woodley hills elementary and west potomac high school
DESCRIPTION
Woodley Hills Elementary and West Potomac High School. Schools of Change. Building high performing schools of character. Presented by Rima Vesilind, Principal. Locked out of Success. Woodley Hills Elementary School (transition 1998-2001) West Potomac High School (transition 2004-present). - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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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2500
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!!