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ALEXANDRA JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLFaculty Council Meeting

February 9th, 2009Agenda – Room 107

Mr. L. Cooper, Miss L. Davidchuk, Mr. J. Peters, Mrs. R. Thomas,Mr. J. Rempel, Mrs. S. Ennis, Ms. S. Werner, and Mr. T. Whyte

1. Safe & Caring Committee: (Mr. Jason Peters) Common Planning Dates 2008-2009

No report but a committee planning session will be held tomorrow.

2. Registrations for Next Year: (Mr. Jason Peters) March 3rd 7:00 p.m. Orientation Evening at Alexandra all teaching staff are required

to attend this critical function.

3. School Calendar Updates: 2009-2010 (Miss Linda Davidchuk) Proposed 2010-2011 (Mr. Lorne Cooper)

4. CHHS Attendance Policy: (Miss Linda Davidchuk and Mr. Jason Peters)The School Act of the Province of Alberta and Medicine Hat School District #76 Attendance Policy: A student shall conduct himself or herself so as to reasonably comply with the following:

• Be diligent in pursing the student’s studies.• Attend school regularly.• Co-operate fully with everyone authorized by the board to provide education programs and

other services.• Comply with the rules of the school.• Account to the student’s teachers for the student’s conduct.• Respect the rights of others.

Medicine Hat School District Attendance Policy• The school principal shall ensure that procedures are in place to monitor student attendance and

to address matters of repeated tardiness, excessive absence, or truancy.• Parents or guardians shall be notified by the school staff should student attendance concerns

become apparent.Attendance is one of the most important factors determining success at school. Students must be on time and attend each and every class. Students who miss more than 30 minutes or 50% of a class, whichever occurs first, will be marked absent. Students arriving after that time should seek to amend this situation with the classroom teacher by making up this time at a time arranged with the teacher. A student is always responsible for classroom work missed during their absence.The administration and teaching staff of Crescent Heights High School firmly believe a strong correlation exists between consistent student attendance and a successful learning experience. This attendance policy exists to promote a beneficial educational experience for all students.Junior High Attendance Policy ProceduresA. Attendance Tracking Policy:

When a teacher is concerned about a students attendance (excused or not) they will initiate the Attendance/ Intervention Tracking form. This policy has five stages of intervention.

• Stage 1 – Initial Tracking – 5 absenceso Parents/guardians are contacted.

• Stage 2 – Counsellor Intervention – 10 absences

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o Counsellor meets with the student.o A letter sent to the Parents/guardians.o Parents/guardians are contacted.

• Stage 3 – Administration Intervention – 15 absenceso The administrator meets with the student.o Parents/guardians are contacted and a meeting may be arranged.

• Stage 4 – Contract Intervention – 20 absenceso The administrator meets with the student.o Parents/guardians are contacted and a meeting is arranged.o A letter is sent to the parents/guardians.o A student contract is issued and signed.

• Stage 5 – Attendance Board Intervention – 25 absenceso The administrator initiates procedures to take the student issue to the Attendance Board.

B. Truancy Attendance Policy:A student will be considered truant from a class when he/she is absent from a class without the knowledge or consent of the parent or guardian and the school officials. The student must report to the office for each truancy. Contact with the parent or guardian will be made for each truancy. A truancy will be determined by incident. Missing 1 class or 3 classes in the same day would be considered ONE incident.

1. When a student is truant once (for the first time) from a class or classes, the teacher will confirm the truancy with the parent. The parent will be informed of the CHHS truancy policy and arrangements for the student to serve a Wednesday School will be made.• Multiple Truancies during the same day will be considered ONE truant incident.• If the student does NOT show for his Wednesday School the administration will deal with thedefiance.2. When a student is truant for a second time (2nd incident) from a class or classes, the teacher will confirm the truancy and contact the counsellor. The counselor will :_ meet with the student to discuss the truancy_ contact home to discuss the school policy, the issue and the consequences._ assign a Wednesday School detention.3. When a student is truant for a third time (3rd incident) from a class or classes, the teacher will confirm the truancy and contact the administrator.The administrator will:_ meet with the student to discuss the truancy._ assigns consequences (Wednesday School plus….suspensions or….)._ contact home to discuss the issue and the consequences.4. Further truancies will be submitted to the administrator by the teacher.

• Parents and staff will be involved to address the attendance issue(s).• Appropriate consequences will be administered.

5. District PD Day, March 9: (Mr. Jason Peters and Mrs. Richelle Thomas)

6. Feedback: February Dance (Miss Linda Davidchuk)

Student Council Chocolate Fund Raiser (Miss Linda Davidchuk)

Accountability Survey (Miss Linda Davidchuk)

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences (Miss Linda Davidchuk and Mr. Jason Peters)


7. Other:

Note: Save a tree and only print up and including this page as you already have a hard copy of the school plan which follows.


ALEXANDRA MIDDLE SCHOOLSchool Education Plan

2007-2010

Statement of Responsibility

The staff of Alexandra Middle School accepts responsibility for providing an appropriate education for our students within the laws, regulations, policies and guidelines of Alberta Education and Medicine Hat School District No. 76. Working with Alberta Education, the School District, and the school community, the staff accepts this responsibility by developing and implementing the School Education Plan.

The School Education Plan will support, complement and supplement the District's Education Plan. Through this plan the staff gives a commitment to achieving the goals of Medicine Hat School District No. 76.

Alexandra Middle School is a student-centred middle school.

__ ___ ______ Jan and Larry Hoffman Lorne A. Cooper(School Council Co-Chairs)


Foundation Statements

Vision

Alexandra Middle School is a place where students, staff, parents, and the community are committed to:

A safe, caring and stimulating environment where high standards of achievement are encouraged.

Meeting the academic, physical and emotional needs of students. A strong discipline policy, which demonstrates accountability for actions. Providing a program of academics and complementary courses that meet the

challenges of a rapidly changing future. Enhancing the development of responsible citizens. Providing individual wellness.

Mission

“We at Alexandra are partners in lifelong learning, dedicated to challenging and empowering individuals to pursue the future, by experiencing and celebrating success.”

Principles And/Or Beliefs

As a school, which is part of Medicine Hat School District No. 76, we support the principles and beliefs as outlined in the District's Education Plan. These stated beliefs include the following: Excellence, Respect, Caring & Compassion, Learning, Integrity and Innovations.

School Wildly Important Goal

Improving Learning, Living and Relationships

Contextual Information

School Profile:

Principal Mr. Lorne Cooper

Vice Principals First Miss Linda Davidchuk Second Mr. Jason Peters

School Council Co-Chairs Jan and Larry Hoffman

School Size

Sept 2005 Oct 2006 Sept 2007 Sept 2008 Sept 2009456 students 429 students 495 students 493 students25.2 FTE teachers 26 teachers

(25.5 FTE)30 teachers(25.67 FTE)

29 teachers(27.83 FTE)

3 FTE TA’s 3 TA’s 5 FTE TA’s 2 TA’s


(2.4 FTE) (4.4 FTE) (1.83 FTE)

School Address 477 Sixth Street SEMedicine Hat, AlbertaCanada T1A 1H4

Profile of student population Socio-economic background: all groups are represented Transportation: District contracted school bus transportation system Feeder population Connaught School Crestwood School

Elm Street School George Davison SchoolHerald School River Heights SchoolRoss Glen School Southview Community School

Age range of students: 11 to 15 years old Grade range: 7 and 8

Enhancement Programs We offer a regular academic school program with a wide array of complementary courses

including: Art, Band, CTS: Construction Technology, CTS: Foods, CTS: Information Processing, CTS: Visual Communications, Drama, French, Recreational Education and Spanish.

In addition to the aforementioned programs, Alexandra offers two Sports Academies whose aim is to provide students with attitudes, knowledge, and skills that are mandatory for the improvement of learning and the enhancement of performance. All students will have success through believing in themselves and striving for their own personal excellence. This program creates a positive skills environment that links sport with education by focusing attention on the "physical, social, cultural and emotional potential through sports endeavours".

Intra/Extramural programs are an integral part of our school’s program. Two programs that the students voluntarily participate in are “Open Gym” in the morning prior to the start of the school day and the Intramural program that is operated during the lunch periods Monday through Thursday.

To promote good behaviour and a positive school climate, our school provides a number of co-curricular programs and activities. Some of these include: School Athletic Teams Student Council Meet and Greet Club Chess Club Yearbook Band Fine Arts Programs FREE Club French Club Spanish Club Media Club Performer’s Club


Go Girls’ Club Work-Out Club Homework Club Awards Assemblies Science Fair Club Annual Spring Showcase of Student Work and Accomplishments MyPlace Mental Health Project School Website (www.alexandraschool.ca).

Programs That May Be Unique to the School

In addition to the regular instructional program, we currently offer four District Learning Assistance Program (LAP) classes. Two classes, each with a class size of 15 students, are part of the LAP for the moderate learning disabled (code 54 students). The other two classes, also capped whenever possible at 15 students, are designed for students that have a mild cognitive disability (code 51 students). In addition to this support, 24 code 40’s and/or code 50’s students on an individualized program plan (IPP) are placed within the regular classroom setting. Following established patterns we will identify or their previous school has identified another ten to twenty students that will be placed on waiting lists for testing for potential code support. Once testing has confirmed that a child meets the requirements of the code an IPP is put in place documenting the supports appropriate for the child’s learning situation. The students that receive code 40’s supports at Alexandra may be placed in the regular class setting but should have significant unique modifications to their educational programs such as an assigned educational assistant.

We also have a varying number of students that qualify for English as a Second Language support. This current school year have 7 students who meet one period a day every other day with our ESL teacher who also is our Second Languages teacher.

Following one of the tenants of middle school philosophy we have achieved block timetabling which means every Math/Science class and every Humanities (Language/Social) class experiences the consistency of having only one teacher for these two core pairings. Having the core subjects taught to the student by a reduced number of individual teachers allows for the atmosphere (rules, routine and expectations) to be more closely in line with that which is commonly found in the elementary school setting. Having to face a lower number of individual teachers creates a greater consistency of expectations from the student’s point of view. That is, Mathematics and Science are taught to the class by the same teacher and likewise, Language Arts and Social Studies are taught by the same teacher under the umbrella of the Humanities. Similarly, and as a response to addressing mandated thirty minute daily physical activity, we also incorporated the blocking of Physical Education, Recreational Education and Health instruction into our timetable. Note, this latest blocking of PE, HE and RE has been very successful and we anticipate continuing this practice. The block schedules allow flexibility for the teacher in deciding on the best allotment of time and the integration of common curricula within major/shared projects. Students are taught the regular Alberta Learning curriculum but the


http://www.alexandraschool.ca/

grouping of the core subjects into blocks of time provides the additional time necessary for project based learning. In the past we were only able to accomplish this through one transition class for Grade Seven students. Since the whole school now follows a transition model the need for a separate class no longer exists.

Parental/Community/Business Involvement/Partnerships

Alexandra School has an active School Council where parents provide advice on policy development, as well as feedback on school rules and procedures. The School Educational Plan is shared with the School Council at one of their regular open meetings for their information and suggested input on the strategies for achieving the goals and performance measures. After the acceptance of the plan at an open meeting of the School Council the chair of the School Council signs off on the plan. A copy of the plan is posted on the school’s website.

Alexandra School also cooperates with the City of Medicine Hat. We have a school community worker, based out of Medicine Hat High School, who provides liaison services with other local community agencies. In addition, we cooperate and participate with the Medicine Hat Police Service. We have a designated School Resource Officer who is on campus on a regular basis and works out of an office in our school. However, during this current school year the Medicine Hat Police Services have recruited an number of new staff so it is projected that our officer will not be in place until January or as late as April 2009.

Our business partner was Monarch Cable Systems. In the past they helped provide the support and expertise for the set up of our Visual Communication (C.T.S.) course. Their influence can still be felt within our program. They provided technical support for our installation of an extensive video system that was completed during the 2002 – 2003 school year and now runs throughout our building. In 2004 Monarch Cable Systems was purchased by Shaw Cable Systems. Up until summer of 2005, Shaw Cable Systems continued to provide free cable television broadcast to our video network that includes over forty classroom, office and high traffic area televisions. We now pay the same fee as other schools for this service (about $10/month, which is quite a reduced cost when compared to fees usually charge for additional connections in home settings).

We also cooperate with the School District and the Palliser Health Authority. One Alberta Mental Health worker has been assigned to Alexandra Middle School to work with staff and students.

The most recent and significant addition to school partnerships has been the addition of the MyPlace Project to Alexandra. MyPlace is a partnership between the Medicine Hat School District #76 and the Alberta Mental Health Board. MyPlace is a school based mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention program for middle year’s students in the both Alexandra and Crescent Heights High School. Its target audience are 20 identified students but includes activities that benefits the whole school population. Human resources of the project include; project facilitator, mental health counsellor, AADA consultant and a success coach. This organization also engages where appropriate and possible other outside agencies and resources such as


McMan Youth, Family and Community Service Association, Children and Family Services, and Medicine Hat and Area Food Bank.

Three other community organizations that have proven to be a valuable resource to us are the Resiliency Committee, the Bullying Awareness and Prevention Program through the John Howard Society and Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association.

Alexandra Middle School meets with representatives of the following community agencies and organizations on an as needed basis: Palliser Health Authority, McMan Services, Alberta Mental Health, Children and Family Services, First Nations, City of Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat Police Service and Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education. These School-Community Partnerships continue to hold great promise in helping to meet the needs of our secondary students.

Instructional Practices That May Be Unique to the School AISI Project – It should also be noted that Alexandra Middle School continues its

participation in our District’s AISI Project (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement). We are in the third phase of the AISI projects. In the past, four teachers, one administrator (part time), and one educational assistant participated in this project. Each year or two the participants would change so as to maximize the number of people benefiting and committing to the project. The original project focused on “Differentiated Instruction.” In the second phase year “Learning Communities” were incorporated into the culture of our school as a means of facilitating school improvement. The third round of AISI focuses on “Critical Thinking and Assessment”. We used these initiatives to build on the gains that we have already made and expanded it into our classroom environments through the enhancement of one or more of the tenants of Middle School philosophy. The fourth phase is currently being planned and will focus on improving instruction.

Middle School Philosophy – Block Time Table. We know from middle school research and experience that there are benefits to having teachers teach more than one subject to the same group of students. Therefore, at Alexandra Middle School, you will generally find that students will have the Language Arts and Social Studies (the Humanities) taught by the same teacher. Likewise, the same teacher generally teaches Math, Science and Health. This arrangement allows for a thematic approach to the subjects and greater flexibility for teachers in implementing program delivery.

Middle School Philosophy – Transition Class: Grade 7 is a transitional year for all students (elementary into junior high) and likewise, grade 8 transitions into grade 9 at the high school. However, we are aware that some individuals are less prepared to cope with the larger reality than others, so block time table also serves to ease the transition between elementary school and high school.

Sports Elective – During the 2003-2004 school year our students were able to participate in two components of the Sports Performance Elective: the Baseball Academy and the Hockey Academy. Alexandra Middle School, in partnership with Medicine Hat High School, City of Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Association, Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada presented the Hockey Academy, as part of the Sports Performance Option. The Baseball Academy was also a partnership between Alexandra, Medicine Hat High School and the City of Medicine Hat. At Alexandra these electives became popular and increased in size thus, Alexandra and


Medicine Hat High, made the transition to separate programs. Although the high school program subsequently folded. Our program, supported by high student interest and maintaining our partnerships, continued to grow. Registrations for both 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years have matched our projections of two classes for each academy. We likely have reached our optimum enrollment for these Academies but we have considered adding Dance, Soccer and Golf academies and we will continue to explore these options.

Locally Developed Courses – Many years ago it was deemed important to encourage students to explore the recreational activities that our community has to offer. Hence, Alexandra developed a course called Recreational Education (RE or Rec. Ed.). This popular course helps students develop skills for lifelong community-based recreational activities. Depending on the season and the availability of community facilities, students may participate in activities such as bowling, golfing, curling, weight training, tennis, martial arts, biking, skating, soccer, billiards and cross-country skiing. This is a participation-based course and therefore if students get actively involved in the activities, they have a very successful and enjoyable experience. This course became our most popular complementary course. First conceived and developed at Alexandra, Rec. Ed. can now be found in other middle schools and junior high schools in our local area. However, as previously mentioned, with the advent of mandatory 30 minutes a day of physical activity we integrated the provincial Physical Education and Health courses with our Recreational Education course and now offer PE/H/RE one period a day every day to every student. Periods are 54 minutes Monday through Thursday and 38 minutes on Friday.

Programs in Place to Address Problem Areas – Students who exhibit severe behaviour problems are provided with alternate education programming in an alternate setting. Students are usually placed in one of the District’s alternate programs, which include: YMCA Stay-in-School, McMan REAL Outreach Program, Saamis REAL Outreach Program, PAS, Young Mom’s School and home schooling. In some instances enrollment in the alternate programs is by choice. Here the students and their parents/guardians have found that, for whatever reason, the regular classroom setting did not work for them as well as they would have liked and perform better in the alternative environments.

Special Use of Technology – Technology is viewed as a valuable educational tool at Alexandra.Hardware: Our school has three (33 workstations in each) and two thirds (19 workstations) computer labs as well as at least four computer workstations per classroom (SmartBoard classrooms have 5). We were one of the school district’s first nComputing sites. nComputing allows for one computer to host four work stations. All classrooms have a ceiling mounted TV/VCR system tied into one of the classroom computers and also linked to the school video system (including local cable TV). Student Council has undertaken the installation of 5 SmartBoards as one of their legacy projects. At the same time the school installed 1 SmartBoard in one of the computer labs. This year 2 additional classrooms and another computer lab that is also equipped with video conferencing equipment received SmartBoards as part of Alberta Educations funding support for technology in the classroom. Our technology plan is to install as a minimum 3 SmartBoards per year over the remaining 2 years of


the Alberta Education technology grant bringing the install base up to 15 SmartBoards. We will then be left with the challenge of devising an achievable plan for the remaining 18 classrooms at Alexandra. Each teaching space is equipped with a phone. Our school district makes use of VOIP technology and every staff member has a voicemail box, whose extension is publish on our school website and also available to the public when they phone the school through a staff directory. Voicemail allows for increased efficiencies in communication between home and school.Software: Our school is fully networked with 4 or more hardwire drops in each teaching space. In addition, the building is fully covered by wireless technology. All school based computers and even the staff and students who own laptops can access our Internet. Students make good use this technology as a research tool. We also have installed a number of District and Province supported software programs like MicroSoft Office. These resources are our primary productivity tools. Our district has recently signed on to a web hosting/development service and as a result our school has begun the slow process of migrating our web page information from the old to the new. Part of this new service is the ability for subscribers to sign on to receive school based communications such as newsletters and notices. With a student base of 491 students we currently have 633 subscriptions. Another vital area that software plays a prominent role is management of information. Our school and district operates the school administration program called SIRS (School Information Retrieval System). This system is internet based through a secure server which allows for significantly increased ease of access to the data base. Linked to this system is a program called Synrevoice which is an automated phoning system that reports student absents (and can be used as either a notification system or an emergency call out system). Also as part of the SIRS program the district has acquired the license for HomeLogic which allows students and parents to access the student’s school based information such as attendance, marks (if their teachers make use of TeacherLogic to calculate marks – currently only 2 PE/RE and 2 Humanities teachers out of a staff of 29 do not use TeacherLogic to calculate core curriculum marks), transcripts, high school credits and school fees through the internet. This increases communication between school and the home and allows families and students to more easily monitor and therefore plan their own progress. Our current school population is 491 students, 337 (69%) students and their families have applied for and received access to the HomeLogic service.

Trends And Issues Decreasing student population trend continued in Medicine Hat for many years as the

average family sizes became smaller and Medicine Hat was not the number one choice for immigrating families. The 2006-2007 school year was to have been one of the lowest student population in decades (previous low count 1983-1984 369 students, Mr. W. Schieman, principal, Dr. G. Giduk and Mr. W. Rae, vice-principals). We were projected to have 369 students for the 2006-2007 school year but staffed for 399 students just in case as the larger student enrolment allows us to maintain a diverse teaching staff but given the population drop we had adjusted our timetable to fit our new reality and staffed accordingly. The teaching and educational assistants


ranks were reduced. The District dropped the administrative team at Alexandra by one vice-principal. When the September 2006 count came in at 420 two additional 0.5 teachers and a 0.3 Teacher Assistant were quickly added to the staff. Our District had projected the 2007 September enrollment to be low (467) with a slight drop the following year and then a continuous slow rise in subsequent years. A conservative estimate of student population for staffing purposes was agreed upon and the school was staffed accordingly. September saw 497 students enroll at Alexandra and teaching staffing was once again adjusted upward with the position of 2nd Vice-Principal being re-instated. September 30th count for 2008 was 493 students. We were staffed for 480 students which was above the projected district count of 462 and closer to our projected count of 494. This larger school population also resulted in additional staffing and helped justify the re-instatement of the position of 2nd Vice-Principal.Many retired couples have made Medicine Hat their home and longitudinal population studies anticipated the 2006-2007 and 2008-2009 drop in the cities overall middle level age student population. Yet as these statistics demonstrate Alexandra continues to draw a larger than anticipated population. Seniors require support services and current studies and our current trend provides some evidence that the decrease in student population as a whole has begun to reverse itself. Longitudinal studies indicate a slow increase in the middle level learner population over the next few years to the point where our facility will once again be taxed. When we see an increase in young families and the concomitant increase in student population, Alexandra’s resources will become stressed. It is also note-worthy that utilizing Alberta Education’s class size target of 25.0 and the nineteen available classrooms, the maximum total population for Alexandra would be 475 students, yet the school utilization formula has set the school capacity at 668 students. (Note eleven dedicated teaching spaces exist as well as the 19 aforementioned classes so with appropriate timetabling additional students beyond 475 can be accommodated.) In anticipation, the District has identified the building of a new middle school along with a new high school and two elementary schools as a priority.

Another continuing trend across the District that should also be noted is the general rise in the number of students requiring additional educational support. These are often referred to as the “coded” students. Alexandra Middle School, like all other schools, is experiencing a growth in the number of students in this area with 65 identified code 40’s and code 50’s students anticipated in the 2008-2009 school year (one out of every 7 students). During the course of a normal school year students within the regular program are also identified and added to this count as well as student move into the city and enroll at Alexandra that meet the requirements for coding and hence receive specialized support. This phenomenon is more pronounced at Alexandra since eight different schools feed into our school. While coded students, that is, students with unique learning needs, exist at all socio-economic levels in all areas of the city, their population density is greatest in the lower socio-economic areas. Every feeder school in the city that has been identified as having a significant population of coded students as well as residing in areas that serve lower socio-economic group feeds into Alexandra. Put another way, Alexandra feeder area include all the cities lowest social-economic areas but we also have some of the most


well off socio-economic areas as well. Regardless, eight feeder schools represents a lot of Medicine Hat neighbourhoods. The result is an increase in the pressures on our programs and resources to provide support to the students. Most coded students receive support in LAP (Learning Assistance Program) classes while a few (3 to 5 students) receive more limited support within each of the sixteen regular classrooms. Just prior to 2000 we had one LAP class. In 2001 we added one more LAP class to our existing class structure. In the 2003-2004 school year we added a third LAP class to provide services for code 51 and 53 students. Today we operate four LAP classrooms and yet we find ourselves in a position where we could have added an additional LAP class but did not have staffing resources or physical space to do so. In order to provide for student individualized programs, LAP classes at Alexandra have a ceiling of 15 students and, where possible, an instructional assistant is also scheduled to support the class. Adding LAP classes, while mathematically possible, comes at a price as it increases the size of the regular classes to beyond the Alberta Education guidelines and taxes the allocation of human resources and classroom space.

Second Languages are a challenge not only regarding staffing but also to generate local public interest. Two decades ago we offered both French and German as a second language and were able to fill at least one class at each grade level in German and employed as many as five different teachers instructing French as a second language. However, once the decision was made to make second languages an elective choice at the secondary level the numbers began to decline. German was the first to drop below the level that it could be supported but French rapidly followed. In the Medicine Hat public system had French a required course in all elementary schools grades 4 to 6 but when families, upon entering secondary schools, were free to choose French requests dropped radically. It is also interesting to note that with each of the “separatist” votes in Quebec the numbers requesting French halved. In addition, our District offered a French Immersion K to 12 program and a French school District set up a school within Medicine Hat. These programs take about 40 to 60 students out of the middle level populations in the city hence reducing demand for French as a second language in our schools. Since 2003 we were at point where only 5 to 7 students out of our total student population of about 500 selected French as an elective choice. These numbers were too low to offer a class. Up to June of 2006 a few of our students were able to take French from Alberta Distant Education but this was not the case during the 2006-2007 school year as Alberta Education finally noticed that the course material for French did not follow the Program of Studies and was pulled leaving us with no options for the next two year for those students wishing a second language. We recognized that we would have to create the demand for a second language program so this year we offered an unique solution; one semester of French followed by one semester of Spanish, the study of two languages and their cultures in one year. This choice proved to be popular enough to have one class at each grade level. We anticipate offering this choice again next year and we may also look to other pairings such as: Japanese and Mandarin, Korean and Cantonese, German and Russian, and Blackfoot and Cree.

The public has increasingly been concerned about the fees associated with schooling and fund raising is no exception. Fund raising activities in the elementary school are


often the purview of the School Council. At Alexandra, the Student Council takes the active role in this area as a means of exposing the students to new skills. Two major fund raisers are conducted; one in the fall and one in the spring. In addition to this the Student Council operates a canteen at our School’s Track and Field day that brings in over $1000. These fund raisers not only provide Student Council with valuable experience but also revenue that helps to fund all the school teams, clubs, extra-curricular activities and legacy projects. Legacy projects are significant contributions by students for the benefit of all. Past examples have included: the outdoor amphitheatre, the outdoor court, outdoor furniture, ceiling mounted tv/vcr units tied into a school-wide video broadcast system, sound system equipment, water fountains, the outdoor message sign, picnic tables, re-sodding and re-treeing the front area of the school and the former location of portable classrooms, SmartBoards, and our latest project, a sculpted brick mural by Jim Marshall.

The final trend of note is the recognition of the need for schools to define themselves in unique ways to attract and/or retain students. Our ability to attract students at or above the projected numbers speaks to this discussion here. We are the only alternative in the public system that offers an exclusive “middle school” environment; that is, only students of grade seven and eight attend Alexandra. We are large enough to offer diverse programming options and experiences for our students but at the same time not so big as to discourage parents from what they perceive as sending their children to a large and potentially frightening or impersonal school setting populated with the older high school students. Generally, parents have indicated that they send their child to our school from outside of our feeder school area because of our school’s smaller size, our more homogeneous age population or our reputation for high quality complementary programs such as Band or the Sports Electives (Baseball Academy and Hockey Academy).


Goals, Outcomes, Priorities, Measures & Strategies

Alberta Education

Goal 1: High quality Education opportunities for all.

Outcomes: Students achieve the standards in the provincial curriculum. Students receive the education

they need to prepare them for entry into the high school. Students perceive their school as being safe and caring. Teachers provide high quality instruction.

Performance Measures and Targets: Accountability Pillar Results: Target 80 + or - 5% or higher “agree” from all respondents:

Note, exact wording of statement varies depending on whether it is a parent, student or teacher survey so the default statement displayed in this report is from the parent survey.o Acc Parent1 44 parents who mailed in responses to Alberta Education Accountability

survey.o Teacher2 22 teachers who completed to the on-line survey.o Student3 205 grade 7 students who completed the on-line survey.o CnfParent4 80 grade 7 & 8 parents selected at random shortly after

parent/student/teacher conferences to complete a photocopy of the on-line survey.

Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowHow satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the variety of subjects available to your child at school

Acc Parent1 83% 16% 0%Teacher2 95 5 0Student3 78 19 3CnfParent4 94 4 2

Another Language Acc Parent1 38 38 24Teacher2 30 40 30Student3 33 41 25CnfParent4 39 35 36

Art Acc Parent1 70 9 21Teacher2 100 0 0Student3 60 17 23CnfParent4 82 4 14

Computers Acc Parent1 80 18 2Teacher2 100 0 0Student3 84 10 6CnfParent4 96 3 1

Drama Acc Parent1 72 4 23Teacher2 100 0 0Student3 65 13 23CnfParent4 69 4 27


Health Acc Parent1 88 2 9Teacher2 91 9 0Student3 80 14 6CnfParent4 93 2 5

Music Acc Parent1 74 9 11Teacher2 95 0 5Student3 62 20 17CnfParent4 88 9 13

PE Acc Parent1 89 9 2Teacher2 100 0 0Student3 93 5 2CnfParent4 91 5 4

Strategies: Continue with the implementation of Alberta Education Program of Studies. Continue to analyze the Accountability Pillar data to help determine our successes and focii. Continue to work with MHHS staff in analyzing and reporting grade nine achievement test

data. Work with our two department heads to track the academic progress of grade nine students

who enroll at Medicine Hat High School. Continue to work with parents, students, and staff to ensure that Alexandra Middle School is

perceived to be a safe and caring school. Continue to communicate important issues to our school’s stakeholders via the schools

newsletter and our website. Continue to provide a second language complementary course (see hi-lited red numbers from

2007-2008 where no second languages were available). Look for additional ways for students and parents to understand how complementary choice

is inter-related with available resources and public demand. Perhaps a web presence discussing this topic would benefit. (see hi-lited yellow numbers)


Goal 2: Excellence in student learning outcomes

Outcomes: Students achieve provincial learning standards. Alexandra students will have the knowledge and skills that are needed for success in the high

school.





Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowYour child clearly understands what he or she is expected to learn at school.

Acc Parent1 65% 25% 9%Teacher2 100 0 0Student3 84 12 4CnfParent4 86 10 4

Your child finds school work challenging.

Acc Parent1 84 9 7Teacher2 100 0 0Student3 77 19 3CnfParent4 81 16 3

Your child finds school work interesting.


Your child is learning what he or she needs to know.


How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the quality of education your child is receiving at school?


How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the quality of teaching at your child’s school?



Strategies: Same strategies as outlined in Goal #1. We will report student achievement to parents in written form during the school year (Report

Cards are issued four times). We will also host two parent-student-teacher interview sessions.

Through the use of HomeLogic and TeacherLogic students and guardian parents are able to monitor student academic progress via the internet.

We will continue to report satisfaction data provided by our District to our school council and school staff. This information is available to the public. The data in the reports is analyzed and we will make the necessary plans for continued improvement.

We will continue to require that all teaching staff follow the Province’s Program of Studies. We will continue to provide assistance to those staff that may need to up-grade their

classroom and student behaviour management skills.


Goal 3: Highly responsive and responsible school

Outcomes: Alexandra Middle School will maintain and strengthen our existing partnership relationships. Alexandra Middle School demonstrates leadership and continuous improvement in

administrative and business processes and practices.





Program Access:Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowHow satisfied or dissatisfied are you that your child can access the following services in a timely manner at school when needed:Academic Counselling Acc Parent1 51 12 37

Teacher2 86 0 14Student3 49 25 27CnfParent4 74 6 20

Career Counselling Acc Parent1 45 10 45Teacher2 50 0 50Student3 47 25 28CnfParent4 60 9 31

Library Services Acc Parent1 88 2 10Teacher2 86 14 0Student3 80 12 8CnfParent4 90 2 8

Services (beyond regular instruction) that helps students to read and write.


Special Needs: How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the special supports your child has received at school.

Acc Parent1 88 13 0Teacher2 86 10 5Student3

CnfParent4 84 8 8


Parental Involvement:Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowTo what extent are you involved in decisions about your child’s education? Would you say


CnfParent4 71 23 6To what extent are you involved in decisions at your child’s school? Would you say


CnfParent4 47 51 2How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that your input into decisions at your child’s school is considered?


CnfParent4 95 0 5How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the opportunity to be involved in decisions about your child’s education?


CnfParent4 95 0 5How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the opportunity to be involved in decisions at your child’s school?


CnfParent4 57 18 24

School Improvement:Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowI am proud of my school. Acc Parent1

Teacher2

Student3 68 27 6CnfParent4

I would recommend my school to a friend.

Acc Parent1

Teacher2

Student3 72 23 5CnfParent4

Strategies: We will continue to work with and remain committed to the following groups and

organizations within our wider community: School Council, City of Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat Police Service, YMCA, Shaw Cable Systems, Palliser Health Authority, McMan Youth and Family Services, Alberta Mental Health, Children and Family Services, Mywasin Centre, John Howard Society and the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education.

Solicit informal and formal feedback from Central Office, parents, students, local community and other stakeholders.

Use the results of the Accountability Pillar to monitor vested interest groups’ perceptions.


Monitoring the results of the grade nine Provincial Achievement Exams. Continue to encourage parents to become involved in their child’s school and their child’s

education. Continue to encourage parents to become active participants in the School Council. Continue to support teachers in their endeavours to establish academic clubs in addition to

the sports and social related clubs. Continued inter-school cooperation for the improvement of instruction and Achievement

Exam results. Explore ways of informing our students and parents that we do provide both academic and

course counselling appropriate to the middle school level.


ALEXANDRA GOALS 2007-2010

As a school we also supported the district goals set down and agreed to in consultation with the staff of Medicine Hat School District No. 76 as stated in the District's Education Plan. In addition we have undertaken to put in place at our school the following goals for the following school year:

Goal 1: To continue to explore, implement and reinforce Middle School structural initiatives such as a student-centred school, block scheduling, time-table continuity, core curriculum, exploratory complementary courses, dynamic intramural / physical activities programs and common planning time.

Outcomes: Staff will better understand and support current Middle School practices currently in place.

e.g. project based learning, integrated learning strategies, differentiated learning, critical thinking and assessment guided instruction.

The Alexandra community will re-affirm its role as a student-centred school. Students will enjoy a middle level learner environment that recognizes their unique needs.

Performance Measures and Targets: Students will enjoy being at school – Target >80% from informal interviews, anecdotal

reports and/or the Accountability Survey results listed in this report. Parents will report satisfaction with the operation of the school – Target >80% from informal

interviews, anecdotal reports and/or the Accountability Survey results listed in this report. Staff will enjoy being at school – Target >80% from informal interviews, anecdotal reports

and/or the Accountability Survey results listed in this report. Grade Nine Achievement Tests Results for MHHS (where we send the majority of our

students) will be at the Status Quo or better categories on all levels. Colour Code: Significant Improvement Improvement Status Quo Concern Problem

2007-2008 Grade Nine Provincial Achievement Test Results:

Course Measure Achievement Improvement OverallEnglish Language Arts 9

Acceptable Standard

Intermediate Maintained Acceptable

Standard of Excellence

Intermediate Declined Issue

Mathematics 9 Acceptable Standard



Intermediate Declined Significantly

Issue

Science 9 Acceptable Standard

Intermediate Improved Good


Low Maintained Issue

Social Studies 9 Acceptable Standard


Standard of Intermediate Improved Good


Excellence

Integrated Projects will continue to be developed and shared with colleagues – each class will experience at least one cross-curricular project.

Teachers will utilize common planning time to meet and work with their colleagues. Appropriate assessment tools and strategies will be developed or sought out to evaluate

student progress and guide instructional practice.

Strategies: Alexandra Staff participate in Middle Years Conferences. Some staff will continue to attend

conferences such as the Reaching and Teaching Conferences, various ATA Specialist Councils and will continue to participate in professional development activities that support this initiative.

We will educate and inform our School Council on Middle School initiatives and philosophy. We will educate and inform our parents on Middle School initiatives and philosophy through

the school newsletter, The Jayhawker as well as on-line postings on our web page. We will inform and seek support from our Central Office Administration and School Board

on Middle School initiatives. We will inform and solicit support from our partners for Middle School initiatives. The timetable will reflect the tenets of Middle School philosophy. To continue and increase participation in AISI:

(i) Differentiated Instruction(ii) Cross-Curricular Projects(iii) Assessment to support Critical Thinking.(iv) Improve Instruction

To continue with integrated curricular support through departmentalization with combined subjects, that is Language Arts and Social Studies forms the Humanities Department, Mathematics and Science are also combined into one department and Physical Education, Recreational Education and Health have been amalgamated. The ethos of sharing and support is fostered both within the departments and within the school.

Goal 2: To continue to work towards a middle school environment where students know the boundaries for a safer and more caring school. Shared citizenship is the responsibility of the student, the parents / guardian and the school and we will endeavour to work together to develop positive behaviours. This involves working to develop a middle level classroom climate, which includes parental involvement and support and to continue to foster staff commitment to working effectively with this age level.

Outcomes: Students will experience a safe and caring school environment. Where possible, parents will be involved in helping determine the consequences for the

student when they make inappropriate decisions. We will also strive to have parental involvement in helping to set the expectations for their child’s subsequent behaviour within the context of our school’s regulations and policies.


The parents will take a more active role in developing appropriate behaviours in their children.

The school’s community will demonstrate positive citizenship traits. The Alexandra community will take pride in their school. Student attendance will improve.





Safe and Caring:

Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowStudents treat each of the well at your child’s school.


Teachers care about your child. Acc Parent1 77 9 14Teacher2 100 0 0Student3 76 13 11CnfParent4 97 0 3

Your child is safe at school. Acc Parent1 72 16 12Teacher2 100 0 0Student3 62 32 6CnfParent4 80 8 12

Your child is safe on the way to and from school.


Your child is treated fairly by the adults at school.


Citizenship:

Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowStudents at your child’s school follow the rules.

Acc Parent1 52 33 14Teacher2 91 9 0Student3 35 60 6


CnfParent4 60 26 14Students at your child’s school help each other when they can.


Students at your child’s school respect each other.


Your child is encouraged at school to be involved in activities that help the community.


Your child is encouraged at school to try his or her best.


Strategies: Work with Student Council, School Council, School Board, School Police Resource Officers,

and other community agencies, as there is a shared responsibility in achieving this goal. Asking parents for their recommendations when they are informed of situations or decisions

their child has made that were inappropriate. Work with community groups, the administration of MHHS, CHHS, Notre Dame Academy,

St. Mary’s School, McCoy High School, Central Office and Medicine Hat Police Services for the purpose of ensuring that full-time school resource officers assigned to specific school communities remain in place.

Support the drug dogs in schools program. Create a positive school citizenship focus for the start of the school year activities and

continue with similar activities periodically during the remainder of the year. Incorporate anti-bullying lessons within the Health and Language Arts programs and

incorporate greater use of community resources such as the John Howard Society, Resiliency Committee and the MyPlace Project.

Honour the students’ request that additional video camera’s be added to the back hallways/entrances and other locations as identified by students.

Revisit and update as needed our school’s Discipline Plan to reflect our focus on citizenship. Focus on positive citizenship, for example:

Welcome Back Activities, Student Buddy System, COT (Citizens of Tomorrow) course work incorporated into the Health curriculum, anti-bullying components in the Health and Language Arts courses, tidy and welcoming environment and the monthly school wide activities of the ABC (A Better Community) committee which has now been taken over by the MyPlace Project.

Continue to enforce the new attendance and lates procedures. Continue to emphasize the role of “responsibility” for actions to our students so that they

may connect decisions with consequences.


Continue to actively support the MyPlace Mental Health Project.

Goal 3: To foster the improvement of student learning through the improvement of instruction and learning opportunities.

Outcomes: Middle School philosophy emphasizes that students learn socially, academically and

physically. Through improvement of instruction and learning opportunities the students will be better learners; that is, they will experience these three areas of learning and further develop their skill as “life-long learners.”





At Risk Students:

Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowWhen your child needs it, teachers at your school are available to help him or her?


Your child can easily access programs and services at your school to get help with school work.


Your child can get help at school with problems that are not related to school work.


Life Long Learning:

Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowHigh School students demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for learning throughout their lifetime.


CnfParent4 59 14 27Your child is taught the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for

Acc Parent1 51 34 19Teacher2 100 0 0


learning throughout his or her life time.

Student3

CnfParent4 77 10 13

School Improvement:Accountability Pillar Statement Source Agree Disagree Don’t knowIn your opinion has the quality of education that your child has experienced at school improved, stayed the same, or declined in the past three years.


CnfParent4 77 0 23

Strategies: The staff will enhance the instructional opportunities presented to their students through

implementation of plans developed in professional learning communities. Monitor student satisfaction with the quality of instruction. Monitor parent satisfaction with the quality of instruction. Monitor teacher satisfaction with the quality of instruction. Monitor teacher satisfaction with the quality of support. Monitor student longitudinal success. Utilize ScanTron scanner to facilitate item analysis of exams. Administer CAT norm reference exams to all grade 7 students, at-risk grade 8 students and

teacher identified grade 8 students in September of each school year. At-risk grade 8 students are also administered this test again in May to assist in placement decisions for MHHS.

Utilize exams for both formative and summative assessment of instruction. More learning opportunities will be styled to engage students. Vertical and horizontal communication amongst the schools. Monitor opportunities for students to become involved in the school outside of the classroom

setting. Monitor celebrations of student success.


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