Title 1 Schoolwide Plan

Chestatee Elementary School

Revised Sept 25, 2014

Georgia Department of Education

Title I

Schoolwide/School Improvement Plan

School Name:
Chestatee Elementary School
School Mailing Address:
6945 Keith Bridge Rd
Gainesville, GA 30506
LEA Name:
Forsyth County Schools
LEA Title One Director/Coordinator Name:
Fonda Harrison
LEA Title One Director/Coordinator Signature: / Date:
LEA Title One Director/Coordinator Mailing Address:
1120 Dahlonega Highway, Cumming, GA 300
1120 Dahlonega Highway
Cumming, Georgia 30040
Email Address:

Telephone:
770-887-2461 ext. 202243
Fax:
770-888-1158

Georgia Department of Education

Title I

Schoolwide/School Improvement Plan

Planning Committee

NAME / POSITION/ROLE
Fonda Harrison / Chief Academic Officer
Amy Reutter / Federal Program Specialist/Title 1 Support
Polly Tennies / Principal
Jordan Livermore / Assistant Principal
Kristen Miskovsky / Assistant Principal
Meg Killingsworth / Kindergarten Teacher
Sharon Nizialek / First Grade Teacher
Holly Mullinax / Second Grade Teacher
Theresa Carley / Third Grade Teacher
Lindsey Prosser / Fourth Grade Teacher
Craig Ahrens / Fifth Grade Teacher
Abby Keyser / Gifted Teacher
Deb Fahey / Special Education Teacher
Staci Wacker / Instructional Paraprofessional
Carolyn Craddock / Instructional Technology Specialist
Julie Hubbard / Fine Arts Chair
Amelia Wolfer / Title 1 Coach
Scarlett Mason / Title 1 Teacher
Rock Reed / Title 1 Teacher
Tamela Stanford / Title 1 Teacher/Parent Coordinator
Linda Ratliff / Title 1 Teacher
Joy Stanley / Parent/President of Local School Council
Lee Anne White / Title 1 Parent
Leigh Middleton / Title 1 Parent
Kelly Pirkle / Title 1 Parent
Amy Kreuger / Title 1 Parent
Cary Kermicle / Title 1 Parent
Shaun Howard / Title 1 Parent
Karen Vincent / Title 1 Parent
Britney Humphries / Title 1 Parent
Sherry Chadwick / Title 1 Parent
Emily Scott / Title 1 Parent
Staci Smilnak / Title 1 Parent
Katy Zarfoss / Title 1 Parent

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Conduct a Comprehensive Needs Assessment………………………………………..Page 6
  • Description of School
  • Team Members
  • Data Sources
  • Strengths and Weaknesses
  • School Improvement Plan
  • School Goals
  • Subgroups
  1. Develop Schoolwide Reform Strategies that are scientifically research…………….Page 14

based and directly tied to the comprehensive needs assessment and

academic standards

  • Providing opportunities for all children to meet and exceed
  • Effective means of raising student achievement
  • Increasing the quality and amount of learning time
  • Address the needs of all, especially targeted populations
  • Consistency with school Improvement plans
  1. Employ Highly Qualified Instructional Staff……………………………………………..Page 17
  • Summary of qualifications
  • Strategies to attract staff
  1. Plans for Delivery of Meaningful Professional Development…………………………Page 18
  • Enabling all students to meet and exceed performance standards
  • Inclusion of all Stakeholders
  • Align with School Improvement Plan
  1. Strategies to increase Parental Involvement………………………………………….Page 21
  1. Plans for assisting transitions related to Elementary School………………………...Page 30
  • Pre-Kindergarten Students
  • Middle School Students
  1. Measures to include teachers in the decisions regarding the use ………………….Page 32

of assessment to provide information on, and to improve, the

performance of individual students and overall instructional program

  1. Coordination and integration of Federal, State, and Local services ……………….Page 33

and programs

  • List of state and local educational agency programs

and other federal programs that will be included

  • Description of how resources from Title I and other

sources will be used

  • Plan developed in coordination with other programs
  1. Activities to ensure that students who experience difficulty mastering …………….Page 35

standards shall be provided with effective, timely assistance

  • Measures to ensure that students’difficulties are identified

on a timely basis

  • Periodic training for teachers
  • Teacher-Parent Conferences
  1. Description on how individual student assessment results and ……………………..Page 36

interpretation will be provided to parents

  1. Provisions for the collection and disaggregation of data on the …………………….Page 37

achievement and assessment results of students

  1. Provisions to ensure that disaggregated assessment results for …………………..Page 37

each category are valid and reliable

  1. Provisions for public reporting of disaggregated data………………………………..Page 37
  1. Plan developed during a one year period, under LEA, after ……………………….Page 38

considering the recommendation of its technical assistance

providers

  1. Plan developed with the involvement of the community to be ……………………..Page 38

served and individuals who will carry out the plan

  1. Plan available to the LEA, parents, and the public…………………………………..Page 38
  1. Plan translated to the extent feasible………………………………………………….Page 38
  1. Plan is subject to the school improvement provisions of ……………………………Page 39

Section 1116

Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………Page 39

1.Comprehensive Needs Assessment

Rooted strongly in the community as the oldest school in Forsyth County, Chestatee Elementaryhas a rich history. We currently serve a student population of 959 students.The racial composition of our school is 80% White (Non-Hispanic), 15% Hispanic, and 5% other. To date, our economically disadvantaged population has increased to 49 percent through redistricting and local economic downturn. Chestatee houses Kindergarten thru 5th grade students,and also supports Head Start and Georgia Pre-Kindergarten classrooms. It was a Targeted Assistance Title I School for many years and received the Distinguished Title I School Award in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The 2014-2015school year is Chestatee’s second year with schoolwide Title I status.

Several people have been involved in determining the direction of the school through the interpretation of data. Chestatee has a Leadership Team that meets regularly with representation from all areas within the school. Additional members have joined this team from within the school and community to provide input into the Schoolwide Plan.

School Improvement/Schoolwide Title 1 Planning Team

Polly Tennies-PrincipalJordan Livermore-Assistant Principal

Kristen Miskovsky-Assistant PrincipalMeg Killingsworth-Kindergarten

Sharon Nizialek-First GradeHolly Mullinax-Second Grade

Theresa Carley-Third GradeLindsey Prosser-Fourth Grade

Craig Ahrens-Fifth GradeDeb Fahey-Special Education

Julie Hubbard-Fine ArtsStaci Wacker-Para Professional

Carolyn Craddock-Instructional Technology Abby Keyser-Gifted Teacher

Joy Stanley-Local School Council ChairLee Anne White-Local School Council

Leigh Middleton-Local School CouncilKaren Vincent-Local School Council

Sherry Chadwick-Local School CouncilBritney Humphries-Title 1 Parent

Faith Patton-Title 1 ParentShaun Howard-Title 1 Parent

Kelly Pirkle-Title 1 ParentEmily Scott-Title 1 Parent

Cary Kermicle-Title 1 ParentStaci Smilnak-Title 1 Parent

Amanda BattlesAmelia Wolfer-Title 1 Coach

Linda Ratliff-Title 1 TeacherTamela Stanford-Title 1 Teacher/Parent Involvement

Scarlett Mason-Title 1 TeacherRock Reed-Title 1 Teacher

Multiple sources of data reveal the needs of our students and our families. The Leadership Team discusses all generated data. This data has been derived from the following locations:

  • Comprehensive GAPSS analysis conducted by an outside team of educators
  • CRCT scores for third-fifth grades in all content areas
  • Universal Screening through AIMSweb for Kindergarten thru third grade students
  • Georgia Writing Assessments for 5th grade students
  • Supplemental Writing Assessment for 4th grade students
  • Standards Based Report Cards
  • Cognitive Abilities Test for 3rd grade
  • Needs Assessment Surveys for Parents
  • Feedback surveys from Parent Workshop Programs
  • Teacher Surveys for needs and input
  • ACCESS data generated from ELL testing
  • Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Development Skills (GKIDS)
  • Benchmark Reading Leveling of K-5 students using Fountas and Pinnell
  • Student growth percentiles for fourth and fifth grades

Chestatee has a long history in the community and several generations of our current students also attended Chestatee. The demographic makeup of the student populations has remained fairly consistent for the last several years.

Student Demographics
2009 / 2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / %: 2009 / %: 2010 / %: 2011 / %: 2012 / %: 2013 / %: 2014
Hispanic / 102 / 154 / 145 / 147 / 157 / 147 / 9.72% / 14.72% / 14.66% / 14.76% / 15.11% / 15.30%
Asian / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / *
Black (not Hispanic) / * / * / 11 / * / 11 / 16 / * / * / 1.11% / * / 1.06% / 1.66%
Am. Indian/Alaskan / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / *
Multi-Racial / 26 / 23 / 17 / 14 / 17 / 24 / 2.48% / 2.20% / 1.72% / 1.41% / 1.64% / 25.03%
Pacific Islander / * / * / * / * / * / 1 / * / * / * / * / * / *
White / 907 / 846 / 805 / 819 / 845 / 763 / 86.46% / 80.88% / 81.40% / 82.23% / 81.33% / 79.56%
Female / 483 / 494 / 472 / 466 / 494 / 478 / 46.04% / 47.23% / 47.72% / 46.79% / 47.55% / 49.84%
Male / 566 / 552 / 517 / 530 / 545 / 481 / 53.96% / 52.77% / 52.28% / 53.21% / 52.45% / 50.16%
Total / 1049 / 1046 / 989 / 996 / 1039 / 959 / 100.00% / 100.00% / 100.00% / 100.00% / 100.00% / 100.00%

Student Demographic Information for Chestatee

ESOL student information from Chestatee

The Migrant Education Office at the Georgia Department of Education provides a Current Enrollment Report (CER) and New Participant Report (NPR) each month of the school year (if the system has new migrant students enrolled) to the Forsyth County Central Office. Kathy Jolly, Director of ELL Services, completes a Priority for Services (PFS) form for each new student and submits it to the MEP office at GA DOE for review. PFS students are identified per their academic needs, including mobility and EL status. All PFS students are given priority for supplemental tutoring services based on the district's Implementation Plans approved by the state. In addition, Mrs. Jolly checks the national Migrant MSIX data base provided by USED's Migrant education office to review assessment and enrollment data for the student. SLDS in Infinite Campus also provides assessment information. Locally, the district's Comprehensive Needs Assessment committee reviews student attendance and grades at the end of each grading period and makes recommendations for adjustments to tutoring or other support services as deemed necessary. Mrs. Jolly contacts ELL Coordinators at each school, as well as ESOL teachers to notify them when new migrant students arrive. They also are notified if the GaDOE MEP office designates a migrant student as PFS.

Currently, we have twoidentified Migrant students who attend Chestatee Elementary School, one second grader and one fourth grader. These two students have qualified for additional tutoring due to noted academic gaps through the Universal Screening conducted at Chestatee. This tutoring will be provided during the school day by a highly qualified, certified teacher. In addressing needs of Migrant students, less than 1% of the student population falls into this category; however, those with this need are being served.

Chestatee’s Special Education population clearly defined

A careful study of the data of Chestatee over a period of years was conducted. Using system expectations and state norms, we were able to discern the following strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths Revealed

  • Thorough analysis of data guides school wide instructional decisions through such structures as EAGLE time, Learning Academy, and Professional Learning(GAPSS).
  • Faculty demonstrates understanding of the power of professional collaboration(GAPSS)
  • Implementation of The Chestatee Way, our school wide discipline focus (Teacher Surveys), leads to well managed classrooms and an improved atmosphere for student learning.
  • Supportive risk-free classroom environments provided by staff demonstratewarmth, respect, and trust between teachers and students(GAPSS).
  • Pre K and Headstart programs housed on campus provide a solid foundation for economically disadvantaged students.
  • Growth was shown on the CCRPI from 78.4 on the 2012 revised score to 83.2 for the 2013 score.
  • Exceptional performances in reading: currently,97.3% of 3rd graders, 98.2% of 4th graders, and 98.7% of 5th graders met or exceeded standards in CRCT for 2014. The Median Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs)of typical growth (based on 2013 data) for 4th and 5th grade populations also support this analysis as recorded in the chart below.

Reading:
Median Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs)
All / SWD / ELL / ED / Hispanic
4th grade / 59 / 53.5 / 61 / 58.5 / 61
5th grade / 50 / 65 / 56 / 50 / 54.5
  • Exceptional performances in math: currently, 98.1% of 5th graders met or exceeded standards in CRCT math.
  • Formative reading assessments following the Fountas and Pinnell leveling system target accurate instructional levels for K-5th grades.
  • Community volunteer opportunities have greatly increased with the addition of the Watch Dog Dad program and the Chestatee Chicks (volunteer group of Mothers).
  • Chestatee’s usage of Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) has been showcased on tours by the County, featuring innovative instructional practice for educators from North America
  • An innovative strategy to conduct personalized writing conferences led to a 15%percent increase in 5th grade writing scores on the Georgia Writing Assessment.

Weaknesses Revealed

  • A need to place greater emphasis on instructional strategies that will challenge a broader spectrum of students (those meeting and exceeding standards) (GAPSS)
  • An avenue for providing more opportunities for enrichment was noted (Local School Council)
  • Use strategies and processes to increase the use of higher order thinking skills and problem solving by all students (GAPSS)
  • Increase the student use of technology to research, create documents, and/or projects, and to demonstrate a greater understanding of learning goals(GAPSS)
  • Increase rigor and expectations of students through expanding the use of self-monitoring and self-evaluation tools(GAPSS)
  • Make connections across content areas to develop literacy skills (GAPSS)
  • Provide opportunities for teachers to plan across grade levels and vertically align curriculum(GAPSS)
  • Extend learning time for PL1s who need additional time to master content (CRCT retest results)
  • Examine effective delivery models used to serve PL1s in reading and math that are served through special education programming(CRCT)
  • A need for developing a solid foundation of number sense in all grade levels (CRCT)
  • A need to incorporate reading into the content areas, especially Social Studies, to allow for an increase in student knowledge base for those curriculum areas (CRCT)

Root Causes

In discussing the root causes of weaknesses at Chestatee Elementary, we have found it is necessary to create goals and expectations that are of a high caliber for all students regardless of where they are performing currently. It is imperative that we create opportunities for students to excel through the use of high content engagement. Students should be asked to integrate subjects and perform tasks that will stimulate their minds through technology and other tools. Rigorous class work will provide more opportunities for students to succeed. Professional Learning will grow teachers’ abilities to plan for instruction, especially in the area of performance based instruction and assessing.

School attendance greatly impacts the success of students academically. Motivating the students to attend through a schoolwide effort will be vital to increasing daily attendance. Counselors have developed and monitor a schoolwide incentive program to help increase student attendance.

Communicating expectations of course work is necessary. A strong partnership with the home will enable parents to support the work of the school. By increasing parental knowledge of expectations and providing opportunities for parents to learn more about instruction and their children’s learning, we will greatly impact future student success. Parental Involvement will be a key schoolwide goal. In order to enable parents to attend family functions, such as Curriculum Night and Title 1 Family nights, Chestatee furnishes dinner through the funds of local business and community partners. These nights are also planned in conjunction with other school activities in order to encourage attendance of the families.

Language within a classroom can have a tremendous impact. Using a common instructional language in math problem solving as well as other areas of the curriculum will strengthen the understandings that students gain in the classroom. When planning for long term success, making sure that our teachers are vertically aligned will benefit the curriculum delivery and student success. With the assistance of Brian Lack, K-12 Math Specialist, we will be focusing on common language for math instruction through the use of number talks.

A number of economically disadvantaged students come to school lacking basic language skills. Utilization of the Language for Learning Program enables students to acquire critically needed basic language skills. This program is utilized by our Speech pathologist to meet the needs of targeted students.

Several parents of Chestatee students are not fluent in English. Having parents that have difficulty with English hinders them from supporting their child on homework assignments. Language can be an important bridge for school work since it is the language of instruction occurring during the school day.

Several PL1 students were determined to have attendedmultiple elementary schools. Transient school attendance can have a negative impact on school performance. Identifying gaps in instruction will be critical.Quickly being able to assess where students are performing and providing remedial support are crucial to student success. Identifying gaps in instruction will be critical.

School Improvement Plan

The purpose of our Leadership Team is to address the highest instructional need demonstrated through our data analysis. The current school improvement plan is to raise the CCRPI in math from Kindergarten to 5th grade and integrate ELA/Social studies. For that reason, we are addressing schoolwide the need to see improvement in math, ELA and Social Studies. In math, we identified a school wide need for improvement in the domain of numbers and operations.

With a school wide focus to improve in the area of number sense, we will utilize county office personnel and school based faculty to deliver professional development to the entire faculty. We will place a strong emphasis on number talks to build a basic understanding of number sense. Building a strong foundation for number sense in the lower grades will have a positive impact on upper grades as the vertical teams work together toward the same goal.

It is our intention to create strong students who are able to justify and explain their answers in the core subject area of math. A noted weakness in mathematics is within the CRCT domain of numbers and operations. As the foundation of number sense is strengthened through number talks and student discussions, it will also lead to a beneficial impact on problem solving.

Grade / % Does Not Meet / % Meets/Exceeds
3rd / 15.3 / 84.7
4th / 14.6 / 85.4
5th / 1.9 / 98.1

Math Achievement 2014: CRCT

The data for this past year supports the need to focus on math standards primarily for the 3rd and 4th grades as recorded in the chart above. Realizing that these scores are a result of the child’s cumulative educational experience to date, there is support for a schoolwide focus in mathematics.