CAPSTONE PROJECTREGIS UNIVERSITYEDLS 643

LEWIS-PALMER MIDDLE SCHOOL“By reflecting as a community on where we have been and what we have accomplished, we can transform something strong into something superb.”

Nichole Murphy

Strengths:

We have one!

Laughter

Conversations

Collegiality

People make a point to share with teachers how respectful, kind, polite our kids are.

Weaknesses:

It could crumble at any time.

New leader needs time to get to know the school, staff, students, parents, individuals.

Student groups have difficulty meeting

Few teams make time for team-building activities

CULTURE

Strengths:

Haven’t had to say no to staff requests

Staff requests are reasonable

Good stewards

Weaknesses:

State

“Dog on a Bone”

Idea of making sure to “spend what we get so it doesn’t get taken

Special Education Staffing

BUDGET

Strengths:

Teach mutual respect of staff and students

Hold all to a very high standard

Developmentally appropriate

Not “out to get” kids

Very few referrals

SWISS data

Weaknesses:

PBiS

Staff buy-in

Consistency

Highest number (25%) of all major and minor referrals occur from 1:55-2:34 during Academic Enrichment Period

DISCIPLINE

Strengths:

Extremely high achieving

Only MS in this District Accredited with Distinction

Ranked among Top 5 MS in the state

John Irwin Award (7 yrs.)

Consistently earn top rankings in local, regional, state, and national

Weaknesses:

Special populations – ELL, Spec. Ed., etc.

Math

Special Education staffing continually gets cut by the Board of Education

ACHIEVEMENT

WRITING

READING

MATH

SMART GOALSIMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT PERIOD

By the end of the 2012-2013 school year, 80% of special population students (IEP, ILP, ELL) at Lewis-Palmer Middle School will make at least one year’s growth.

Weaknesses

Inconsistent use of time by teachers

No standards as directed by school leadership

Numerous disruptions by student groups, teachers, office announcements

No accountability for students

Recommendations

Pre-screening of students to determine their weaknesses

Placement of students quarterly determined by pre-screening

New weekly schedule for this period

Possibility of going “off-team” during this time

Work student groups into this period

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT

ACADEMIC

Math Remediation

Reading Remediation

Writing Remediation

Spelling/Vocabulary

TAG Enrichment/ALP Goals

Technology Skills

Other Content Area Skills as needed (measurement in Science; map reading in Social Studies; etc.)

BEHAVIORAL

Organizational Skills

Study/Test-Taking Skills

Work Completion

Peer Interaction

Motivation

Character Ed

PBiS Lessons

Goal Setting

Other Behavioral Area Skills as determined by staff

PRE-SCREENINGSTUDENT NEEDS/STAFF STRENGTHS ASSESSMENT

CLUBS/STUDENT GROUPS

StuCo

Builder’s Club

NJHS

Science Olympiad

Geography/Spelling Bee

Sports Statistics

Chess

INDEPENDENT STUDY PROJECTS

National History Day Project

Multi-Media

Exploratory Areas (stipend for teachers)

“WHAT ABOUT THE STUDENTS WHO DON’T NEED REMEDIATION?”

SCHEDULE

Monday-Wednesday-Friday Remediation/Enrichment based on pre-screening

Tuesday Exploratory pull-out for students on an as-needed basis determined by exploratory

teachers

Thursday Team-Building activities determined by individual teams