Strategy 1: Partnership with home and school. While there will be excused absences this year due to busing, illness, or weather, we need consistent messaging at home that we are returning to a normal attendance expectation. If a student has access to busing, does not have a pre-arranged appointment, does not have a fever or symptom of vomiting, then it is expected that the student attends school. (Concerning COVID, the district suggests that you follow CDC guidelines.) Even with excused absences (short of catastrophe or planned vacations), a student’s absence should rarely be below 90% and should never drop below 80%.
Strategy 2: Communication between home and school - It will be expected that teachers communicate with home whenever there is an issue of disengagement or lack of effort; reciprocally, we expect the family to work with the staff to support our educational efforts, whether that is adjusting the student’s bedtime, habits, or signing them up for after-school tutoring.
Sense of Physical and Emotional Safety for all Students
Strategy 1: Restorative Practices- This is a proven social/emotional strategy where teachers and students proactively work on building healthy relationships and community in the classroom through talking circles, shared community values, and restorative conflict resolution.
Strategy 2: Anti-bullying emphasis - We will work hard to promote a positive environment and address and help resolve EVERY complaint or report of bullying or harassment. The Tip Line is toward the top of our website. Please encourage your student to report any concern they see or hear about.
Strategy 3: Strong classroom management - Teachers will provide a healthy learning environment where relationships and structure are equally maintained.
Excellent and Responsive Learning Strategies
Strategy 1: Team data meetings. Team Meetings will occur on Mondays from 7:30 - 8:30 where teachers work in teams with the principals to develop learning strategies, to review the data of these learning strategies, and to continually improve student learning and achievement.
Strategy 2: Summit Learning Practices: Summit focuses on developing cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, and always puts the student’s growth above content. Summit also focuses on coaching Habits of Success so that students grow in their habits and character. Teachers will primarily be coaches and academic facilitators so that students can achieve new heights.
Strategy 3: Interventions. We have multiple interventions at our school, including LEAD After-School, tutoring, mentoring, individual skill-building, workshops, and ABLE, for students who fall behind in credits. We will review data weekly and plug students into the appropriate intervention.