The Power of ONEJames River High SchoolChesterfield County Public Schools, Virginia

16th Annual Model Schools ConferenceOrlando, Florida

Facilitated by:John Titus, Bryan Carr, Mary Ellen Fines,

Sharon Hoffert, and Laura Lay

The Power The Power of of ONEONE Framing Rigor, Relevance, and Framing Rigor, Relevance, and

RelationshipsRelationships

ONE AP StudentONE AP Student O.N.E. LunchO.N.E. Lunch Uno, ek, ichi ESL Uno, ek, ichi ESL

ProgramProgram WON—Successful WON—Successful

Freshmen Transition Freshmen Transition ProgramProgram

O.N.E. LeadershipO.N.E. Leadership

James River High SchoolA Chesterfield County Public School

3700 James River RoadMidlothian, Virginia 23113

Community Opened in September of 1994 with 1250

students in grade 9 - 11 Suburban and composed of individuals and

families from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds

School A comprehensive high school with a student

body of approximately 2000 in grades 9 – 12 A staff of 160 teachers and support staff

including two librarians, one technology coordinator, eight school counselors and seven administrators

A well-developed program of activities and athletics

James River High SchoolLeadership and International Relations

Specialty Center Established in 2002-2003 Comprised of about 200 students from a broad

range of ability levels and interests Taught the skills and knowledge of becoming

effective leaders who learn to develop a balanced international perspective of the world

Media Center Recipient of the 2002 National School Library

Program of the Year Award from the American Association of School Librarians

Recipient of the national award from Gale Resources for “Excellence in Education”

James River High SchoolSchedule

Seven Period Alternating Block schedule

Works in conjunction with an “Odd/Even” calendar day

Odd days: 1, 3, 5, 7 Even days: 1, 2, 4, 6 First period runs approximately 50

minutes, and blocks two through seven run approximately 85 minutes

Opportunity for students to earn seven credits per academic year and broaden their curriculum

James River High SchoolAdvanced Placement Exams: 2006 2007

Exams Administered . . . . . . . . . . 571 1318

Students taking exams . . . . . . . . 352 690 % of Scores 3 or Above . . . . . . . . 72 49

Diplomas Awarded Post Secondary Plans Advanced Studies 66% 4-Year Colleges/Universities 65%

Standard 30% 2-Year Colleges 19%

Modified Standard 01% Other Continuing Education 4%

Employment/Military 12%

ONE Student:ONE Student: Growing Our AP ProgramGrowing Our AP Program

Condensing and Condensing and “Leveling for “Leveling for Excellence”Excellence”

Collapsing “honors” Collapsing “honors” offeringsofferings

Offering more Offering more advance placement advance placement programsprograms

Seeking advanced Seeking advanced placement potentialplacement potential

Rigor: Seeking AP Potential Using PSAT/NMSQT

scores to predict success

Targeting student not already enrolled in an AP course

Using data effectively Recruiting the

underserved

APEX ExperiencesAdvanced Placement Expectations

Seminars on the benefits and challenges of AP courses:

An in-school seminar for students

An evening seminar for parents (and students)

Successes: Growing the AP Program

Since 2003 300% increase in minority AP

enrollment 400% increase in African-

American AP enrollment Over 50 teachers trained in

teaching AP courses ONE Lunch—excellent

opportunity for AP enrichment and tutoring

Challenges: Growing the AP Program

“Stretch” AP students’ need for additional assistance

Rigidity in defining quality and success of AP work

Parental concerns about rigor for

“in-between” students

O.N.E. Lunch:O.N.E. Lunch: OOpportunities pportunities NNever ever EEndnd

Need for ChangeNeed for Change Growth and need Growth and need

for 5 lunch for 5 lunch periodsperiods

Transportation—Transportation—student needs student needs for assistance or for assistance or make-up workmake-up work

O.N.E. Lunch Goals: Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships Student Opportunities

Academic support Conferences with teachers Completion of work Enrichment opportunities

Staff Opportunities Departmental meetings Professional learning

communities

Process: O.N.E. Lunch Visitation to schools Formation of committee

Feasibility? Goals? Logistics?

Communication and faculty “buy-in”

Creation of O.N.E. lunch culture

Logistics: O.N.E. Lunch Schedule—1st period, two

block classes, lunch, last block Discipline—extra duties Cafeteria—a’ la carte, hot

and cold lines Clean up—streamlined with

extra trash cans Seating—cafeteria, benches ,

floor Location—where students

can and cannot eat lunch

Logistics: O.N.E. Lunch

Designated department days—no lunch duty PLC meetings Department meetings Informal department gatherings

Adapted schedule—homerooms and assemblies

Teacher appointments

Teacher AppointmentsONE Week

of dataAcademicSupport

Extra-/CoCurricular

GroupsSocial/Other

December-07 1443 820

731

April-08 1279 423 1361

  9th 10th 11th 12th

December-07 505 670 874 945

April-08 576 612 982 893

103 of 128 faculty responded = 80%

Enrichment: O.N.E. Lunch Open Mic Lunch in the library Intramurals Ballroom dancing Rapid Fire games

Benefits: O.N.E. Lunch Less chaos

No split classes Fewer tardies after lunch No competitive noise during class

Rigor—assistance and enrichment Relevance—student ownership Relationships—time to meet with

students informally and time for staff to meet

Lessons Learned: O.N.E. Lunch

Some students need encouragement to meet with teachers.

Need to create more systematic expectations.

Provide early communication about purpose and expectations.

Next Steps: O.N.E. Lunch Schedule appointments

with consequences of lunch detention.

Schedule ongoing appointments for those not meeting expectations

Use peer tutoring to greater extent.

Next Steps: O.N.E. Lunch

Offer intervention suggestions to teachers Early remediation Completion of assignments Revising work Correcting tests Retaking tests Computer tutorials

Uno, ek, ichiUno, ek, ichiEnglish as a Second Language English as a Second Language LearnersLearners

2003ESL Center

2004Sheltered

Classes

ESL 2003—Center Enrolled in ESL courses. Mainstreamed for

mathematics and PE. Assigned ESL students to

classes for low-achieving English speakers.

Challenged teachers to address needs.

Intimidated ESL students. Resulted in a low pass rate

among ESL students (30%).

ESL 2004—Sheltered Classes

Provided a sheltered class in mathematics.

Differentiated instruction in the “regular” class.

Resulted in a high Algebra pass rate among ESL students over the past 3 years (95%).

Now offer sheltered classes for World History, Biology, and Earth Science.

ESL Sheltered Classes: Guidelines

Hand select teachers. Foster collaboration among ESL and

content teacher. Incorporate ESL objectives into the

content. Provide hands-on, relevant

instruction. Create a safe environment. Mainstream students as they learn

more English and gain confidence.

ESL Sheltered Classes: Guidelines

Assess ESL students’ ability upon entering school.

Avoid placing students in remedial classes based on language skills alone.

Provide support to teachers of ESL students in non-sheltered classes.

Include all ESL students into the activities of the school.

ESL Program: Challenges Maintaining the

“revolving” door—entrance throughout the year Testing upon arrival Offering foundation classes

Educating mainstream content teachers—bias, lack of cultural understanding, rigidity

Benefits: Sheltered Instruction

Far beyond the classroom…

Our students’ confidence and self-esteem has risen and is apparent in their daily lives.

WON:WON: A Successful A Successful Freshmen Transition Freshmen Transition ProgramProgram

Need for ChangeNeed for Change FearfulnessFearfulness Behavior Behavior

problemsproblems FailureFailure Lacking student Lacking student

“connections”“connections”

Goals: Freshmen Transition Program

To help freshmen have a smooth cultural and academic transition (a Winning year).

To increase freshmen involvement in school opportunities

To decrease the number of discipline referrals.

To decrease the number of failures.

Process: Freshmen Transition Program Research— http://koprogram.com/

Council and hierarchy 8 Council members

Responsible for 3 homerooms each Each homeroom has 15-20 mentors

Diversity among mentors Each mentor is responsible for 3-6 freshmen

Summer training for mentors

Process: Freshmen Transition Program

Kick-off orientation day—camp atmosphere

Formal meeting topics Rules and consequences Involvement in school clubs, activities, and sports Study skills Efficiently accessing school resources Academic and personal goals Exam preparation Understanding how to communicate with faculty

Informal connections Freshmen flings – ice-cream, games Remembering birthdays, etc. Offering help with school issues

Benefits: Freshmen Transition Program Shared leadership and

modeling Student engagement and

relevance Gains for mentors and

freshmen Relationships

Failure is NOT an option for MY freshmen

Lessons: Freshmen Transition Program

Supportive Data—difficult to obtain

Surveys—feedback from freshmen, mentors, and teachers

Mentor training—orientation day and connecting with students

Strong council—crucial Formal lessons—engaging Communication—the more the

better Mentors—ability to connect

O.N.E. Leadership:O.N.E. Leadership: OOutstanding utstanding NNetwork etwork EEnhancing nhancing LeadershipLeadership

The leadership at James River High The leadership at James River High School always is considering the input School always is considering the input

provided by stakeholders.provided by stakeholders.

I.C.L.E. Model Schools Executive Summary. 2007I.C.L.E. Model Schools Executive Summary. 2007

Leadership to Develop Tomorrow’s Leaders

O.N.E. Leadership—Shared

Creating avenues of communication

Taking input into action

O.N.E. Leadership—Communication

Principal’s Open Door PolicyStudents Student Leadership Council

SCA forum sessionsTeacher office hoursEdLine technology communication

Parents and Community

Neighborhood coffeesBooster clubsEdLine

Faculty and Staff

Cookies and coffee gatheringsProfessional Learning CommunitiesPrincipal’s Advisory CommitteeFaculty meetings—focusing on the “R’s”

O.N.E. Leadership—ActionStudents Expansion of elective course offerings

Addition of activities, clubs, and athletic opportunities

Improvements in buildings, grounds, and facilities Establishment of the ONE-lunch concept

Parents and Community

Improvements in communication—EdLine Implementation of “Fee Night” activities Customer service/community relations

Faculty and Staff

Creation of enrichment programs—Rapid Read, Teachers for Tomorrow, Lunch in the Library, Intramurals at Lunch, etc.

Improvements in school efficiency/climate—tardy stations, grief counseling, department socials, etc.

The Power The Power of of ONEONE Framing Rigor, Relevance, and Framing Rigor, Relevance, and

RelationshipsRelationships

Questions?Questions? Comments?Comments?

Contact us at Contact us at JRHS@ccpsnet.neJRHS@ccpsnet.net t