October 6,

At the starting line, we’re running a mile long race from a mile and a half behind !! This is the 41 st day of the school year. Approximately 140 days remain. We have been working to get school open, students registered, classes started, teacher assignments leveled, and implementation of strategies which are a part of the Turnaround Schools effort. 2

NamePrincipal 1.) Capitol ElementaryMona Collins 2.) Delmont ElementaryJill Saia 3.) Merrydale ElementaryToni Morgan 4.) Park ElementaryJessica Brister 5.) Mayfair MiddleLouis Moore 6.) Glen Oaks HighClinton Sampson 3

Enrollment Tchrs. Core/ESS/Pre-K 1.) Capitol Elementary ) Delmont Elementary ) Merrydale Elementary ) Park Elementary ) Mayfair Middle ) Glen Oaks High 745* 39 * Includes th Graders Approximately Averaging 16:1 PT Ratio Many Selected by Autonomous Principal Decision 4

) Capitol Elementary ) Delmont Elementary ) Merrydale Elementary ) Park Elementary ) Mayfair Middle ) Glen Oaks High

 Early ED Meetings with Principals and entire staff  to introduce myself and speak generally to our tasks for the year  Meetings with Principals to Review the 1003g Grant Requirements  ED Review and discuss each individual requirement and whether it has been implemented to date, if not, charge to begin implementation  ED Review budget for each program component, and revise, if funding or criteria has changed since submission  More substantive ED Meetings with each school staff  Review and discuss the requisites, speak to consequences both positive (financial incentives), and negative (removal from the Turnaround responsibility), and the expectations of the school, the principal, the teachers, and the students  ED visits to schools  To generally get to know the staff/operations/participate in events 6

 ED visitations and feedback to Principals  More Principal Time in Classrooms  Substantive Feedback to Teachers  Principal/Teacher training for Response to Intervention  Universal Screening  Diagnosis  Grouping for Targeted Instruction/Interventions  Implementation of interventions and direct instruction with fidelity  Instruction/Immediate follow-up for understanding  Progress Monitoring (weekly/bi-weekly)  Benchmarking (end of units/6 weeks or 9 weeks based on grade level and pacing documents  Re-teaching as indicated by assessments  Continue to work on and implement PBIS (as cognition is very fragile) SAMs 7

 Cognizance of Competence and Ratings of All  Courageous Conversation  Between teacher and principal  Between principal and ED  Between ED and Superintendent 8

 Review job descriptions and prepare professional growth plans for discussion and sign-off  Implement instructional strategies in multiple tiered groups, with fidelity  Text and intervention materials  EBR Curriculum Guide  EBR Pacing Guides  LA Instructional tools and Assessment Guides  Principal observation and feedback  Receive/Review/Evaluate first Benchmark Assessment  Implement Response to Intervention strategies in multiple tiered groups, with fidelity, based on the data  High expectations for teacher and student performance  Check for understanding/Celebrate success or Reteach/Intervene 9

 All Free to Think and Innovate, and Have New Ideas Considered  No Administrative Arrogance – A Total Team Effort !!  Teacher Teaming/Leadership  Student Peer Teams/Study Groups  Regrouping for Instruction Based on Data  Student/Teacher/Administrative Incentives  Broadened Experiences for Students  Relevance at Every Opportunity  Work to have everyone feel LOVED, LIKED, RESPECTED, REWARDED, AND STROKED !!  Tag Team the Instruction Where Needed  No Limits on More Effective Use of Time 10

 We will monitor data and make decisions to target instruction in tiered groups using RTI strategies  We will periodically report to the Superintendent and the Board as to how things are going  We will have high expectations and push all in the arena to run faster  We will care about the students in our charge and let them know we care !!! 11

As we continue the race, I leave you with this quote: “We can whenever and wherever we chose, educate all children whose education is of interest to us, we know more than we need to know to do that. Whether or not we do must ultimately depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far”. Ron Edmonds, Ph.D. Professor/Researcher/Educator Michigan State University, East Lansing

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