WET CEMENT: AN OVERVIEW OF OUR SLC STRUCTURE

The KHS Academy Design Team has been hard at work this first quarter planning for the integration of Academies in Grades 10-12 over the next few years. Working with both Mike Neubig and Michelle Swanson to crystallize our vision has been challenging but inspiring. We are excited to present what the overall structure will be with our two academies, HOPES and IDEAS that build upon the skills and knowledge our students will gain in Grade 9 from their Hui experiences. Across the board we are committed to helping our students have meaningful options aligned with their interests and strengths upon graduation. The image above outlines the progression of students from Grade 9-12 highlighting their pathway options as the move through our school. The plan will be explained to Grade 9 students and parents over the next several months to ensure appropriate academy selection. Look for more news soon!

Glimmers of Hope

Today our 9th grade Hui teachers were treated to a day long workshop with SLC expert Michelle Swanson. Michelle is full of "treasures" when it comes to strengthening teams. She stretches us to consider how we can become more intentional with our work particularly when it comes to student support and deep learning. We spent time discussing high yield strategies, were introduced to the concept of performance assessments to promote deep learning, and considered more systemic approaches to student support.

The morning started with Michelle asking us to stop and reflect about our progress after one quarter of SLC implementation in Grade 9. Although we have had some glitches and challenges, overall we definitely feel we are on the right path as evidenced by the "Glimmers of Hope" our 9th grade teachers shared today. So far we have experienced/noticed the following, "Glimmers of Hope"

• Great support/collaboration within and across the Hui
• Greater support working with other teachers in the Hui
• Our 6th period is a wonderful example of positive classroom culture/community.
• Good collaboration among the 4 English teachers in 9th grade. This has led to more focused planning and effective lessons/units
• Establishing relationships with individual students
• Kids are not slipping through the cracks like they used to thanks to a grade level counselor and ongoing Hui teacher discussions
• Most of our students are eager to learn!!
• I love our students! They have such great personalities and senses of humor!
• Students seem more conscious of their grades - ENGRADE is wonderful
• Seems like learning styles are being addressed.
• We are using technology for learning such as mobile devices
• Interactive Notebooks Rock!
• Students are enjoying the labs and seem to be learning the scientific method.
• Team teaching is decreasing negative student behaviors
• Collaboration and Ohana are found in our Hui.
• Majority of students come to class
• Truancy, Referrals and Fights are all down in the 9th grade.
• We had over 100 parents at 9th grade orientation.
• The Freshmen have been seen. (by the counselor)

This simple exercise, reminded all of us as to WHY we embarked on the SLC journey in the first place. As we work towards expanding the SLC model into Grades 10-12 in the form of academies, it seemed important to share our learnings/reflections with the greater school community so that teachers, parents and students can all understand the potential of common students, common teacher and common planning!

Building Dreams - Academy & Hui Updates

This year our overall theme as a faculty is "Building Dreams". Our dream is to transform Kapa'a High into the premier high school in the state by implementing smaller learning communities in the form of interest based Academies to build upon the strength of the Hui smaller learning communities in Grade 9. School started the first week of August, it's already mid-quarter and already we are seeing the fruits of the 9th grade Hui and charging ahead with Academy Planning.

Hui

We can already see that last year's planning to improve the transition to high school and the entire freshman experience is paying off. Our 260 freshman have been moved down to lower campus and divided into two Hui, Onipa'a and Ikaika, each with a team of dedicated math, English, social studies and science teachers. A counselor has been dedicated to Grade 9 with a VP assigned to each Hui. Hui Teachers have common planning time to discuss student challenges, progress, joint projects and other aspects of their work. So far we have integrated common assessments, project based learning, a no zero policy and AVID strategies focusing on strengthening basic organizational and study skills. Additionally, all of the 9th graders will participate in the Leadership Challenge curriculum designed to help them explore their values, interests and strengths. This work will become part of their Personal Transition Plan designed to help them transition from high school to their post high school educational and career plans more smoothly.

Academy

Since we already see the benefits of the Hui concept in terms of our ability to respond to student needs, there is a sense of urgency to create smaller learning communities for our 10th - 12th grade students to improve rigor, interest and overall achievement. Our Academy Design Team this year includes all of our department chairs, an additional representative from each department, various support staff and administrators. All in all, we are about 20 people with a shared dream. We recently spent a second collaboration day with Mike Neubig refining our HOPES and IDEAS Academies with course sequencing for the four strands in each academy.

HOPES

Health- Health/Wellness

Organic Farming– Natural Resource /Agriculture

Public Service - JROTC

Entrepreneurship – Culinary & Hospitality

Service & Sustainability - ALL

IDEAS

Industrial Technology: Auto or Building Construction

Design: Digital Media & Graphic Design

Entrepreneurship: Virtual Enterprise

Arts: Visual & Performing Arts

Service & Sustainability - ALL

Our next steps will be to present to our entire faculty, address our burning questions with Mike Neubig on September 13th, examine different schedules that might better serve our students with these new structures, educate and engage our parent community in September and October, educate and straw poll our students, create new registration materials, reach out to university, business and government partners and train our teachers for this transition. Our plans are to launch the SLC's for our current 9th graders in Fall 2012. Our dream is that by Fall 2014, every student will be enrolled in a smaller learning community providing structures and support for a more rigorous, more personalized, more relevant and more successful high school experience.

SLC Scheduling - New Insights!

From our research into SLC Best Practices, we have come to understand that one of the biggest challenges schools face when implementing Smaller Learning Communities is scheduling. Traditionally schedules tend to be built more around teacher preferences for courses and prep periods rather than around principles related to quality programming. Recently, key members of the Academy Design Team and the Administration team spent the day with Mike Neubig, widely regarded as smartest SLC scheduling guy around. Mike helped us understand that there are three principles we should prioritize as we move forward in our planning.

COMMON TEACHERS

COMMON STUDENTS

COMMON PLANNING TIME

We were glad to learn that we are on the right track with our design thinking! Focusing on the above three principles will help us ensure that teachers work together to INTEGRATE curriculum and to SUPPORT groups of students. We spent time planning out course sequencing for potential SLC's and discussing optimal scheduling and staffing models. As we went through the day, we had some other KEY insights and recommendations from Mike.

1. A 7 period schedule is key. Mike recommended a 5 on 7 schedule with first period meeting daily, all classes meeting on Monday and three periods (2,4,6 and 3,5,7) meeting on alternating days Tuesday - Friday.
2. For our school size, we should have two umbrella academies with 4 or 5 SLC course sequencing options in each. The 10th graders should be in the academies.
3. We should think of courses in one of three groupings. They are tagged as either a. SLC Pure (only for SLC students) b. SLC recommended (recommended for SLC but others can take) or c. Global Classes (anyone can take).
4. Teachers should be dedicated to the 9th grade teaching teams or to one of the umbrella academies. This will make it easier to schedule both students and teachers.
5. We should avoid halfway implementation - no piloting or having half of our students in academies and the other half not in academies.

Mike will be back to work with us on August 24th and to present these ideas to our entire staff. Before he returns, our Academy Design Team will be reviewing and refining the work we completed on June 21st with Mike with specific focus on course sequencing for each SLC.

Probably the most important thing we learned is that we need to stick to our vision and avoid caving in to special interests that go against the priorities mentioned above. We need to focus on: COMMON TEACHERS, COMMON STUDENTS, COMMON PLANNING and ALWAYS think about what is best for ALL kids as first priority.

Drive: What Motivates Us?

As we begin our journey down the Smaller Learning Community path, our teachers and school leaders have had many rich conversations about how to improve student engagement, attendance and achievement. We see all three factors as critical to student success. One area that has triggered very spirited discussion and more questions than answers revolves around the idea of homework and grades. How do we ensure that our homework is meaningful and relevant? How do we inspire students to do their homework? How should we grade homework? What should we do about students who don't do their homework? The traditional view is that homework is an important way to reinforce academic content. However, recent research does not really back this up. In fact, the only subject where homework seems to improve achievement is Math. Homework advocates argue that homework is a very effective way to teach responsibility and discipline yet some students appear to have a great deal of trouble finding the motivation to do their homework. It's a complex topic with passionate arguments on both sides of the debate. In the spirit of inquiry and furthering our collective thinking and understanding, we'd like to share an RSA Animate based on the work of Daniel Pink, the author of several provocative, bestselling books about the changing world of work. According to his web-site, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, is based on 50 years of behavioral science to overturn the conventional wisdom about human motivation and offer a more effective path to high performance. The RSA animate is about ten minutes long and well worth your time. We hope you enjoy it!

Twenty First Century Skills and SLC's

I love this graphic as I think it really captures and exemplifies how learners, 21st century skills and subject area content can all be fused together to create dynamic programs that produce ethical citizens and engaged thinkers who possess entrepenurial spirit. Through different types of training afforded by our Smaller Learning Communities initiative such as AVID, Project Based Learning, Inclusion, Differentiation and Rigor & Relevance, we will all strengthen our ability to see these connections and to reach our students more effectively. Reactivating and strengthening our Teacher Learning Communities in SY 2011-2012 will really help with this effort. We are currently in the process of designing a professional development plan for SY 2011-2012. Suggestions are most welcome and can be given to department chairs, Beth Pemberton or Lisa Mireles.

Source:http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/1948via Alberta Education

Summer Bridge

Goal 1 of our SLC Grant is to provide stronger, "ACADEMIC AND STUDENT SUPPORT INTERVENTIONS FOR TRANSITION TO HIGH SCHOOL.". This year our Summer Bridge program has been redesigned to do just that! Summer Bridge is a 4-week program during June & July for incoming 9^th grade students. The program is designed to ease the transition from middle to high school by reviewing the key “elements” of high school: organization and study skills, mathematics and literacy, and the social awareness needed to succeed in high school. Skills will be brought together in the program as we explore the real elements around us: fire, earth, air, and water.

Summer Bridge Students will:

1. Jump start success by attending high school classes focused on academic, social, and study skills.
2. Earn credit toward graduation.
3. Attend on and off campus activities.
4. Receive introductions and invitations to join various student clubs and organizations.
5. Work with teachers that will help them grow as individuals, as well as students.
6. Get to know teachers and staff members at Kapa'a High School.
7. Gain the confidence and skills to begin freshman year on the right foot!

The program will take place from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. from June 13 to July 11, on the Kapa’a High School campus. Incoming 9^th grade students who want to improve their chances of success in high school algebra by strengthening their math skills and getting a head start on their high school experience. Enrollment will be first come, first served. Enrollment preference will be given to students with failing grades, but all students may apply and everyone can benefit.

Applications are available at Kapa'a Middle School from the counselors. Turn in your application to the drop box in Kapa'a Middle School's main office or to your counselor by the May 20^th deadline. For further questions or concerns, please contact the Summer Bridge Coordinator, Fawn Perry, at Kapa'a High School.

Email: Fawn_Perry@notes.k12.hi.us

Tel#: (808) 821-4400 ext. 175