Hillcrest Middle School School Success Plan

Our Mission At Hillcrest we foster a positive, engaging learning environment that encourages students to grow both academically and as a community of responsible, respectful and caring individuals.

Our Vision Hillcrest is an inclusive environment that inspires lifelong learning, nurtures emotional well being and promotes care and respect for self, others and our global community.

Our Values CARE Care, Achieve, Respect and Encourage

School Success Plan Teaching and Learning Literacy, Numeracy Pathways, Community Culture and Caring Climate for Learning Character Education Bullying Prevention and Intervention Mental Health

Bullying Survey May 2013 Your Voice Counts May 2014

Some Successes Students feel like they belong at this school and they feel safe Students feel their parents are involved in their learning Parents know what’s going on at Hillcrest

Some Areas of Need 94% of staff, 54% of students, and 83% of parents felt that students are treated fairly 70% of staff, 55% of students, and 55% of parents felt that students’ ideas are used to improve our school

Bullying Prevention and Intervention If we explicitly teach proactive and responsive character and bullying prevention and intervention strategies to all member of our Learning Community, we will collectively promote and sustain student well-being and positive student behaviour within a safe and healthy learning environment at Hillcrest.

Mental Health If we promote mental health awareness through programming in Physical Education, DPA, Dance, Outdoor Education, Health, Character Education, extra-curricular activities, and presentations and workshops for students, teachers and parent/guardians, then we will create a healthy, resilient and inclusive school community while increasing our collective understanding and responsiveness to mental health issues in our school.

Character Education Developing an understanding of self and others Grade 6 – The Character Attributes Grade 7 – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Grade 8 – Me to We

Character Education Who am I? What is my role in a global world? Responsible Digital Citizenship Learning Skills, Goal Setting and Student Led Conferences iStories Bullying Prevention and Intervention The Restorative Mindset and the Language of Repair Inclusivity Mental Health Choose Action

Bullying Prevention and Intervention November 2014 – March 2015 Grade 7 Red Cross Bullying and Harassment Prevention Training Bullying Prevention Week - Grade 8 facilitators

Student leadership House League captains Grade 8 student mentors Grade 8 student mentors Terry Fox Champions Terry Fox Champions Principal’s Council Social Justice and Me to We Initiatives Social Justice and Me to We Initiatives Celebrations of Student Success CARE assemblies Newsletters, pictures, displays of student work Clubs, teams and activities

Mental and Physical Health Physical Health PE, DPA, Dance and Drama PE, DPA, Dance and Drama House league activities House league activities Teams and clubs Teams and clubs Mental Health Awareness Health/Character Education classes Health/Character Education classes Guidance and Learning Support Guidance and Learning Support Parent presentations Parent presentations

Knowing our Students Student Reflections Student Reflections Student Led Conferences Student Led ConferencesiStories Principal’s Council Principal’s Council

What are they saying?

Teaching and Learning

Our Data Our Data Achievement Data Achievement Data EQAO Diagnostic Testing September/October 2014 English, French, Mathematics

21 st Century Learning

Teaching and Learning Critical Thinking Numeracy and Literacy

Numeracy If we use rich tasks with clear success criteria based on curriculum expectations, then students will solve problems by engaging and persevering, and by consolidating and clearly demonstrating their thinking as shown in our EQAO and report card results: 75% of our students will achieve a level 3 or 4 in Mathematics.

Literacy If we use overarching guiding questions to address curriculum expectations, clearly articulate success criteria with students, and explicitly teach them to use the intellectual tools for critical thinking then students will improve in their ability to communicate their thinking across multiple subject areas by a grade level.

Critical Thinking Consortium Inquiry based teaching and learning

Critical Thinking Professional development opportunities for teachers  Staff meetings  Math Networks – Grades 7-10 and Grades 5-6  Collaborative Inquiries by teachers

Critical Thinking opportunities for students Performing Arts Program Forest of Reading Program Science and Math Clubs Math Contests, Science events Curriculum extensions Technology for Learning

Teaching and Learning Plan Pathways Transition planning supports the success of our students both entering and leaving Hillcrest

Next Steps Student profiles Transition Planning  feeder school principals and support personnel  secondary school principals and support personnel  feeder school teachers

Next Steps Hillcrest Road Show (April) Feeder school parent information evening (May) and feeder school visits to Hillcrest (June) Secondary school presentations to grade 8 students at Hillcrest (Oct-Dec) Student visits to Lorne Park SS (English) and Clarkson SS (FI) (Oct-Nov) Secondary program information posted on website Middle school program information posted on website

Community, Culture and Caring Community, Culture and Caring Parent Engagement Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

Parent Engagement at Hillcrest Community BBQ and Open House (September, 2014) School Council Hillcrest Volunteer program Student led conferences (November, 2014) Education Week (April, 2014) Presentations to parents

Communication  Monthly newsletters  School website  Weekly blast to parents  CARE assemblies  Student recognition

Thank you for supporting our work with students!