Running Head: COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

Tyler Jenkins
Comprehensive School Assessment
Arizona State University
PPE 310
February 6th, 2016
Dr. Hesse

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Assessment Results

Boulder Creek is a normal high school when it comes to its focus

on health and nutrition. By normal, I mean that there is nothing going
on that sets them apart in their practices, but they also dont have the
worst policies in place when it comes to their promotion of a healthy
lifestyle. Their weaknesses come mainly from the routines that they
follow in their lunchtime procedures, however there are a few small
adjustments that can be made to significantly impact those limitations.
Their strengths come primarily from the scheduling that is set in place
for all of the students.

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Lunchtime in high school can best be described as a free for
all. This is for a few different reasons. At Boulder Creek, the students
eat wherever they want on the campus, there are seven different
options for the students to pick from to have, and everything happens
over the course of 30 minutes. The first of the two weaknesses that I
have observed at Boulder Creek throughout this year so far is that, of
the seven different lines that the students can purchase their lunch
from there are very limited healthy food options for the students.
Obviously, all of the food meets the state requirements in order to be
served, but most of the options are pushing the limits, and not
encouraging students to eat healthy. Most of the foods are unhealthy,
but made so that they dont have as much sodium or fats. By doing
this, the school is encouraging students to eat foods like this outside of
the school, however, the foods like this that are served outside of
school are not made in a healthy way like they are in school. One of
the easiest fixes to this problem would be to offer more foods that are
healthy regardless of how they are made. If students are given less of
an opportunity to order food that isnt healthy for them then they will
start creating habits for when they are older and choosing what they
want to eat. What students eat for lunch in high school is one of the
first times that they have autonomy in what they want to have, and
Boulder Creek can make a difference in what students choose to eat
outside of school by limiting what they can choose from each day.

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The second change that Boulder Creek could make would be to
provide a few areas where students have the ability to choose if they
want to engage in some physical activity once they finish their food. At
this point, the students finish their lunch, and really the only options
that they have are to sit and talk to their friends that they ate with, or
to walk around for whatever time they have left. The supplies that the
school provides to promote physical activity do not have to be
anything too extensive. Even if the school devoted a small area, and
some simple sports equipment it allows for those students that want to
be active in one of the few breaks that they get each day the
opportunity to do just that. According to an article written by the
Harvard Health Publication But exercise also stimulates brain regions
that are involved in memory function to release a chemical called
brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). BDNF rewires memory circuits
so they work better ("Regular exercise releases brain chemicals key
for memory, concentration, and mental sharpness," 2013).
Along with the weaknesses that Boulder Creek carries, they have
strengths in promoting physical activity also. These strengths stem
primarily from the arrangement of what is expected from each student.
The first of these strengths is that every 60 minutes the students are
switching classes. This is a 5 minute break where the students are able
to get up and moving. It is also important to note that Boulder Creek
switches classes 6 times throughout the day. There are many high

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schools that are only doing this 3 or 4 times per day. Each of these
switches are five minutes long and they not only provide much needed
brain breaks for the students, but they also are receiving physical
activity, even if it is just a short walk from building to building. This is a
change from elementary school to high school for students. In
elementary school, students are in a classroom for hours on end, and
they dont get the opportunity to have six, five minute long breaks
throughout the day as they do in high school. These breaks allow
students to refocus and come into each class prepared to learn, and
unlike elementary schools, the students are not expected to sit in the
same seats all day. Having these switches built in is a necessity, but
there are so many benefits to them that the loss of instructional
minutes that understandably comes with that transition time is worth
it.
The second benefit that comes when students enter high school
is the emphasis on helping students understand their health. There is a
full semester long class that the students must take about health and
healthy living. This class gives the students the knowledge that they
need in order to make intelligent informed decisions. The fact that this
class is mandatory to graduate just goes to show the emphasis that
the school has on teaching students how to take care of themselves.
There is a full unit on nutrition, and the steps that the students can
take to be healthier in their eating, and the repercussions of not doing

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those things. Educators have the ability to make a huge difference on
how students view their health. Children want to please their teachers,
and often times they will apply the concepts that they learn in health
just like any other class in order to do just that (Pangrazi, Beighle, &
Pangrazi, 2009, p. 295).
Information
My placement for my last semester of my student teaching is in
the special education department of Boulder Creek High School,
specifically pushing into different science courses. Boulder Creek is a
public school of 2,436 located in the Deer Valley Unified School District.
Boulder Creek is located in a large suburban area, and it has an
average class size of 26.4 students per class. This is a very affluent
area, and only 16.3% of the students qualify for free and reduced
lunches, and thus it does not qualify for Title 1 status. 86% of the
students that attend Boulder Creek are white, and the next highest
representation is the Hispanic population that makes up 11% of the
students. I could not find on any of the web searches I did how many
students are or have been in the English Language Learners program,
however, based on my experience on the campus, there are not too
many students that I have encountered. Overall, Boulder Creek has
been rated as a B school but it does meet its adequate yearly
progress ("Boulder Creek High School in ANTHEM, AZ | Best High
Schools | US News," n.d.) ("Phoenix AZ School 2014 - 2015 Letter

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Grades," 2016) ("Boulder Creek High School in Anthem AZ SchoolDigger.com," n.d.).
Online Portfolio
tylersonlineportfolio.weebly.com

References
Boulder Creek High School in Anthem AZ - SchoolDigger.com. (n.d.).
Retrieved from
http://www.schooldigger.com/go/AZ/schools/0775002433/school.
aspx
Boulder Creek High School in ANTHEM, AZ | Best High Schools | US
News. (n.d.).

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Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/education/best-highschools/arizona/districts/deer-valley-unified-district/bouldercreek-high-school-1092
Phoenix AZ School 2014 - 2015 Letter Grades. (2016, February).
Retrieved from
http://www.samelam.com/Web/AR422641/CustomContent/index/
5273000#Deer%20Valley
Regular exercise releases brain chemicals key for memory,
concentration, and
mental sharpness. (2013, May). Retrieved from
http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/regular-exercisereleases-brain-chemicals-key-for-memory-concentration-andmental-sharpness
Pangrazi, R. P., Beighle, A., & Pangrazi, D. (2009). Improving students'
nutrition. In
Promoting physical activity & health in the classroom (pp. 294296). San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings.

Criteria

Exemplary: Points (5)

Proficient: Points (3)

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Assessment

SCORE:

School
Context
/Writing
Style
SCORE:

A minimum of 2 strengths and 2

weaknesses were described
Assessment was completed online
and posted to your E-Portfolio
A direct link was placed at the end of
your document to the assignment in
your E-Portfolio
Suggestions to improve school
policies were clearly stated
At least 2 suggestions to engage
stakeholders were provided

School context contained detailed

information on
grade levels
% free/reduced lunch
enrollment,
proportion ELLs
average class size
urban/rural/suburban,
ethnic makeup
state test scores
AYP status
All of the following are listed in the
file document name submitted
Lastname.firstname.assignment#.cou
rse#
This rubric was added to the last
page of the document submitted
Your document was in APA 6.0
format, including cover page, body
and reference section with no errors

A minimum of 1 strength and 1

weakness was described
Suggestions to improve school policies
were stated but lacked sufficient detail
At least 1 suggestion to engage
stakeholders was provided
Assessment was completed online and
not in your E-Portfolio
A link was provided to your EPortfolio to this assignment, however
it wasnt a direct link to this
assignment
School context contained some
detailed information on
grade levels
% free/reduced lunch
enrollment,
proportion ELLs
average class size
urban/rural/suburban,
ethnic makeup
state test scores
AYP status
Most of the following are listed in the
file document name submitted
Lastname.firstname.assignment#.cours
e#
This rubric was added but not at the
end of the document submitted
Document was in APA, however errors
were found in formatting of the
sections

PPE 310 Healthy and Active Schools, Assessment and

School Context