State

of the School-Title I Meeting

October 14th, 2014

Purpose of State of the Schools

The purpose of the State of the School and Title I Annual
meeting is to:
Provide information about the current state of the school
Provide an update on the School Improvement Plan
Share priorities, goals and strategies for improvement
Provide ways in which families can be engaged throughout
the year.
Clarify the purpose of Title I
Describe the communication parents/guardians can expect
to receive regarding their childs progress.

Agenda
WHO WE ARE
SCHOOLS CURRENT REALITY
Strengths
Challenges
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Goal Areas and Strategies for Student Achievement, Climate, and
Family Engagement
Title I Budget and Use of Funds
FAMILY ENGAGEMENT
Communication
Opportunities for involvement
Support

Whittier: Who We Are

Vision: All Whittier International students

will become independent and global
thinkers through inquiry and action
Mission: Encourage exploration, inquiry, and
critical thinking. Provide integrated learning
opportunities. Promote local and global
action. Respect cultural similarities and
dierences.

Whittier: Who We Are

International
Baccalaureate Primary
Years Program
IB PYP is a comprehensive
approach to teaching and
learning through which
students become
inquirers, critical thinkers
and communicators. At
Whittier, students begin
the study of Spanish as a
world language and
culture.
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Whittier: Who We Are

Enrollment:
650 students

Race/Ethnicity
American Indian: 1.2%
Asian American: 4%
Black: 38.2%
Hispanic: 28.6%
White: 28%

Special Programs
English Learners: 41.5%
Free/Reduced Lunch:
66.9%
Special Education: 11.2%

2014 MCA-III Reading Prociency Trends

Grades 3-5

42.8%

43.2%
Whi@er: 43%
District: 42%
State:59%

2014 MCA-III Reading

Prociency By Demographic Group
White
Student Prociency

Whi@er 83%
District 78%
State 67%

Black
Student Prociency

Whi@er 24%
District 22%
State 33%

Hispanic
Student Prociency

Whi@er 26%
District 23%
State 36%

2014 MCA-III Math Prociency Trends

Grades 3-5

50.8%
46.5%

Whi@er: 51%
District: 44%
State: 61%

2014 MCA-III Math

Prociency By Demographic Group
White
Student Prociency

Whi@er 87%
District 77%
State 69%

Black
Student Prociency

Whi@er 31%
District 22%
State 34%

Hispanic
Student Prociency

Whi@er 39%
District 31%
State 38%

Attendance
Percentage of Students Attending 95% or Greater

Percentage of Students

100%
80%

72%

68%

73%

60%
40%
20%
0%

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

School Year

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Discipline Data
Behavior Referrals and Suspensions:
August- October 2013 and 2014
180

Number of Incidents

160

151

148

140
120
100
80
60
40
20

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Referrals

Out-of-school Removal
Fall 2013

Fall 2014

Current Reality

Strengths
Increase in Prociency for all groups in both Reading and Math
(including a 4.2% increase in Math)
Hispanic students out performing State average in Math
3% increase in Reading and 5% increase in Math for lowest performing
students
White students outperforming State and District average in both
Reading and Math
5% increase in students attending 95% or more

Challenges
Not a signicant amount of growth in Reading prociency for all
students from 2013
Continued disparities between highest and lowest performing student
groups
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Designated a Focus school by MDEs MMR system

School Designation

Current School Designation: FOCUS

The Minnesota Department of Education
identies a school designation at Title I
schools every three years based on the
following categories from the MCA results:
Prociency
Growth (MCA to MCA)
Achievement Gap Reduction
Graduation Rate (HS only)

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Multiple Measurements Rating

Total
Points:
56.38/150
Points

24.09

21.26

37.59%

11.03

Multiple Measurement Domains

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Multiple Measurements Rating

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School Improvement Plan

Our School Improvement Plan is designed to
address the concerns revealed in the data and
is focused on three core areas.
Student achievement
School climate
Family engagement

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Student Achievement

5% increase in the percent of All Students who earn Meets or

Exceeds the Standards on the Reading MCA (43% to 48%) and
Math MCA (51% to 56%) in 2015.
8% increase in the percent of Lowest Performing Students who
earn Meets or Exceeds the Standards on the Reading MCA (34%
to 42%) and Math MCA (36% to 44%) in 2015.

Strategies:
1. Use IB and Focused Instruction to align what we teach
with how we teach and what we assess.
2. Professional Learning Communities for teachers to come
together and plan lessons to meet student needs
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School Climate

4% increase in the percent of All Students who a[end 95% of the

\me (73% to 77%) in 2015.

10% decrease in the percent of suspensions for All Students (138

to 125) and for Black students (120 to 108) in 2015.

Strategies:
1.
2.
3.
4.

All teachers trained in and utilizing Responsive Classroom

Essential Agreements for all common areas
Managing relationships, not behavior
Professional Learning Communities for teachers to come
together to share best practices for engaging all students

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Family Engagement
Improve communica\on strategies between the
school and families.
Strategies:
1. Thursday folders.
2. Invite families to informational events: Title-One Family Night,
Curriculum Night, PTA sponsored Read-A-Thon and Bookfair, IB End of
Unit Celebrations.
3. Develop a clear protocol for sharing student's goals and improvements
towards their goals.
4. Ensure parents are made aware of interventions that are available
during and outside of school.
5. Clearly communicate how parents can create an environment of
learning and support outside of school.
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More Information
For more detailed information on our School
Improvement Plan and Family Involvement
Plan, please request a copy from the school
or visit our website:
http://whittier.mpls.k12.mn.us

Click on the About Whittier School tab
Follow the link to School Quality Review and School
Improvement Plan
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Title I and
School Improvement Plan
Title I is a federal program that provides money to
schools and districts to ensure that all children
have a fair, equal and signicant opportunity to
obtain a high-quality education to achieve
prociency on our states academic standards and
assessments.

Title I supports our School Improvement Plan and
the funding we receive helps us to reach our
goals.
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Title I
Do all schools receive Title I funds?
No. Title I programs are available to schools
with the greatest concentration of low-income
families.

Budget
This year, about 5% of our school budget comes
from this source.
The total Title I amount is $292,120.00

We are a school wide Title I program, which

means all students are able to benet from
Title I services.

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Use of Title I Funds at Our School

To support our goals we are using the Title I
money in the following ways.

90% is being used for teachers and other
sta
4.5 Teachers
Bilingual support sta

A minimal percentage is being used to

support our curriculum
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Use of Title I Funds at Our School

The remaining 10% is being used for:
Professional development for our teachers
Extended time for IB Planner writing,
collaboration opportunities, and in-house RC
coaching

Family involvement
Food, Family nights

Other purposes
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Student Progress
To monitor student learning, we use state
assessments, district assessments and other
data to gather information to plan programs
and supports for our students.

We will share this information with you about
your student throughout the year in a variety
of ways.
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As a parent, you have the right

to know the qualications of your childs teacher
to know when your child has a substitute teacher for more than four
weeks and the qualications of the substitute teacher
to know how your childs school is rated on its state test scores
to expect regular communication with your school in a language that
you can understand
to work with other parents and sta to develop a school-level parent
compact between the school and its families
to help plan how money for family involvement should be spent
to work with teachers, parents and the school principal to develop a
family involvement plan
to ask for a meeting with your school principal or your childs teacher at
any time

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Opportunities for Family

Involvement
Provide input in the development of the School
Improvement Plan, Family Involvement Plan, and the
School Compact
Participate (PTA ,Site Council, school sponsored events,
etc.)
Parents/guardians are encouraged to participate in Title I
meetings and learning opportunities
Attend school events
Visit your childs classroom or volunteer at your childs
school
Talk to your childs teacher about events and issues that
may aect your childs work or behavior
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Family and Community Supports

At the school level, contact our family
liaison: Beth Mason 612-668-4170

beth.mason@mpls.k12.mn.us

Community liaisons for the school district in

each Area (A, B, and C) as well as
Cultural liaisons for Hmong, Somali, and
Spanish-speaking families, as well as African
American families.
http://osfce.mpls.k12.mn.us/engagement

District Parent Advisory Councils

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Questions and Comments

Record key points:

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