WASC Mid Term Acceditation Report

WASC Mid Term Accreditation Report

For

Santa MonicaHigh School (Samohi)

Draft

Staff

Principal: Dr. Hugo A. Pedroza

S House Principal: Gregory Runyon

A House Principal: Wendy Wax Gellis

M House Principal: Becky Romano

O House Principal: Jose Iniguez

H House Principal: Stephen Martinez

I House Principal: Eva Mayoral

Dean: Catherine Baxter

S House Teacher Leader: Meredith Louria

A House Teacher Leader: Jennifer Pust

M House Teacher Leader: John Harris

O House Teacher Leader: Amy Beeman-Solano

H House Teacher Leader: Renee Semik

I House Teacher Leader: Pete Barraza

Department Chair English: Rob Thais

Department Chair Math: Geoff Tipper

Department Chair History: Jaime Jimenez

Department Chair Science: Bertha Roman

Department Chair Language: Kelly Bates

Department Chair Art: Amy Bouse

Department Chair Performing Arts: Jeffery Huls

Department Chair Advisors: Al Trundle

Department Chair Physical Education: Norm Lacy

Department Chair Special Education: Kelly Tabis

Santa Monica High School Student/Community Profile, fall 2007- Current Data since Full Self-Study/Visit in spring 2005

Santa MonicaHigh School (Samohi) is a large four-year, comprehensive high school located in the city of Santa Monica, an urban beachfront community of approximately 90,700 on the Westside of Los Angeles County. Samohi’s student population (3,123) reflects the multicultural community surrounding the school. The surrounding community has a majority population of middle to upper class (60% employed in management and professional occupations) with a median income of $61,400. The population is well educated in comparison to Los AngelesCounty. Of the residents over the age of 25 91% have earned high school diplomas and 54.8% have earned a B.A. or higher degree. As of the 2000 census 72% of the population is Caucasian, 4% is African American, 7% is Asian or Pacific Islander, 13% is Latino, and 3% are mixed race. There are 44,497 households, out of which 15.8% have children under the age of 18, 27.5% are married couples living together, 7.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 62.3% are non-families. The city of Santa Monica has a balance between commercial districts and surrounding residential communities. There are approximately 15,000 businesses in the community and the median home price is $882,000.

Samohi is one of two comprehensive high schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). The district serves approximately 11,704 students in grades K-12. The SMMUSD also includes ten elementary (K-5) schools and three middle (6-8) schools. Furthermore, the district supports one alternative K-8 school, a continuation high school and an adult education school. Samohi’s student population of 3,123 (See Table 1) decreased by 2.5% in the past three years and yet is still considerably larger than the district’s other high school, Malibu High School, which has a population of approximately 619 students. The population of our two feeder middle schools, Lincoln (1000) and John Adams (1173), is 2173. Since the last WASC visit in the spring of 2005, Samohi’s student diversity has changed slightly (See Table 1). For example, the overall percentage of African American and Caucasian students decreased while the number of Latino students has increased. Furthermore, 538 (17% of the student body) students at Samohi regard a language other than English as their primary language (See Tables 2 and 3).

Over the last 3 years, our ELD department has seena steady decline in new student enrollment as well as the number of course sections offered. At present ELD students are still able to take sheltered classes in English 9 and 10, English 11, World History and US History, Chemistry, Biology, and Geometry SE. The number of students enrolled in World History SE has dropped dramatically. Furthermore, we continue to offer two-hour ELDBeginning and Intermediate classes, but theskills-development program was significantly impacted in the last three years:one Advanced Composition section was cut from the schedule and the Beginning Reading and Composition classes were combined into the same room with the same teacher.To aid the classes that we continue to offer the ELD department purchased a rolling computer lab for students to work on Rosetta Stone software and individual skills in small groups. Another positive development is that an increase in the number of veteran teachersseeking their CLAD credential-equivalent will facilitate the process of mainstreaming students into classrooms. Although Samohi has fought to maintain the exclusive ELD-oriented nature of college-prep classes like Geometry SE,the department is facing the reality that the nature of the program may be fundamentally alteredwithin the next five years, with more students mainstreamed in math, history and science.

Table 1: Ethnic demographics from 2004-2007

Table 2: Languages spoken and number of English learners, fall 2008

Table 3: Distribution of students enrolled in English-language instructional programs, fall 2008

Our number of students with disabilities has remained steady at 262 or 8.3% of our overall student population. Of these, 149 are in the Resource Specialist Program (RSP), 105 are in Special Day Classes (SDC) and 8 receive other special services. The number of students attending Samohi with inter-district permits has decreased slightly from 562 in 2006-2007 to 542 in 2007-2008. Furthermore, the number of students eligible for a free or reduced school lunch has remained steady. In particular, 861 students (28% of the student population) qualify for a free or reduced lunch. Of these, 695 (22% of the student population) qualify for a free lunch while another 166 (5% of the student population) qualify for a reduced lunch (See Table 4).

Table 4: Free and Reduced Lunch program at SAMO by Ethnicity.

Samohi’s major emphasis is for all students to meet the entrance requirements for four-year universities. Our curricular emphasis has both a solid foundation in the depth and breadth of the California State Standards, while maintaining particular attention to the various learning styles and needs represented by all students. Of the 665seniors who graduated in June of 2007, 97% reported their future plans. 34% intend to attend a two-year college, 59% intend to attend a four year college or university 7% have other plans. In fact, 69.3% of the 2006-2007 graduating class met the University of California/California State University entrance requirements. Particularly, 79.7% of Caucasian students, 85.9% of Asian students, 56.9% of Latino students, 38% of African American students, and 50% of Native American students met the A-G entrance requirements. From the 2006-2007 graduating class, 233 students (33.4%) indicated their intent to enroll in the UC system and another 85 (12.2%) indicated their intent to enroll in the CSU system.

Samohi’s Student Outcomes (ESLRs) are a key tool for our curricular development and teaching methodology:

Effective Communicators Who:

• Read, write, speak, and listen effectively
• Use technology as a presentation tool and communication device

Life Long Learners Who:

• Use higher level thinking skills
• Apply effective strategies to achieve personal goals
• Use technology to manage information and construct knowledge

Responsible Citizens Who:

• Deal with other human beings honorably, and collaborate with them productively
• Work democratically to improve school, community, and society
• Develop the habits necessary for success in the world of work

Creative and Critical Thinkers Who:

• Understand and manage a complex and diverse body of knowledge
• Use reason, information, and creativity to solve problems

Apply learned skills and knowledge to new situation

Samohi also provides students with opportunities to excel in areas of special interest. In addition to the array of course offerings that meet the A-G University of California/California State University graduation requirements, we offer specialized course offerings including ROP courses, local community college courses, ninth grade interventions, music, and drama. Furthermore, an AVID program has been in place for seventeen years. In the past six years the program has reduced slightly. In 2002 there were 232 AVID students in eight sections and currently there are 189 students AVID students in seven sections.

Other areas of special interest include our Regional Occupation Program (ROP). Since the last WASC visit, a group of students enrolled in one of our ROP programs called SAGE (Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship) represented the United States in Shanghai and won first place in a worldwide entrepreneur competition! The SAGE program promotes the ethical teaching of entrepreneurial enterprise by connecting students to local universities, communities and businesses. SAGE students have also won national awards over the past two years.

Our music department, arguably one of the best in the country, is another area of special interest. This comprehensive program boasts an award winning wind ensemble, marching band, choirs, jazz band, orchestras and more. Last year one of our wind ensembles played at Carnegie Hall and this year the Orchestra will return to Austria and the CzechRepublic to play concerts in Vienna, Salzburg and Prague. Furthermore, our marching band recently received an invitation to march and play in The New Year’s Day Parade in London in January 1, 2009.

Our visual art department boasts six art teachers and a wide variety of media, including sculpture, digital design, traditionaland digital photography, traditional design, ceramics, drawing, design, painting and Advanced Placement Art. Our classes serve approximately one fourth of the population of SAMOHI. Prestigious art colleges seek out our students, who continue their studies with full or partial scholarships at Rhode Island School of Design, Cooper Union, School Museum of Fine Arts, ArtCenter and many other revered institutions. We maintain partnerships with many community arts programs, including the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) and Virginia Park. Our students have showed their artwork at LACMA, Museum of Contemporary Art and local galleries. Last year, we had two winners in the Spotlight competition. Our on-campus RobertsArtGallery, which was established in 1937, hosts student shows as well as the work of professional artists.

Our students can also choose to participate in our Academic Decathlon Team (ACADECA) that has won regional championships in the past three years in Quiz Bowl, Ocean Science Bowl and Science Bowl competitions. Samohi students participating in Quiz Bowl competitions have not lost a state match in five years and were ranked eighth in the country in 2006. Also of note, in 2005 Samohi celebrated its first winner of the National Teachers of Teaching English writing award in several years. Two students won that year and several more have won this prestigious award over the past three years. Furthermore, the National Merit Scholarship Association selected twenty-eight Samohi students for recognition from the Class of 2006. Seven became National Merit Scholarship Finalists and seventeen were named Commended Students. In that second group three are African American and one is Latino. The Class of 2007 recognized: five National Merit Finalists, fifteen National Merit Commended Students, two National Achievement African American Students, and four National Hispanic Scholars. Finally, students may also choose to participate in one of our athletic teams that continue to excel and win regional and state championships.

Since the last WASC visit in the spring of 2005, we have continued our efforts in maximizing our small learning community (SLC), “house plan” format. To help us continuously monitor our progress in this regard, we have hired an external evaluator to evaluate and report on our progress on yearly basis. Furthermore, we have discontinued using the Hi-Places survey used to gauge student, staff, and parent engagement. In its place, we have used the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) that provides more detailed data points regarding areas of student behavior and attitudes that were not addressed in the former survey instrument. In keeping with student engagement, our average daily attendance (ADA) has improved slightly over the last three years. (See Table 8) Also, student suspensions and expulsions have decreased at Samohi (See Table 5). In 2004-2005 there were 433 suspensions and nine expulsions, in 2005-2006 there were 300 suspensions and eight expulsions, and in 2006-2007 there were 253 suspensions and four expulsions.

Table 5: Suspensions and Expulsions by Race/Ethnicity.

Graduation and drop out rates are additional indicators of student engagement. In 2004-2005 fourteen students dropped out: ten freshmen, four Latino, eight Caucasian, and two African American; however, these numbers dropped as we made a greater effort to track down students who did not enroll after leaving Lincoln and John Adams (JAMS) middle schools. In 2005-2006 five students dropped out (three African American and two Caucasian) and in 2006-2007 only one student (Latino) dropped out of Samohi. During this same period, the graduation rate has remained steady at 97%.

Absences and tardiness are other indicators of student engagement. Samohi emphasizes the importance of student attendance. To improve student attendance and punctuality, Samohi implemented a school-wide tardy policy last year. Teachers have been proactive in monitoring attendance, identifying truant students, notifying parents, and working with administration. In fact, teachers have often commented on the noticeable difference in the number of students who are out of class during instructional times. We also now have a system that notifies parents every six weeks if their child has been out of 10% of their possible class periods. Some of these policies may have contributed to our improved average daily attendance, up to 95.28% in the first year of year of implementation of the tardy policy (see Table 8).

Table 6: Number of Students with less than ten unexcused absences.

Table 7: Number of students with less than ten tardies.

Table 8: Average Daily Attendance

Faculty/staff demographics

Since the last WASC visit in the spring of 2005, our staff population has remained steady at 135 teachers, eight administrators, 12 advisors, two college counselors, two librarians, two psychologists, one full time nurse, two part time nurses, and one new graduation intervention counselor and one ROP counselor. 96.3% of our teaching staff is considered “highly qualified” according to the criteria of No Child Left Behind while another 3.7% possesses an interim credential. Further, approximately 4% of the certified staff has earned a doctorate degree and 65% have earned a master’s degree. In fact, seven of our teachers are National Board Certified and another two are presently working towards this prestigious certification. Also, many Samohi teachers are CLAD certified even though they do not teach ELD or sheltered classes. Five teachers at present are BCLAD certified. On average, our teachers have 12.7 years of teaching experience while administrators have 24 years of experience in education. The ethnic make up of the certificated staff mildly resembles our student body. 57% are Caucasian, 5.4% are African American, 25.5% are Latino and 9.7% are Asian and other. The average daily rate of absences among faculty is 5.7%. Of these absences 27.9% are absences for illness, 36.6% are absences for necessity, 8.5% are absences for school business, 8.1% are absences for conferences, and 7.8% are absences for district business, and the remaining 11.1% of absences are due to other reasons. 45.9% of our teachers are male and 54.1% of our teachers are female, and 18.2% of our pupil services are male and 81.8% are female. 50% of our administrators are male and 50% are female, five are Caucasian and three are Latino.

Unlike our certificated staff, our classified staff differs from the make up of the student body. The classified staff includes 23 special education aides, 12 custodians, 20 office support staff, six students outreach specialists, seven safety officers, four infant/toddler center support staff, three regional occupation program staff members, two P.E. aides, one lifeguard, one audio/visual support staff member, and one library aide. The ethnic composition of the classified staff is 36.4% Caucasian, 36.4% African American, 24.7% Latino, 1.3% Asian, and 1.3% Filipino.

Analytical Summary of Student Performance Data

Samohi measures student achievement in a variety of ways. Measurement instruments include assessments required under the state’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program and California Standards Tests (CSTs), the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) and established assessment tools such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Advanced Placement (AP) exams. In addition, we have developed common assessments that are administered in each of the core content areas. These tests, created by teams of teachers within the district, are administered to students throughout the year in core classes. Samohi uses the data generated from these instruments for various levels of program assessment. District personnel have provided Samohi with a cutting-edge, web-based student database that allows teachers and administrators to access assessment data at the individual student level as well as at the whole class level. Data can be grouped into the following categories: economically disadvantaged, special education, and English Language Learners. Each category can be further sorted by ethnicity, and gender. The data can then be reported by individual student, class period, teacher, department, school, or district.