors: Ms.

Johnson

Decrease in office referrals for bullying in PK-5

80% of Merry Oaks students will be Tier 1 (0-1 office disciplinary referrals) for discipline.

$0 All staff

(teachers, administrators, custodial staff, TA’s,

secretarial staff).

Character Education

Implement guidance lessons to support students in 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd grade classes as a preventative measure

Mo Meetings with a monthly focus on character development; student nomination forms; weekly news reminders

School

Counselors: Ms.

Johnson Dean of Instruction: Ms.

Collins

80% of Merry Oaks students will be Tier 1 (0-1 office disciplinary referrals) for discipline.

$0 All staff

(teachers, administrators, custodial staff, TA’s,

secretarial staff).

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

24

Healthy Active Child 30 min.

● Develop a master calendar that includes 30 minutes of recess per day for every class.

Scheduling Committee

100% of Merry Oaks students will participate in at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day;

physical activity will not be taken away as a consequence for behavior or academics.

$0 Grade Level

Teachers

August 2017- June 2018 October 27 January 19 March 21 June 8 School Health Team



Establish a health team that meets at least monthly



Organize regular healthy physical activities for staff and students

Physical Education Teacher: Marcy Closner

School Nurse

Students and staff will make healthier choices and participate in regular physical activity.

Agenda and meeting minutes from School Health Team

$0 School Nurse,

Grade Level Teachers

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

25 SMART Goal (4): Increase college and career proficiency for grades 3-5 on the NC Reading End of Grade Test

from 23.39% to 30% and meet or exceed growth as measured by EVAAS. Increase reading proficiency in K-2 from an average of 58% to 75% as measured by Reading 3D TRC (Total Reading Comprehension) Assessment

Strategic Plan Goal:

Goal 1: Maximize academic achievement in a personalized 21st century learning environment for every child to graduate college and career ready.

Strategic Plan Focus Area:

Academic Growth/ High Academic Achievement

Data Used:

End of Grade Reading Data, MAP Reading, Reading 3D, EVAAS data

Strategies

● Task

● Task (PD)

Point Person

(title)

Evidence of Success

(Student Impact)

Funding

Personnel Involved

Timeline

(Start—End)

● Interim Dates

Implement Readers and Writers Workshop in all K-5th Grade Literacy Classrooms

● Provide training and coaching support for implementing Balanced Literacy in all K-5th Grade literacy classes.

● Implement with fidelity the school wide literacy instruction framework

● Purchase instructional resources (books, guided reading room resources, etc.) to ensure proper implementation

Create rigorous instructional pacing and curriculum mapping that includes literacy teaching points, instructional strategies, common assessments, and interims.

● Student proficiency in reading increase to 30%

CCR as measured by the EOG’s and to 75% as measured by Reading 3D/TRC

● 60% of students will meet their individual RIT score according to MAP Reading in 3-5

● Teacher survey results of the effectiveness of PD and Coaching and Feedback model

● Completed instructional pacing and curriculum mapping in Mastery Connect.

● EVAAS growth data

Title I:

$20,000 for curriculum planning

$30,000 PD

$5000 Mastery Connect (Title I Funded) MClass for 4/5^th Grade-

$3000

$10,000 Literacy

Instructional Coaches, Teachers, Administrators

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

26

● Closing the achievement gaps

Purchases- Book Room and Libraries Departmentalize all 3rd-5th grade

classrooms to ensure students are taught literacy and math by effective teachers.

Dean of Instruction:

Kylene Collins

$0 Scheduling

Committee;

Instructional Leadership Team

Provide ongoing professional learning opportunities to support teacher and support staff with balanced literacy skills.

● In K-5, literacy teachers will participate in lab sites for professional development modeling opportunities.

● In K-5, literacy teachers will

participate in instructional coaching to provide specific feedback around literacy implementation.

● On and off site professional development

● PD focused around differentiation strategies

Hire and utilize support staff to ensure all K-5th grade literacy teachers have targeted support and coaching

$0 Instructional

Team;

Administrators, Teachers, Teacher Assistants, Title I Tutors

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

27

Use the Leveled Literacy Intervention

System to support students who perform 1- 2 years below benchmark as measured by Reading 3D (K-5)

● Review student reading level data from Reading 3D.

Develop a schedule for providing Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention that does not impact core instruction time during the WIN block or during independent work time.

Principal, Brittany Slagle Assistant Principal- Pam Bland-Bostick Dean of Instruction- Kylene Collins

●

Closing the achievement gaps

Allotments for TA’s,

Coaches, and Facilitators Title I Funded Tutor

Positions

Instructional Team;

Target student reading weaknesses identified in assessment data and provide interventions to increase proficiency.

● Administer the Reading 3D (K-5) assessment to establish student reading levels.

● Conduct in-depth analysis of student results to identify student weaknesses with special emphasis on struggling learners (weekly and quarterly)

● Develop instructional action plans to address whole-class, small group, and individual student weaknesses.

● Re-assess student progress with essential standards.

Use a combination of data sources (MAP reading, reading level, observational notes) to determine groups for remediation and enrichment during intervention, and the literacy framework.

Principal, Brittany Slagle Assistant Principal- Pam Bland-Bostick Dean of Instruction- Kylene Collins Instructional Coaches

Allotments for TA’s,

Coaches, and Facilitators Title I Funded Tutor

Positions

Instructional Team;

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

28

Target ELL students reading weaknesses

identified on the WAPT-ACCESS

assessment data and provide interventions and differentiated lessons to increase proficiency.

● Create a PLC for the ESL team

● Consistent ESL groups, 5 days a week with a strong, aligned extended guided reading plan that includes all four domains

● Collaborate with the district ESL support in effective SIOP strategies.

● Implement ELLevation InClass

● Provide all teachers with ongoing training around ELL differentiation to support increasing reading proficiency with ELL learners.

School wide focus on reading and writing in differentiated small groups plans.

Dean of Instruction- Kylene Collins

$0 Instructional

Team;

Target EC students reading weaknesses identified on the Reading 3D and EOG assessment data and provide interventions and differentiated lessons to increase proficiency.

● Create a PLC for the EC team

● Consistent EC groups, 5 days a week with a strong, aligned extended guided reading plan that includes all four domains

● Collaborate with the district EC support in effective EC strategies.

● Implement Inclusion as needed

● Provide all teachers with ongoing training around EC differentiation

Assistant Principal- Pamela Bland- Bostick

$0 Instructional

Team;

(29)

2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

29

to support increasing reading

proficiency with EC learners.

School wide focus on reading and writing in differentiated small groups plans.

(30)

2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

30 SMART Goal (5):

Increase college and career proficiency for grades 3-5 on the NC Math End of Grade Test from 55.93% to

60% and meet or exceed growth as measured by EVAAS.

Strategic Plan Goal:

Strategic Plan Focus Area:

Academic Growth/ High Academic Achievement

Data Used:

End of Grade Math Data, MAP Math, and Merry Oaks Math Interim Assessments, EVAAS growth data

Strategies

● Task

● Task (PD)

Point Person

(title)

Evidence of Success

(Student Impact)

Funding

Personnel Involved

Timeline

(Start—End)

● Interim Dates

Implement Math Workshop in all K-5th Grade Classrooms

● Provide training and coaching support for implementing math workshop in all K-5th Grade math classes.

● Implement with fidelity the school wide math instruction framework

● Purchase instructional resources (manipulatives, books,

curriculum kids, etc.) to ensure proper implementation

Create rigorous instructional pacing and curriculum mapping that includes literacy teaching points, instructional strategies, common assessments, and interims.

● Student proficiency in math increase to 65% as measured by the EOG’s

● 60% of students will meet their individual RIT score according to MAP Math in 3-5

Title I:

$20,000 for curriculum planning

$10,000 PD

$5000 Mastery Connect (Title I Funded)

Instructional Coaches, Teachers, Administrators

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

31

Departmentalize all 3rd-5th grade

classrooms to ensure students are taught math by effective teachers.

Dean of

Instruction: Kylene Collins

● Master Schedule

$0 Scheduling

Committee;

Provide ongoing professional learning opportunities to support teacher and support staff with implementing math differentiated teaching skills.

● In K-5, math teachers will participate in lab sites for professional development modeling opportunities.

● In K-5, math teachers will participate in instructional coaching to provide specific feedback around literacy implementation.

● Hire and utilize support staff to ensure all 3-5th grade math teachers have targeted support and coaching

● Host weekly PLC meetings for math

$0 Instructional

Team;

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

32

Target student math weaknesses

identified in assessment data and provide interventions to increase proficiency.

● Administer MO interim assessments and weekly common assessments to determine student strengths and weaknesses in math.

● Conduct in-depth analysis of student results to identify student weaknesses with special

emphasis on struggling learners.

● Develop instructional action plans to address whole class, small group, and individual student weaknesses during math workshop.

● Use a variety of math

intervention programs to address student weaknesses identified by data (do the math, frontrow, dreambox, etc.)

● 60% of students will meet their individual RIT score according to MAP Math

$0 Instructional

Team;

Implement personalized learning in 3rd- 5th grade math classrooms

● Use tools to implement a blended math approach to instruction (performance tasks, small groups, technology, etc.)

● Create a math framework for instructional time (75-90 minutes)

Math Coaches- Kodzai and Cozzarin

● Personalized Learning Implementation Plan

$0 Instructional

Team;

(33)

2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

33 SMART Goal (6): Science

Proficiency

Increase college and career proficiency for 5th grade science on the NC Science End of Grade Test from 53.26% to 60% and meet or exceed growth as measured by EVAAS.

Strategic Plan Goal:

Strategic Plan Focus Area:

Academic Growth/ High Academic Achievement, EVAAS growth data

Data Used:

End of Grade Science Data, Merry Oaks Science Interim Assessments

Strategies

● Task

● Task (PD)

Point Person

(title)

Evidence of Success

(Student Impact)

Funding

Personnel Involved

Timeline

(Start—End)

● Interim Dates

Target student science weaknesses identified in assessment data and provide interventions to increase proficiency.

● Administer MO interim assessments and weekly common assessments to determine student strengths and weaknesses in science (5th grade)

● Implement a science inquiry model to increase questioning, literacy, and hands-on science opportunities (K-5)

● Conduct in-depth analysis of student results to identify student weaknesses with special

emphasis on struggling learners.

● Develop instructional action plans to address whole class,

Dean of

Instruction-Kylene Collins

Instructional Leadership Team- Cozzarin and Kodzai

$0 Instructional

Team;

Administrators, Teachers, Title I Tutors

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

34

small group, and individual

student weaknesses during math workshop.

Provide ongoing professional learning opportunities to support teacher and support staff with implementing science differentiated teaching skills through the use of the inquiry model.

● In K-5, science teachers will participate in weekly PLC’s and professional development sessions.

● In K-5, science teachers will participate in instructional coaching to provide specific feedback around the science framework implementation and content knowledge.

● Hire and utilize support staff to ensure all 5th grade science teachers have targeted support and coaching

Dean of

Instruction-Kylene Collins

Instructional Leadership Team- Cozzarin and Kodzai

● Professional Development Plan

$0 Instructional

Team;

Administrators, Teachers, Title I Tutors

(35)

2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

35 Mastery Grading Procedures Plan – Required for All Schools

Strategic Plan Goal: Goal 1: Maximize academic achievement in a personalized 21st-century learning environment for every child to graduate college- and career-ready.

Strategic Plan Focus Area: Academic growth/high academic achievement

Data Used: N/A

Strategies

● Task

● Task (PD)

Point Person

(title)

Evidence of Success

(Student Impact)

Funding

Personnel Involved

Timeline

(Start—End)

● Interim Dates

1. Common assessments

● All weekly and interim

assessments created in Mastery Connect aligned to standards and objectives.

● Conduct Mastery Connect training

● Collaborate with teachers to design high quality, aligned assessments

Instructional

Leadership Team At the end of the 2017-2018, Merry Oaks students will be 60%

GLP and 50% CCR overall as measured by the EOG’s in reading, math, and science.

At the end of the 2017-2018, Merry Oaks will meet or exceed growth as measured by EVAAS in reading, math and science.

Closing the achievement gaps Mastery Connect and Common Assessments

Title I-$5000 (Mastery Connect)

All Teachers August 2017- June 2018 October 27 January 19 March 21 June 8

2. Data disaggregation



PLCs will review data regularly to monitor student growth and achievement



The Data Driven Instruction framework will be used to analyze common assessment

Principal At the end of the 2017-2018, Merry Oaks students will be 60%

At the end of the 2017-2018, Merry Oaks will meet or exceed growth as measured by EVAAS in

$0 Instructional

Leadership Team All Teachers

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2017-2018 Merry Oaks International Academy School Improvement Plan Report

36

data and to action plan for

reteaching, remediation and enrichment that will meet the needs of all students.



Mastery Connect will be used by all staff to review and analyze the progress of individual students, classes, grade levels and subgroups toward mastery of the standards.

reading, math and science.

3. Flexible grouping



Staff will consistently analyze data to group and regroup students based on the needs of individual students and

subgroups of students



WIN block, workshop time and pull out groups will be used to provide differentiated instruction that meets the needs of all students

Principal Instructional Leadership Team

At the end of the 2017-2018, Merry Oaks students will be 60%

$0 Instructional

Leadership Team All Teachers

4. Additional Learning Opportunities

 Use REACH Team teachers and Title I tutors teachers to provide additional instruction to individual students and subgroups who are in need of reteaching or

remediation

 Teacher Assistants provide LLI instruction to small groups of students who are in need of remediation or reteaching based on TRC data.

 Use of Extended Day Tutors to

At the end of the 2017-2018, Merry Oaks students will be 60%

Extended Day Funds

Title I Funds

Instructional Team

REACH Team Teachers Title I Tutors Teacher Assistants Administration