CSSR Showcase Presenters

Presenting High Schools
                                                                                                       Link to Keynote Bios
                                                                                                       Link to Showcase Brochure

Arroyo High School - El Monte, CA www.ahs.emuhsd.k12.ca.us Presenters: - Mrs. Maria Alfaro, Student Support Coordinator - Mr. Keith Richardson, Principal - Mr. Larry Cecil, Assistant Principal for Student Services	This presentation focuses on identifying and tracking at-risk students. Learn about the many successful strategies currently used at Arroyo High School to ensure that student needs are met. Learn how at-risk students have been assisted through a variety of programs at Arroyo High School. These programs include, but are not limited to Grizzly Youth Academy, R.M. Pyles Boys Camp, Earthworks Enterprise, and Teachers Student Mentoring Program. Learn the importance of: (1) the alignment of the Comprehensive Student Support (CSS) with vision and purpose in school site plan, (2) the strengths of the Coordination of Services Team (COST) meetings, and (3) the creation of a School Success Team (SST) focusing on students’ strengths. Learn how to gather and use student data to identify needs for improvement, plan interventions, and track progress with staff.
Belmont High School - Belmont, NH http://highschool.shaker.k12.nh.us Presenters: - Marcia Hayward-Principal - Brian McNabb -Curriculum Coordinator, English - Aaron Hayward -Curriculum Coordinator, Science	Competencies & Assessments: Preparing for the paradigm shift away from Carnegie Units. In the School Year 2008-09 the State of New Hampshire will be requiring all high schools to write and assess essential competencies for the granting of course credits. This paradigm shift away from Carnegie Units is the ideal opportunity for implementing a standards-based curriculum following the tenets of Understanding by Design. This presentation explains the curriculum structure, with examples, for integrating a standards-based curriculum into the climate of competency assessment. The structure ensures depth, rigor, authentic application and continuity for within a building and also for K-12 alignment. Instruction and Assessment are re-focused on conceptual understanding and connecting relationships.
Chariho Regional High School - Chariho, RI www.Chariho.k12.ri.us Presenters: - Philip G. Auger, Assistant Principal for Teaching & Learning - Elizabeth H. Sinwell, Dean of Students - Jessica A. Holton, Student	Beginning with the class of 2008, students at Chariho Regional High School will be held accountable for completion and presentation of a Graduation Portfolio which includes evidence that they have met proficiency on Chariho’s Ten Expectations for Student Learning. In the process of networking with other school districts in Rhode Island, Chariho’s approach to this “Proficiency-Based Graduation Requirement” has become recognized by the Rhode Island Department of Education as a model for other districts around the state. This presentation explains the origins and logistics of the program and the challenges we face as we approach 2008. A Chariho junior will present her portfolio during the session.
Clover Park High School - Lakewood, WA Www.cloverpark.k12.wa.us/ Schools/highschools/CPHS/CloverPark.asp Presenters: - Katie Taylor, Instructional Facilitator - Travis Campbell, Media Specialist and former SLC teacher leader - Debra Shanafelt, SLC Administrator and Assistant Principal - John Seaton, Principal	Changing the Landscape and Changing Lives Clover Park High School was a comprehensive, urban high school. However, over the last six years, it has been redesigning itself into four smaller learning communities (SLCs). Nearly ten years ago, the school joined the Coalition of Essential Schools. The school and the district have been supported with grants from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Department of Education, and Gear Up. The School Redesign Network at Stanford University featured Clover Park in Windows on Conversion. The presentation will include some lessons learned in their substantive structural and instructional change process. They will share the challenges and successes experienced in professional development, instructional practice, and revitalizing a culture of learning and civility. The presenters will discuss the emphasis on rigor, relevance, and relationships in the pursuit of graduating all students ready for college, career, and citizenship. Necessary collaborations between the SLCs, the school as a redesigned institution, and the school district have been at the center of the school’s ongoing work to change its landscape and, thereby, change the lives of students and staff alike.
Edcouch-Elsa High School - Edcouch, TX http://highschool.eeisd.org Presenter: Debra Thomas Student presenters: Carolina Saenz and Eva Molina	Situated in Deep South Texas, Edcouch-Elsa High School is home to 1,560 students of whom 98% are Hispanic and 79.4% live below the poverty level. However, this campus has been recognized nationally for the number of students who annually attend Ivy League and top-tiered universities in the country. In this session, EEHS staff and students will share the programs and projects that have garnered student success. Students will describe the inner workings of the Peer Advisory Council where senior high school students assist other seniors with college and scholarship applications. Staff will describe the gifted and talented Authentic Research Project (ARP). A long-term project, students begin their freshmen year and present to a panel of experts during their senior year. Staff will also discuss the trials and tribulations during this reform and restructuring year.
Federal Hocking High School - Stewart, OH http://www.federalhocking.k12.oh.us /hs/fhhs_website/index.htm Presenters: - Cliff Bonner- Teacher - Anthony Calamia - Greg Vinson- Students	Federal Hocking High School, under the guidance of Dr. George Wood, has been a model of school reform since 1992. Even though FHHS is a boundary-defined public school in a poor, rural region of southeastern Ohio, it has successfully implemented cutting edge ideas and, even more importantly, thrived throughout the process. Key to the school’s success is its commitment to the ten common principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools and faith in the democratic process. FHHS strives to involve students in as many areas of operation as possible, and prides itself on developing students who are prepared to be proactive citizens and “good neighbors” in their communities.
Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School Devens, MA www.parker.org Presenters: - Teri Schrader - Principal - Heidi Lyne - Director of Teachers Center	As research linking successful and sustained student achievement with professional learning community becomes increasingly prominent, there has never been a more compelling set of imperatives to take on the challenges of transforming schools for teachers as we transform them for students. While we may wish that the work of creating and sustaining a new school could be approached as though it were a sequential progression of tasks leading to the establishment of a stable culture for learning, some of the most difficult, and most essential work must be done simultaneously. When it comes to professional development for teachers and school practitioners we simply cannot wait until our schools are “solid” before we address the learning we as teachers need to be doing on behalf of our students. When would we ever be "solid" enough? Our students are depending on us to be learning as we go; they need teachers and school leaders to collaborate in ways that shape our educational programs. While time is arguably the most crucial element necessary to the success of adult collaboration, of equal importance is the consideration of how we spend that time: specifically, what we choose to talk about and how we talk. It is in knowing the power of true professional collaboration, and in developing the skills necessary to make the very most of the precious resource of time that will make the difference necessary to distinguish our schools as the schools our children deserve.
Front Range Early College: A Big Picture School - Denver, CO www.bigpicture.org/schools/profiles.htm Presenter: Jeff Park - Principal	Rigor: A Personalized Approach In the past few years, the concept of rigor has taken on a new-found significance in the secondary school environment. With its partners Relevance and Relationship, rigor is one of the over-arching goals of any good small school. But how, exactly, does rigor show up in a small, personalized high school? In this interactive session, you’ll get an up-close view of how learning plans, project planning, internships, and exhibitions are all employed to create learning that is both personalized and rigorous. Presented by Jeff Park, principal of Front Range Early College, a Big Picture Company school in Mapleton School District, Denver, Colorado.
Granger High School - Granger, WA http://www.gsd.wednet.edu/ Presenters: - Richard Esparza (principal), - Maria Jimenez (ASB President) - Tasha Esparza (ASB Vice-President).	The Power of Relationships Granger High School at one time had a 50% graduation coupled with only 20% of its’ students reading at standard in 2001. Attendance at parent/ teacher conferences was listed at a pathetic 10% with expectations of students at an all time low. Fast forward to 2006 and you will find students graduating at a 90% rate and 80% of its’ students reading at standard. Attendance at parent/student/teacher conferences is listed at 100% five times in a row. This session will focus on the power of relationships established in an advisory/mentorship setting. Granger High School has been selected as a model high school in 2004 and 2006 because of its’ academic achievement even though its’ school population is 90% poverty and 90% students of color.
High Tech High - San Diego, California http://www.hightechhigh.org Presenter: - Ben Daley, Director	High Tech High began in 2000 as a single charter high school launched by a coalition of San Diego business leaders and educators. It has evolved into a school development organization with a growing portfolio of innovative charter schools spanning grades K-12. HTH combats the twin problems of student disengagement and low academic achievement by creating personalized, project-based learning environments where all students are known well and challenged to meet high expectations. HTH schools attempt to ensure that all students graduate well prepared for college, work, and citizenship.
Hillsdale High School - San Mateo, CA www.hillsdalehigh.com Presenter: - Greg Lance, English teacher and House Leader	Hillsdale High School, a comprehensive high school in San Mateo, California has used democratic decision-making and distributed leadership to convert into smaller learning communities. Serving students from a wide-range of socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, students are now grouped in three equally diverse houses. Teams of four teachers (math, science, English, and social science) share the same 110 students, collaborate during a common prep, advise 25 students, and loop with students for two years as all students take a UC preparatory curriculum. Use of interdisciplinary and authentic assessments has driven their reform and led them into a Professional Development School Relationship with Stanford University. This presentation will include a screening of the Hillsdale segment of Stanford's School Redesign Network "Windows on Conversions."
Irvington High School - Fremont, CA www.irvington.org Presenters: - Michelle Lau - Dance Teacher - Sulakshna Anand - Science Teacher - Maia Steward - Science/Drama Teacher	Irvington High School is a large comprehensive high school devoted to Small Learning Community practices. To increase personalization, all students take part in a heterogeneous advisory everyday. Such support is necessary to further challenge students in rigorous and relevant curriculum. Through a strong benchmark process, students must complete a senior project prior to graduation. The “No D” policy and contract system require all students to perform at high standard. Teachers also participate in a weekly collegial prep time where a majority of time is spent on data inquiry and teachers who share the same groupings of students (a.k.a. families).
James Campbell High School - Ewa Beach, HI http://www.campbell.k12.hi.us/ Presenters: - Gail H. Awakuni, Ph.D., Principal - Jamie Dela Cruz, Vice Principal - Ann Tanaka, English Teacher - Julie Do, English Department Chairperson and Gifted/Talented Coordinator - Laurie Katagiri-Hoshino, Curriculum Coordinator	Transforming James Campbell High School Through a combination of comprehensive reform models – Talent Development High Schools and High Schools that Work— and concepts from Breaking Ranks, the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, Small Learning Communities, professional learning communities, school wide literacy, Positive Behavior Support, high school redesign coaches, consultants, annual pre and post tests, curriculum mapping, mandatory after-school and Saturday tutoring, Guided Study classes for struggling students, reinforcement of skills in double-dosed reading and mathematics classes, Pyramid of Interventions, two-week grade checks for all students, monthly peer walkthrough resulting in an Action Plan, and staff development during the school day, James Campbell High School metamorphosed into a breakthrough high school. The Advanced Placement class offerings have increased from three to eight in six years, with 220% increase in enrollment.
Kelvyn Park High School – Chicago, IL Www.kelvynparkhs.org Presenter: - Natalie Lyon Garfield, Lead Literacy Teacher & Student Development Coordinator	Kelvyn Park is a high school in Chicago, IL serving 1,694 students, roughly 95% of whom are of Hispanic origin and low-income. Over the past three years, Kelvyn Park has been wrestling with the issue of “student development.” Through intense whole-school reflection and assistance from Breaking Ranks II©, Kelvyn Park refashioned our Student Development Plan to include Senior Seminars, Freshmen Mentoring and on-going evaluation/revision. Our presentation will focus on the processes of evaluation and revision and how these reflective practices led to greater faculty/administrative buy-in and increased student voice at our school. Students will present the Senior Seminar program and discuss their role in its development.
Lincoln Park High School - Chicago, IL http://lincolnparkhs.org Presenters: - Dr. Bessie Karvelas, Principal; - Richard Sauer, History Dept. Chair; - Kristina Kostopoulos, English Dept Chair	Closing the Achievement Gap: Data Driven Team Approach Lincoln Park High school is a highly diverse inner city neighborhood school, with magnate programs, that historically relied on its high performing IB magnate program students to maintain its ACT scores. However, recently these scores had reached a plateau and the school was in danger of failing to make annual yearly progress. A data-driven approach was implemented and aimed at improving the scores of students scoring in the lowest half of the population. Using professional learning communities, aligned curriculum, strategic use of data, all-school reading and writing initiatives, a student development program which personalized the curriculum, and a focus on test preparation, Lincoln Park raised its ACT scores in Reading, in a two year period from 20.8 to 22.5, resulting in a composite gain of 1.1 ( 20.6 to 21.7). There were gains over one point across all sub-sections thus moving the majority of its second quartile target population into the third quartile, effectively “closing the achievement gap” in student performance.
Madison High School - San Diego, CA http://madison.sandi.net Presenters: - Virginia Eves - Betty-Jo Acker and Joe Acker, Teacher Leaders of the Design and Technology Academy (DaTA) - Shawn Loescher - School of the Arts (SOTA)	Madison High School Presentation Numbers and Notes—Learn how to create personalized learning communities on a comprehensive high school campus. Hear teachers, students and parents discuss what they did to dramatically improve student achievement at Madison High in a mere four years—an +87 point gain in Academic Performance Index (API) scores—resulting in Madison High being named a 2006 Breakthrough High School. You will have an opportunity to hear about two unique learning communities at Madison High. The Design and Technology Academy (D.a.T.A.) team will share their journey from starting with a project made out of Legos to being featured on CNN worldwide. Participants will interact with Hermes the award winning 120-pound robot and the students, who not only created a robot, but a culture of learning. Additionally, hear from Madison’s newest learning community, School of the Arts (SOTA) where students develop, produce and market original musical and theatrical works. Hear why the Universal Music Group is reviewing music composed and recorded by SOTA students and why one of this community’s classes may be turned into a reality television show.
New Technology High School - Napa, CA http://www.newtechhigh.org Presenters: - Monica Tipton, Principal - Bob Pearlman, Director of Strategic Planning, New Technology Foundation	Getting Results that Matter for the 21st Century Students graduate New Technology High School (NTHS) mastering 21st Century Knowledge and Skills through 8 learning outcomes: content standards, collaboration, critical thinking, oral communication, written communication, career preparation, citizenship and ethics, and technology literacy. NTHS incorporates project-based learning to embed these learning outcomes in all projects and assessments. The result is a unique teaching and learning environment where students actively engage in the learning process, mastering content as well as process. This session will make the model explicit by highlighting the suite of educational reforms incorporated in the model, the suite of tools delivered thru the technology to support the model, and the progress made in replicating the model in 26 communities, in Northern and Southern California, Alaska, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, and North Carolina. The objective of the session is to impart knowledge about how to make reform real, with stories that highlight the journey and concrete examples of how it works and what you need to have in place in order to effect significant change.
Noble High School North Berwick, ME http://knight.noble-hs.sad60.k12.me.us/ Presenters: Janice Eldridge - Teacher Christian Elkington - Principal Darcy Lajoie, Mandy Reynolds - Students	Noble High School’s reform agenda reflects changes from the early 1990s to the present including teaming, block scheduling, heterogeneous grouping and a core curriculum for all students. These reforms influenced the school’s transition to vertical, smaller learning communities during 2003-2004. Noble (CES/ 1991) is retaining its past reforms within smaller learning communities and will offer insight into the challenges of converting comprehensive schools into SLC’s. Noble’s decision to reorganize was based on the academic limitations of having grade level teams operating independently. Each academy’s 9-12 structure connects students and teams vertically, creating cohesive academic experiences. Principal, Christian Elkington, Teacher Janice Eldridge and three NHS students will share: 16 years of planning, the NHS Literacy Program, “Meeting the Standards School” make-up, its Dean structure and its 5th year of English/ math for every student. Positive gains in academic, attendance and disciplinary data will be shared.
North Providence High School - RI www.northprovidencehighschool.com Presenter: - David Groccia, English Teacher/ Senior Project Coordinator	Graduation through Proficiency: Senior Project NPHS is an urban ring school bordered by the two largest cities (Providence and Pawtucket) in Rhode Island. The school’s diverse population of 1200 provides NPHS with many obstacles which need to be overcome. However, due to the foresight and hard work of administration and faculty, NPHS has been able to successfully address its student’s needs. Our diploma system at NPHS has been lauded by NEASC and emulated by RIDE. During this session a teacher coordinator will explain Senior Project and the dramatic effect it has had upon not only the school, but the community as well. Topics will include, but are not limited to: What is Senior Project? How was it implemented? What systemic changes were needed? How has this project affected the community of NPHS?
South Texas High School for Health Professions - Mercedes, TX http://medhigh.stisd.net/ Presenter: Barbara L. Heater - Principal	Academic excellence is more than just a catchy slogan at the nontraditional magnet school known as Med High. It is nationally validated! Students are expected to not only know the academic content of their courses, but also to be able to apply the knowledge in real life situations as part of their basic coursework. As a foundation program, Med High serves its students well. About 98% of her graduates choose and attend college, with the remaining opting for service to America through the military. Empowerment of students, faculty, and staff members is a major key component!