Woodley Hills Elementary and West Potomac High School

Building high performing schools of character

Presented byRima Vesilind, Principal

Locked out of Success

•Woodley Hills Elementary School

(transition 1998-2001)

•West Potomac High School(transition 2004-present)

Where Are We?• Northern Virginia, just south of Alexandria in Fairfax County. •Located between Route 1 and the Potomac River – between the Pentagon and Mt. Vernon. •South of the beltway that circles Washington, D.C.•Our neighboring school is T.C.Williams, made famous by the movie Remember the Titans.

Two schools in crisis --This is what we saw in each

•Angry staff/community members•Disrespectful school climate•Many discipline problems•Apathy/Tardiness/Truancy•Low test scores•Staff/administration turnover•Lack of trust •Lack of community involvement

Steps of change• Assess the instructional program – Pull from

the top and push from the bottom to raise the achievement bar.

• Staff the most difficult children – No child wants to be a failure. What can you do to give each child success and a sense of responsibility?

• Build trust in the nay-sayers – Every building has resistant staff and parents. Don’t take it personally – Work to help them make change – Highlight successes

Working with Staff• Focus on the children – Continually remind

teachers they’re teaching children, not just the way to read and add, but the way to live and be successful.

• Help staff understand the Kohlberg steps to an ethical foundation and work with their students as complete people.

• Roll up your sleeves and work with them – Get to know them – Develop understanding of the school and the community – Keep your door and your mind open for good ideas….

Woodley Hills Elementary Math and Science

Focus School

Rima Vesilind, Principal 1998-2003Rima Vesilind, Principal 1998-2003 Sharon Aldredge, Principal 2003-presentSharon Aldredge, Principal 2003-present

• 77% of Woodley Hills students come from minority backgrounds.• We have a 20% mobility rate.• Students come from more than 40 different countries and speak more than 20 languages.•61% qualify for free/reduced meals•41% are LEP (language minority) students.

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Community town meetings empowered our community to

get involved.

Woodley Hills – A National School of Character

High School or Elementary?

• High Schools need more than character education alone– Achievement– Appreciation as young adults– Responsibility

• High school students have to have meaningful involvement.

• High School teachers have to realize that they are teaching students, not subjects

• Citizenship training

West Potomac High School

Who Are We?• Approximately 3,000 students and 250 staff members who come to West Potomac daily. 2100 local students. •We have two magnet programs in our school – the Academy (500 students) and Pulley (90 students). •More than 300 courses are offered, including 23 AP courses.•90% Graduation rate – 92% of those students pursue postsecondary education.

We are Diverse in every way.

•Culture •Religion•Language•Ability•Special Needs•Socio-economic status•Urban/suburban

• 56% of West Potomac students come from minority backgrounds.• We have a 31% mobility rate.• Our students come from more than 60 different countries and speak more than 40 languages.•35% qualify for free/reduced meals•196 students are full-time participants in the program for English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

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What do we want our School to be like?

• Responsible, Respectful, Caring• High academic achievement• Appreciative of differences. • Few discipline problems• Cohesive, supportive learning

community• Community welcomed and involved• Attractive facilities

West Potomac High School

We have a responsibility to be on time and prepared, to achieve at a high level

and to be respectful of all.

ResponsibilityOn-Time AchievementRespect

How could we change the climate?• Empower teachers and staff –

FAC/LT/ROAR/PELCs• Establish ROAR/Character Education

Committee - Responsibility, On-Time, Achievement and Respect.

• Building meaningful relationships between students and faculty.

• Implement Professional Ethical Learning Communities

• Develop school service learning program.

Primary Prevention:School-/Classroom-Wide Systems for

All Students,Staff, & Settings

Secondary Prevention:Specialized Group

Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior

Tertiary Prevention:Specialized

IndividualizedSystems for Students

with High-Risk Behavior

~80% of Students

~15%

~5%

CONTINUUM OFSCHOOL-WIDE

INSTRUCTIONAL & POSITIVE BEHAVIOR

SUPPORT

A Comparison (PBS Data)…

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275 296183 141

2386

2172

1651

9871136

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Suspensions Official Referrals

2003-20042004-20052005-20062006-20072007-2008

West Potomac’s Service Learning Project:

A change of culture and opportunities for growth

Community Service vs Service Learning

Community Service is:• Unpaid labor benefiting organizations in the

community.• A variety of work and services that target a

need.Service-learning is a teaching and learning

strategy that integrates :• Meaningful community service with

instruction in civic responsibility• Reflection to enrich the learning

experience • Students growing personally and as leaders

Both strengthen communities

Service Learning and Community Service Differences

• Service Learning differs from community service in so many ways:

1. Service learning maintains education as its primary focus and is integrated into a curriculum.

2. Students individually research and choose on what they wish to actively work.

3. Service learning facilitates higher-ordered thinking – “How am I making an impact in my community?”

The Senior Project: Overview

• Our service learning project is a year-long service learning experience.

• Students engage in meaningful school and community-based problem-solving activities.

• It is integrated into government classes and makes that curriculum more real and relevant by linking learning in the classroom and activity in the community.

Goals of the Senior Project• To help students identify and study a

social, political or governmental issue that interests them.

• To develop students’ individual research and communication skills.

• To integrate classroom and real-world experiences for students, forming democratic citizenship and the habits of civic engagement.

• To contribute to the well-being of the West Potomac community at large.

Components of the project

• Researching a social/political/government issue.

• Writing a research paper on the topic.• Performing 30 hours of service in relation

to the students chosen topic.• Reflecting on student experience through

three journal entries and a culminating presentation of research and experience.

Essential Elements

• Planning• Collaboration• Communication• Community Involvement• Vertical Articulation• Horizontal Articulation• Site Level Opportunities

Examples of essential elements in our service learning project

• Planning during our PELCs and assessing progress of the project.

• Working within our curriculum team to create all the components of the project.

• Working with other departments to collaborate on assignments and get professional feedback.

More examples of essential elements in our service learning project

• Keeping all members of the WPHS staff informed on what the project is about and what is currently going on.

• Working with local organizations to develop codependent relationships.

• Developing programs with middle and elementary schools in our area.

• Providing opportunities for students at WPHS to work with various student groups.

West Potomac Mentoring Initiatives

• The Bucknell-West Potomac Mentoring Partnership

• BAM (Brothers Achieving More)• MESOL (Mentoring ESOL Students)• SPC (Students for a Positive

Community)• Best Buddies (Pulley Center)• Peer Mediation

Spotlight: Bucknell-West Potomac

Mentoring Partnership

Mission: To develop positive, caring relationships between high school and elementary students.

Goal: To promote academic success and instill a greater sense of responsibility, compassion, and self-confidence in all students.

Results: 34 high school students served as mentors.41% male- 59% female, 44% African American, 35%

Caucasian, 21% Hispanic. All loved it!!!

Mentoring Survey Results• Being a mentor helped me: A lot Some A

LittleNone

Complete Service Hours 90% 5% 5%

Feel Better About Myself 76% 14% 10%

See the Positive Impact I Can Have on the Community

76% 19% 5%

Change Some of My Attitudes/Behaviors

50% 21% 8% 21%

Come to School Regularly 50% 17% 6% 27%

Improve My Grades 44% 22% 12% 22%

Have More Hope For the Future 63% 11% 22% 4%

What benefits!!!!

Analysis of the Senior Project goals

• The students were introduced to numerous lessons and resources to investigate various social, political or government issues.

• Tasks and activities were integrated into each quarter’s curriculum.

• 95% of the 460 Seniors completed all components of the project.

• Through this project West Potomac developed a stronger relationship with its surrounding community of individuals and organizations.

Academic skills developed by students

1. Researching2. Source analysis3. Paraphrasing4. Deciphering fact from opinion5. Networking with organizations6. Research-based writing7. Presenting

Paradigm ShiftsWe saw a gradual change in focus from: • Aggressive disrespect to an appreciation of manners,

respect and excellence• “Us against them” to shared, thoughtful collaborative

relationships.• An emphasis on teaching to an emphasis on

learning.• “Do what I say” to “Understand why it is important to

do this.”• “It’s always someone else’s fault” to assumption of

responsibility.

Fairfax County School Board Goals: adopted in 2006.

• Academics: All students will obtain, understand, analyze, communicate, and apply knowledge and skills to achieve success in school and in life. 

• Essential Life Skills: All students will demonstrate the aptitude, attitude, and skills to lead responsible, fulfilling, and respectful lives.

• Responsibility to the Community: All students will understand and model the important attributes that people must have to contribute to an effective and productive community and the common good of all.

Principal skills necessary to making change

• Vision• Good Character• Put the students first• People Skills• Diagnostic capability• Strong work ethic

You need to work tirelessly and get to know everybody!

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” ….Barack Obama

Thank you for your attention!!