EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Mission Statement Helen Mae Sauter School It is the mission of the Helen Mae Sauter School to
provide a supportive learning environment that encourages students to take
academic and social risks. To achieve
this, the H.M. Sauter faculty and staff will implement challenging
curriculum, based on state and local standards. Diverse teaching methods will provide equal opportunities for
all students to meet grade level expectations and encourage life long
learning. The H.M. Sauter staff encourages communication and active
involvement with parents, guardians, and community members. The school community will demonstrate
mutual respect for all members. To
this end, students, staff and administrators will strive to develop a sense
of ownership and pride in their individual and collective achievements. |
Helen Mae Sauter School is a small elementary school located
in the center of Gardner Massachusetts.
The school has approximately 260 students in grade one through
three. There are four classrooms per
grade level. Our school has a diverse ethnic population including but not
limited to, African American, Asian, Hispanic, African, and Caucasian. Our school strives to provide each student
with a quality education, which promotes development intellectually, socially,
emotionally, and physically. We are committed to providing a safe, caring, and
respectful environment for our students, their parents and guardians, and our
faculty. The mission statement for Helen Mae Sauter School reflects these goals.
The Helen Mae Sauter School provides a comprehensive
education that is aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. We also provide additional programs that are
based on educational research and data.
These supplementary services include, the Success Maker Computer Program
for both Reading and Math, the Reading Recovery Program, Title I Services in
both Reading and Math, the After School Program, and Interventions. In addition we have a school wide reading
incentive program which encourages students to read each night for at least
fifteen minutes.
The Helen Mae Sauter School has been successful in the past
two years in achieving the Average Yearly Progress (AYP) rating that has been
established by the Massachusetts Department of Education. We are very proud of
our students and faculty and we realize we need to be reflective and continue
to perfect our instructional strategies to continue to sustain our
improvement. We are vigorous in our
evaluation of the assessments we have available to us. We use the following
tools to helps us to make decisions about instructional practices, MCAS Tests,
DIBLES, STAR Reports, Success Maker Reports, Reading Recovery Reports, GRADE,
Harcourt Theme Tests, and teacher observation and evaluations. The data we used in developing this
Performance Improvement Plan can be found in the following pages.
Our goal for the English Language Arts is to have all
students increase their Proficiency Index on the ELA MCAS Test from 96.4 to
97.1 in 2006, 97.1 to 97.8 in 2007, and 97.8 to 98.4 in 2008. This would be an increase of .7 each year to
meet the NCLB requirement of 100% proficiency by 2013.
To accomplish this goal we will continue to offer a literacy
program, which focuses on the five components of reading instruction, phonemic
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The basis for this instruction will be the
use of the Harcourt Brace Trophies Series. In addition we will continue the
Reading Recovery Program, Title I Services, Interventions, Success Maker, Read
Naturally and the Accelerated Reader Program. The MCAS Intervention classes
will continue with support being given in both test taking strategies as well
as stress relieving techniques.
We will continue to preserve the uninterrupted 90-minute
reading block for each grade level.
Weekly TASC meetings will be held to develop strategies for students who
are under performing. Parents will be
invited and will be given Tip Sheets to use at home to work on skill
deficits. Monthly grade level meetings
will be held to discuss best practices in instructional strategies.
After analyzing our STAR Math data we learned that the
students at Helen Mae Sauter School need to increase their knowledge of number
sense and problem solving skills. Curriculum and instructional changes for math
will include: math instruction time will be at least a block of sixty minutes
per day; all students will participate in a math “Problem of the Day”. We will develop as a staff a list of math
vocabulary words, which will be mandatory for each grade level. These words will be posted in each classroom
for easy reference. We will continue the use of the Success Maker Program in
math and various other math computer programs.
The staff at Helen Mae Sauter takes seriously the need to
develop the whole child. In an effort
to help to teach appropriate social behaviors we have several on going
programs. The “Second Step” program is
being taught in all three grade levels.
This program provides students with strategies to deal with issues of
anger and problem solving. We have
posters displayed throughout the school to reinforce these strategies. We thank Mr. Robert Ruberti for lending his
artistic talent to illustrate each poster. Helen Mae Sauter developed a school
wide code of conduct, which is referred to as the Helen Mae Way. The code consists of safety, honesty,
responsibility, courtesy, and respect.
We have also developed rules of expected behavior on the playground and
in the cafeteria. These rules are
posted and reinforced on a daily basis. In addition Mrs. McComb and Mrs. Posco
teach monthly character lessons using the Heartwood Curriculum. These lessons
revolve around the traits of respect, honesty, justice, loyalty, hope, courage,
and love. A “Caught being Good” program was also started this past year. Students are given a Caught Being Good Coin
by staff members whenever they are seen doing something good. These coins are then given to their teacher
who collects them for a whole class incentive.
Helen Mae Sauter maintains strong community contacts with HOPE, Battered
Women’s Resource, and the Gardner CAC.
Each grade level participates in a community service project with the
Wachusttes Manor Nursing Home. They
deliver cards at Christmas, Valentines Day, and Memorial Day. We also conduct an annual food drive to
benefit the Gardner CAC.
Developing the artistic abilities of our students is also an
important part of the Helen Mae Sauter School curriculum. Mrs. Suyenaga, the art teacher selects
student’s artwork from the year to display at an annual art show each spring.
The HMS Art program is aligned with the Massachusetts Art Curriculum
Standards. Mrs. Suyenaga develops
interdisciplinary lessons to incorporate the elements of art. Mrs. Tucker the
music teacher and Mrs. McComb have refined a music program schedule that will
feature each grade level once a year for performances. Mrs. Tucker’s music
program is also aligned with our state frameworks and builds on a continuum of
music skills and appreciation.
As stated above the Helen Mae Sauter School promotes the
physical well being of their students too.
Miss Murgia our physical education teacher provides a health and fitness
curriculum that gives students a better understanding of the ways to keep their
bodies healthy. This past year Miss Murgia encouraged students to spend at
least fifteen minutes a day doing some type of physical activity. She also
organized the JUMP Up and Go program, which challenged students to give up
their television viewing one night a week and replace it with some type of
physical activity.
The Helen Mae Sauter School is committed to the families they represent. We know that when school and home work together it is to the benefit of the student. We will continue the use of Friday Folders that contain weekly and monthly newsletters from the school. Teachers will communicate monthly as to the individual skills, which are being worked on in the classroom. We have an active and well-organized PTO that supports the learning environment here at Helen Mae Sauter. To benefit our student’s learning experience we would like to add family nights which would include, Book Bingo, Math Night, and Science Night. We will also include an MCAS night for parents to help them to become aware of the content of the MCAS test. The PTO sponsors events such as the Book Fair, Holiday Shopping, Spaghetti Dinner, and the Spring Fair which help to build community.
Gardner Public
Schools
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN
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School:
Helen Mae Sauter School School
Year: 2006-2008 Discipline:
English/Language Arts (X) Mathematics(
) Science ( ) Target
Area(s): Understanding Text – identifies basic facts and inferences, analyze
text to draw conclusion. Write
with a clear focus, coherent organization, and sufficient detail in addition
to providing evidence of knowledge of Standard English conventions in all
speaking, writing, revising, and editing. Supporting
Data: All constituencies involved in
the formulation of this PIP analyzed a variety of data sources. These sources include MCAS data for grade
3 reading, STAR Reading Assessment, DIBLES, GRADE and Success Maker Reports,
Holistic Tests from Harcourt Reading Series.
From this data we learned that we need to focus on the aforementioned
target areas. In order to continue to
meet our AYP (in the aggregate) we must continue to meet our CPI by .7 points
per year (94.6 to 95.3 to 96.0 etc.) Root
Cause(s): RC 1: Students are not
sufficiently able to identify or generate main ideas, connect the main or
central ideas, eliminate redundant and unnecessary information or remember
what they have read from a selected passage. RC2: There has not been adequate focus on the use of
grammar, usage, and syntax employed in Standard English across the
curriculum. RC3: There is a lack of writing rubrics for each grade level to bring
consistency to teacher expectations in written language. RC 4: There has not been a
consistent instructional system of strategy used in all grade levels for
students to answer standard comprehension questions in written form. RC5: There is a lack of
software and technology, which supports the writing process across the
curriculum. Improvement
Goal: MCAS 2005 AYP data indicates
that HMS has exceeded its CPI target (94.6 aggregate) for the Cycle III in ELA. Therefore our goal is to improve our CPI
in the aggregate from 94.6 to 95.2 in 2006 and to 95.8 in 2007 and to 96.5 in
2008. |
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Instructional
Change Objective(s) ICO 1.1 Teachers
in all grades will engage students in topic development by focusing lessons
on locating main ideas, basic facts, and distracters in continuous text. ICO2.2: Classroom
teachers and support staff will instruct students in the analysis of Standard
English Grammar and usage. ICO3.3: Teachers
will provide opportunities for students to refer to teacher developed rubrics
that have been consistently developed across grade levels. This will allow students to edit and
revise their work and ultimately improve their writing skills. ICO4.4: Teachers
will model the steps necessary to answer open response questions and require
students to practice this process regularly using the open response questions
which correlate with the reading selections within the Harcourt Brace
Trophies reading Series. ICO5.5:
Teachers will become proficient in the use of technology and software to
support and enhance the writing process across the curriculum. |
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Barriers: What impediment(s) may occur that might slow progress
towards achievement of the stated improvement goal? Lack of support staff. Lack of computer technology para professional to over see
lab and assist students and teachers. Lack of Title One Support due to status change for
qualifications. |
Success IndicatorsWhat measure(s) will be utilized to provide data as to the
positive impact of each strategy employed? 1.
Formative: STAR Testing, GRADE, DIBELS (ORF), Success
Maker Reports, Theme Tests with the Harcourt Brace Trophies Series, and MCAS. 2.
Summative: Diagnostic reports from STAR Reading,
teacher evaluations, analysis of all data fall, winter, and spring. What form will each set of data take? Itemized
lists, charts, and graphs. Who will collect this assessment information? Literacy coordinator, principal, and classroom teacher. |
Action StepsWhat specific activity (ies) will be discussed at
implementing and sustaining each identified ICO? On going
discussion of best practices in reading comprehension in grade level meetings
and staff meetings. Consistent
analysis of all data to assure the most effective use of support staff. Classroom
observations Professional Development |
Time-LineOn going 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school year. |
Person ResponsibleWhat person will have PRIMARY responsibility for
coordinating and implementing each action? Principal Literacy Coordinator |
Professional DevelopmentWhat, if any additional professional development will be
required in order to achieve each instructional change objective? School-based System-based 1.
Teacher X X 2.
Administrator X 3.
Support Staff X X 4.
Family X |
Resource AllocationWhat are the projected costs (time, personnel, funds)
associated with the successful implementation and sustaining of identified
strategies?
Professional development ($5000) software |
Source of Resources
Building District 1.
Existing thus requiring no modification/addition 2.
Redirection of existing resources 3.
New resources not currently available to the
school X |
Gardner Public
Schools
PERFORMANCE
IMPROVEMENT PLAN
|
School: Helen Mae Sauter School School Year: 2006-2008 Discipline: English Language Arts ( ) Mathematics (X) Science(
) Target Areas(s): Number Sense: Select and use appropriate
operations (add, subtract, multiply, divide) to solve multi-step problems and
compute with accuracy, particularly with numbers of 2 or more digits. Problem
Solving: Select, use and solve word problems using an appropriate
mathematical operation and explain the use of mathematical operations and
their properties in problem solving situations. Supporting Data:
All constituencies involved in the formation of this PIP analyzed a
variety of data sources. These sources included STAR Math Assessment, Success
Maker Math Growth Reports, and Cumulative Test from the Silver Burdett Ginn
Math Series and anecdotal analysis. Root Cause(s): RC1: There is a
wide range of abilities leading to
a number of students who have not mastered a skill before it is necessary to
move to the next topic. Remedial
support has been cut in this area. With insufficient support students are
promoted without a secure understanding of number sense. RC2: Students
lack sufficient exposure to and practice with modeling and solving single and
multi-step word problems. RC3: Students
are reading below grade level and lack critical thinking skills which hinders
their math performance. Improvement Goal: Our goal is to increase the ability of all students at the Helen Mae Sauter School to apply number sense and effectively solve word problems. |
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Instructional
Change Objective(s) ICO1.1: We will
carefully look at the resources we have available to us to provide students
who lack number sense more help in this area. IC2.2: Teachers
will use a Problem of the Day and math journals where students will articulate in writing and picture cues or
diagrams their understanding of the appropriate operation used to solve the
problem. ICO3.3: Teachers in collaboration with support staff will assess and identify students who lack mathematics reading comprehension skills and provide sight word lists of math terms for remediation. |
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Barriers: What impediment(s) may occur that might slow progress
towards achievement of the stated improvement goal? Lack of support staff. Lack of computer technology para professional to over see
lab and assist students and teachers. Lack of Title One Support due to status change for
qualifications. Lack of professional development |
Success IndicatorsWhat measure(s) will be utilized to provide data as to the
positive impact of each strategy employed? 1.
Formative: STAR Testing,), Success Maker Reports,
Cumulative tests within the Silver Burdett Series, and MCAS. 2.
Summative: Diagnostic reports from STAR Math, teacher
evaluations, analysis of all data fall, winter, and spring. What form will each set of data take? Itemized
lists, charts, and graphs. Who will collect this assessment information? Principal,
and classroom teacher. |
Action StepsWhat specific activity (ies) will be discussed at
implementing and sustaining each identified ICO? On going
discussion of best practices in math instruction in grade level meetings and
staff meetings. Consistent
analysis of all data to assure the most effective use of support staff. Classroom
observations Professional Development |
Time-LineOn going 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school year. |
Person ResponsibleWhat person will have PRIMARY responsibility for
coordinating and implementing each action? Principal and classroom teachers |
Professional DevelopmentWhat, if any additional professional development will be required in order to achieve each instructional change objective? |
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School-Based
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System-Based
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1. Teacher
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Administrator
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3. Support
Staff
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X |
4. Family
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X |
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Resource AllocationWhat are the projected costs (time, personnel, funds) associated with the successful implementation and sustaining of identified strategies? Professional development ($5000) software |
Source of Resources
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Building |
District |
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1. Existing thus requiring no modification |
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2. Redirection of existing resources |
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3. New resources not currently available to the school |
X
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