Schoolwide/School Improvement Plan

Richmond County School System

Schoolwide/School Improvement Plan

SCHOOLWIDE/SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN TEMPLAT
Title I Schoolwide Program / Title I Targeted Assistance / Non-Title I School
School Name: Garrett Elementary / District Name: Richmond
Principal Name: LaJuana Quarles / School Year:2015-2016
School Mailing Address: 1100 Eisenhower
Drive Augusta, GA 30904
Telephone: 706-737-7222
District Title I Director/Coordinator Name: Angeline Andrews-Milton
District Title I Director/Coordinator Mailing Address: 864 Broad Street
Augusta, GA 30901
Email Address:
Telephone: 706-826-1134
ESEA WAIVER ACCOUNTABILITY STATUS
(Check all boxes that apply and provide additional information if requested.)
PRIORITY School
Subject Areas that Need Improvement
ELA Math Science Social Studies
Graduation Rate Did Not Exit / FOCUS School
Subject Areas that Need Improvement
ELA Math Science Social Studies
Did Not Exit
Principal’s Signature: / Date:
Title I Director’s Signature: / Date:
Area Assistant Superintendent’s Signature: / Date:
Superintendent’s Signature: / Date:
Revision Date: 10/13/15 / Revision Date: / Revision Date:

Template Instructions

• All components of a Title I Schoolwide Program Plan and a School Improvement Plan must be addressed. When using SWP and SIP checklists, all components/elements marked as “Not Met” need additional development.
• Please add your planning committee members on the next page.
• The first ten components in the template are required components as set forth in Section 1114 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).
• Include a narrative response to address each component of the plan.
• If you are identified as a Focus or Priority School, your SW/SIP needs to address the areas you were identified for.

Planning Committee Members

Printed Name

/

Member’s Signature

/

Position/Role

LaJuana Quarles

/

Principal

Lillian Powell

/

Administrative Intern

Robin Lee-Myricks

Angelina Tate /

Title I Program Specialist

Carson Thompson

/

Instructional Coach

Tiffany Bradley

/

Teacher

Jo Lane

/

Teacher

Heidi Shepherd

/

Parent

Sonolma Roundtree

/

Parent

SMART Goals for FY15-16

Goal #1:

Garret will reduce the number of students absent 10 or more days by half in the 2015-2016 school year.

Goal #2:

Garrett students will increase their quantile scores by 100 points in the 2015-2016 school year.

Goal #2:

Garrett students will increase their lexile scores by 100 points in the 2015-2016 school year.

SWP/SIP Components

1. A comprehensive needs assessment of the entire school, (including taking into account
   the needs of migratory children as defined in Section 1309(2)) that is based on information which includes the achievement of children in relation to the state academic content standards and the state student academic achievement standards described in Section 1111(b)(1).

T. Harry Garrett Elementary is one of thirty four elementary schools that make up the Richmond County School System in Augusta, Georgia. It is a Title I public elementary school that opened in 1954 and serves students in Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade. In 1989, Garrett Elementary School became one of three local schools involved in the Arts Infusion Program which is designed to bring the arts to all children within the school setting. This program continues to be implemented at Garrett where every class receives thirty to sixty minutes of dance/drama per week. We are also fortunate to house the Gifted Program since 2011, which infuses the gifted approach throughout the building. The same year, our new school facility was completed and we entered into a new era.

At T. Harry Garrett Elementary School, we have developed our school-wide plan with the participation of individuals represented by administrators, teachers, program specific specialists, and parents who will carry out the comprehensive school-wide/school improvement program plan. Faculty members meet as a grade level, a professional learning community, a Leadership Team, and a School Council to develop and analyze the instructional plan throughout the course of the school year. Student demographics, socioeconomic status, and student performance data proves the importance of developing a comprehensive instructional plan that will meet the needs of all learners at Garrett.

Garrett strives to provide each student with a high quality education and our belief is that each student will learn and is a valued individual with unique physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs. It is important to our staff that we foster an environment where students can come together to develop a sense of community. We have taken into account the needs of migrant children by continuously monitoring the daily attendance but at present do not have any student of that status. If the need arises, we will work closely with the Migrant Liaison in the Title I Office to ensure that the needs of migrant students are met.

Our focus for instruction is driven by data analysis of local and state assessments that are administered throughout the course of the school year. It is based on data from i-Ready screeners, CRCT, Student LearningObjective scores as well as GMAS-EOG data. Our team also reviewed demographic data and school demographics and noted the number of students being referred for special services has risen as well as a lack of parental involvement in the school’s PTA and classrooms.

We have reflected current achievement data that will help the school understand the subjects and skills in which teaching and learning need to be improved. We noticed that

the trends demonstrate that we have a need to improve in the areas of math, social studies, science and writing. Last year though our teachers worked continuously to extend student learning in a way that each child gained a deeper understanding of the content, there continued to be additional room for growth in these areas.

The following graph represents data for our CRCT Assessment Data for grades 3-5 for the past four years.

CRCT DATA –Garrett Elementary
Subject Area-School Total / 2010-11 / 2011-12 / 2012-13 / 2013-14
Reading / 81 / 88 / 91 / 93%
English Language Arts / 84 / 91 / 87 / 89%
Math / 73 / 76 / 73 / 77%
Science / 66 / 72 / 72 / 77%
Social Studies / 57 / 77 / 76 / 78%

The following graph represents Math and Reading i-Ready screening data for grades K-5 for the beginning of the school year of 2015-16.

Garrett Elementary 2015
Grade / Lexile Average Scores / Quantile Average Scores
K / -378.20 / -94.49
1 / -226.80 / 68.52
2 / 370.14 / 209.71
3 / 505.93 / 339.06
4 / 558.13 / 433.26
5 / 752.19 / 597.28

The following graph represents the students with 10 or more absences for the 2014-2015 school year:

Number of Students Absent 5 or more Days / Number of Students Absent 10 or more Days
December 2014 / May 2015
51 / 107

We will monitor student attendance monthly to see the number of students with 10 or more absences. The following graph shows the results as of September:

Month / Number of Students with 10 or more days absent
September / 6
October / 12
November / 3
December / 9
January / 25
February / 24
March
April
May
Total

Our goal is to reduce the number by 50%. We will have monthly incentives for students with perfect attendance. The following graph represents the students that had perfect attendance:

September Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK / 20
K / 34
1 / 38
2 / 35
3 / 46
4 / 30
5 / 24
October Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK / 12
K / 27
1 / 25
2 / 34
3 / 42
4 / 27
5 / 27
November Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK / 20
K / 49
1 / 35
2 / 48
3 / 50
4 / 34
5 / 34
December Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK / 13
K / 44
1 / 31
2 / 55
3 / 51
4 / 28
5 / 37
January Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK / 25
K / 37
1 / 39
2 / 45
3 / 44
4 / 31
5 / 40
February Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK / 32
K / 50
1 / 30
2 / 42
3 / 38
4 / 35
5 / 32
March Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK
K
1
2
3
4
5
April Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK
K
1
2
3
4
5
May Students with Perfect Attendance
PreK
K
1
2
3
4
5

1. School reform strategies that:

Instructional programs and strategies are continually reviewed and modified due to our diverse population. In order to meet the needs of all students, our school requires additional staffing, innovative scheduling, and academic programs. All faculty and

staff members are committed to implementing a program of instruction that assists all students in reaching their potential. We will continue to seek input from students,parents, and staff members as we determine best practices that will meet the needs of ourstudents.

Staffing allows for the provision of 21 K-5 classroom teachers, 1 Instructional Coach, 1 Early Intervention Program (EIP) teacher, 2 Pre-K teachers, 2full time Special Education teachers, and 9 paraprofessionals, 1 media specialist, 1 counselor, 1 principal and 1 administrative intern. The Instructional Coach is provided by Title 1 funds. Our paraprofessionals work with classroom teachers to create smaller group sizes and focus on targeted, individualized instruction.

The daily schedule includes blocks of time devoted explicitly to reading, math, and writing. It offers students appropriate daily routines which give them a sense of consistency and security. It also helps our teachers encourage all areas of development by planning a wide range of activities. Our students receive instruction in a variety of settings and models including large and small groups, inclusion, and pull-out. Our para-professionals assist teachers in working with small, flexible, skills-based groups throughout the day. Volunteers work with students as tutors to reinforce the skills being taught.

The EIP teacher will provide services for students who are recommended by their teachers based on their at-risk status. Methods of instruction include pull-out and augmented models. The inclusion model and resource model will be used for identified special education students in the areas of reading, writing and math. This model for special education will enable teachers to provide on-grade level instruction, as well as remediation activities as needed.Trained paraprofessionals will support this program as they implement small groups under the guidance of the classroom teachers.

Teachers will meet weekly with their instructional team or professional learning communities to review student achievement data, testing data, student work, and plan daily instruction, strategies and assessment. This information is used to develop intervention groups. They meet monthly with the RTI team (consisting of the administrative intern, instructional coach, EIP teacher, SPED teacher, school psychologist, teacher (s), and parents) to analyze and discuss student data and progress. Multiple pieces of student work are reviewed so that instruction can be modified to meet student needs.

The effectiveness of instruction is monitored to determine whether at-risk students are

making adequate progress in critical skills and to identify any students who may be

falling behind or need to be challenged. We will also employ two interventionist, one for

ELA and one for math. The interventionists will work one on onewith at-risk students

identified by theData Team.

Garrett’s Leadership Team members serve as a conduit for communication between the teachers and staff and the administration.

1. Provide opportunities for all children to meet the state’s proficient and advanced levels of student academic achievement described in Section 1111(b)(1)(D).

Garrett Elementary will continue to provide a comprehensive school program that acceleratesstudent learning. Each day we focus on meeting the needs of a more diverse student population, the need for more parent involvement, and interventions that will meet the academic needs of our students.

A balanced and authentic variety of assessments (diagnostic, formative, summative) are used to establish baseline performance of each student, to plan and adjust differentiated instruction, to evaluate student progress, and to provide students and parents with feedback. Scientifically researched-based and standards-based instruction in all content areas is given to all students.Student success in reading, writing and math will be documented using county benchmarks, mastery checklists, progress reports, report cards, performance-based assessments, weeklyassessments and CRCT.

Plans are in place to continue programs that are currently effective and add new

programs that will benefit and accelerate thelearning of our students. These programs

include:

●Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning

●Chorus

●DAR Essay Contest

●Drama Club

●Drill Team

●First In Math

●4-H

●Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl

●Math Club

●Morning Show

●Poetry Club

●REACH

●Science Fair

●Spelling Bee

●Student Council

●Young Georgia Authors

●Brain Pop

●Maps 101

●Study Buddies

●Math Night

1. Use effective methods and instructional strategies that are based on scientifically based research that:

• strengthen the core academic program in the school.
• increase the amount and quality of learning time, such as providing and extended school year and before- or after-school and summer programs and opportunities, and help provide an enriched and accelerated curriculum
• include strategies for meeting the educational needs of historically underserved populations

Early literacy and math screeners will be administered by teachers and administrators to monitor the progress of students. Students are assessed multiple times during the year on phonics skills, sight words, decoding skills, reading comprehension, and math concepts. Assessment results will be used to plan instruction. As a result of these screeners, areas of weakness were identified. The Leadership Team members have designed a daily schedule that focuses on studentlearning as well as daily intervention. The schedule, in part, reflects inclusion for students with special needs, an increasein teaching to address Tier 2 and Tier 3 students based on RtI levels, an integration of subjectsto align with the CCGPS and standards-based instruction, EIP, and time for direct small groupinstruction for identified subgroups for the purpose of pre-teaching/re-teaching skills. Identified students receive additional instruction in the areas of reading, writing, and/or math within the inclusion and/or pull-out model by their classroom teacher, EIP teacher, and paraprofessional. Work time is composed of large and small group instruction and student demonstration of understanding of the standard and element. Assessment is alsoincluded within the daily lessons. While teachers are currently tutoring their students on their own, a tutorial and interventiongroup is in the process of beginning September of 2014 as part of the newly formed Eagle Club. Students in grades 2-4 will be provided with one on one instruction in the areas of Individual need. Also planned is an incoming pre-k and kindergarten students transitional

“Kinder Camp” prior to the start-up of the school year.

Teachers will implement the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) in

all subject areas with a continued focus on integrating content areas across the

curriculum. Performance tasks and assessments will be implemented at all grade levels.

Training forteachers will include making real-life connections. Teachers will continue to

focus on science labs, providing the children with three opportunities for labs every nine

weeks. Students in all grades will participate in the science fair with class projects

follower grades and individual projects for upper grade students. Teachers will closely

monitor the county pacing guidesand curriculum documents to ensure their pacing is

appropriate. Additionally, they will monitor the effectiveness of their instructionthrough

the county suggested lesson plans, county benchmarks known as PARs in third through

fifth grades. Teachers will review that data with the administrative staff and instructional

coach at data team planning meetings and grade levelmeeting to adjust instruction

accordingly.

1. Include strategies to address the needs of all children in the school, but particularly the needs of low-achieving children and those at risk of not meeting the state student achievement standards who are members of the target population of any program that is included in the schoolwide program which may include:
2. counseling, pupil services, and mentoring services;
3. college and career awareness and preparation, such as college and career guidance, personal finance education, and innovative teaching methods, which may include applied learning and team-teaching strategies; and
4. the integration of vocational and technical education programs; and

The principal, assistant principal, instructional coach, school counselor, classroom teachers,

EIP teacher, and school psychologist comprise the committee which govern and monitor

student needs throughout the entire school. The committee coordinates services, materials,

placement of students, acceleration of students, and personnel in order to place the children of

each grade level using local, state, and national expectations as benchmarks. Students who are

new to the school are tested prior to placement. In addition,the counselor and other support

personnel are invited to attend the meetings when necessary.

All at-risk students will be identified by teachers and administration. Interventions for these

students will include:

●School tutorials (Eagle Club)

●Small group instruction

●Mentoring

●EIP

●Tier 2/3 intervention groups

●CAI - Computer Assisted Instruction

Students’ progress will be monitored through grade level teachers, the RtI Team, andadministration. A plan of remediation will be created for these students and shared with parents.

Support will also be provided for Special Education students, focusing on their individualizededucational plan and the grade level standards

1. Address how the school will determine if such needs have been met; and are consistent with, and are designed to implement, the state and local improvement plans, if any.

Garrett Elementary School addresses the needs of all students by focusing on teaching and learning. Students in subgroups are taught by highly-qualified teachers and are held to the same high expectations as our regular student population. General education teachers

work collaboratively with special education teachers to disaggregate the data of CRCT scores, benchmarks, and formative assessments to determine if an achievement gap exists. If a gap exists, teachers work together by using the research-based instructional strategies.

Special Education students have Individualized Education Plans (IEP) that correlate to their grade level curriculum. Student level is also a consideration when writing their IEPs. Special Education teachers work collaboratively with general education teachers to support the students and provide differentiated instruction. These students are also supported through additional time on the computer-