REPORTS TO THE BOARD

Annual ALE Report

To: Michael Green

From: Jake Hall, Executive Director of Learning Supports and Alternatives

Date: February 17, 2021

RE: Alternative Learning Experience Annual Report

Lewis River Academy 2020-21 Annual Board Report per Policy 2255

Description of how Lewis River Academy supports the overall goals for student achievement:

Lewis River Academy recognizes and supports family choice education where parents are the first and most important educators for their children. Through Lewis River Academy, families can enjoy the benefits of being highly involved in their child's learning while accessing the resources made available to all public school students in Washington State.

Founding Principles:

• We recognize the parent as the first and most important educator. We are here to offer support, knowledge, feedback, and guidance.
• We recognize that all students develop and learn differently, at different rates. It is our goal to empower each student with the educational tools necessary to learn and succeed.
• We recognize the teacher as a person of many roles including an advisor, supporter, observer, learner, and facilitator. Teachers have the unique opportunity to guide and support our families and are always expected to act in the family’s best interest.
• We encourage each parent’s active participation and allow both parents and students a voice in the program development.
• We recognize that in order to run our program successfully we need the input, respect, and cooperation of students, parents, teachers, and administrators, as well as any other staff or community members who may participate.
• Since the program is a partnership, we encourage parent involvement. During this year of the pandemic, we have been meeting with students and families remotely through Google Meet. One important way parents have continued to be involved is to attend the Google Meet teaching times. These meetings include parents willingly working together with staff to make LRA a great alternative learning option for our children. 

LRA certificated teachers meet with families to provide the following services:

• create an environment of respect and instructional growth
• identify appropriate curriculum and academic goals
• develop a Written Student Learning Plan (parents and students may assist)
• determine appropriate instructional materials
• supervise, monitor, evaluate, and document the student's progress towards goals
• provide encouragement, academic support, and insight from their own teaching experiences
• provide one-on-one or group tutoring through Google Meet
• assist in career guidance and high school and beyond plans

Lewis River Academy Self Evaluation Report

In the 2019-20 school year, Lewis River Academy conducted a self-review of the school's program. As part of the school assessment, we considered data such as iReady Math & Reading scores, State Assessment Data, Weekly Check-Ins with all families regarding student progress, and Written Student Learning Plans. Based on the data, we created the following School Improvement Plan Goals: 

• The number of students in unsatisfactory progress in any month will not exceed 10% of our entire student population.
• All students in unsatisfactory progress will successfully return to satisfactory status the subsequent month as a result of effective intervention plans.

This 2020-21 school year our student enrollment and staffing have more than tripled. Also, the ratio of students to teachers has increased by a little more than 50%, even though we have shifted staffing from our other “brick and mortar” schools. With so many families and students new to the LRA model, we focused our efforts on Math and English Language Arts to begin this school year. As we have seen more engagement and student progress, we have worked with families to make personalized learning decisions to increase academic subjects and elective specials for students. Overall, we have not met our School Improvement Plan Goals as set up in the Fall of 2019 yet, but we are seeing more student and family engagement progressively each month. We keep track of this progress through our online data-keeping system.

TEAM High School 2020-21 Annual Board Report per Policy 2255

Woodland School District Vision

The Woodland School District Vision is a guide for our work in improving TEAM High School:

Woodland Public Schools, in partnership with families and the community, will create a PreK-12 system that serves and supports ALL children—and ensures that EACH child has FULL access to, is engaged in, and obtains an excellent education that prepares them for responsible citizenship and a future of adaptability and success in life and their chosen endeavors.

Areas of Strength at TEAM High School

TEAM High School has increased the four-year graduation rate from 14.8% in 2014 to 58.5% in 2020.  Many students come to TEAM credit deficient and are still able to graduate before they “age out” of high school. Students are still held to the same high academic standards as the traditional high school, but are able to complete work remotely; have flexible attendance hours; and within parameters, can work with the TEAM principal and staff to create a learning plan that best supports and accommodates their particular needs. This ensures that all children- not just those who thrive in the traditional high school classroom- have access to a high-quality education, and significantly boosts WSD’s graduation rate.

TEAM HS staff have recently earned more professional certification and have been advancing in ongoing Professional Development. Examples of this are: National Board Teacher status earned, multiple secondary endorsements earned, and active participation in regional and state ALE Professional Development/conferences/workshops. We will continue to work on these Professional Development efforts. We are measuring the effects of these Professional Development efforts through tracking graduation rates, measurable endorsements earned by staff, and successful ALE compliance audits.

Description of how TEAM High School supports the overall goals for student achievement:

In September 2017, the School Board adopted Resolution 17-13 which established the following performance targets. One of those performance targets is Graduation Rate, along with these benchmarks, the primary goal area of TEAM High School:  

• By 2021 the overall district four-year graduation rate will be at or above 85%
• By 2022 the overall district five-year graduation rate will be at or above 90%

Due to increased enrollment during the pandemic, we have increased our TEAM HS staff by one full time paraprofessional through the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. TEAM has also increased staff and teacher time to work with students to attend school on Saturdays, evenings, and in the summer. The purpose for these additions to TEAM High School staffing and programming is specifically for improving student graduation rates.  

TEAM High School teachers have collaborated on and instituted a “Graduation Tracker” system that visually shows students exactly where they are in the process of finishing all graduation requirements, breaking down the workload to show progress data on individual quizzes and assignments needed. 

We have worked with a donation and Impact Fees to improve the TEAM HS facility. The TEAM HS portable building has been increased another 50% by installing an addition with three new work areas for students. These additions to the structure and staffing will allow us to continue to do the work we are finding to be successful in raising graduation rates.

TEAM High School Self Evaluation Report

TEAM High School has conducted a summary to synthesize the analysis and learnings gleaned thus far from studying our school’s data and other pertinent inquiry information. This summary assisted TEAM High School staff in identifying foci for our three-year 2019-2021 School Improvement Plan. The summary also facilitates developing the School Improvement Plan (SIP) to build upon TEAM High School’s strengths to achieve our SIP goal:

• By 2020, the TEAM High School four-year graduation rate will be at or above 60%; by 2021, the TEAM High School four-year graduation rate will be at or above 70%.

Per the OSPI School Report Card for TEAM High School, the graduation rate for TEAM High School is improving significantly, up from 14.8% in 2014 to 58.5% in 2020. Also, TEAM’s 5th year and beyond graduation rates continue to improve. TEAM staff is affirmed in their work on graduation rates and will continue the processes and systems set up to achieve our goals.