By Gail Regina Kendra Stewart

Dogwood High School is located in west North Carolina and was named after the state flower. This ninth through twelfth grade school serves approximately 1148 students. This building has around 187 staff members that provide full or part- time instruction, guidance, resource, academic coaching, secretarial, custodial, and administrative support. The single-story building was built on 10 acres in There are both tree-shaded and an open areas for students. Currently, Dogwood is structured with single grade level-hallways. Cross collaboration and rotation of classes intermittently happen for specific academic areas. Dogwood offers a comprehensive curriculum to prepare students for the future through reading/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, media and technology, art, music, and physical education.

Student to teacher ratio: 22.4 Free and reduced Lunch: 35% Economically Disadvantaged: 83.1% Student Receiving Exceptional Children Services: 13.9% Students Enrolled in Academically Gifted Programs: 9.0% Attendance Rate: 92.7%

Recently, the school has cut money used to run buses for the remediation program. This program is imperative in giving students the extra edge academically.  LOST STUDENTS: Need to reach students stuck in the middle; that why we target students with C average and below even though C is passing  STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND MOTIVATION: Hard to find a way to provide direct intervention, support, enrichment and engagement for all students  LACK OF 21ST CENTURY INSTURCUTION: Offers chance to practice PLC methods and explore creative teaching methods to address multiple learning styles because; teachers more likely to try something new in non-tested areas  BUDGET BOUNDARIES: Way to offer students same services despite budget cuts

When making the decision to alter our entire school day to accommodate an enrichment/remediation block we followed the School Climate Improvement Process:

Student, Teacher, Parent Surveys Benchmarks EOC Score for current year and previous year Locally adopted assessments Classroom performance Student who are failing two or more grades I have sample surveys/results we could use if we choose...

Impact of Difficulties Discipline incidents Classroom disruptions Missing/Incomplete Assignments Students failing or at risk of failing (see student survey) Dropout Student Behaviors regular school attendance Student apathy (see student survey) **NEEDS MORE...

Professional Development on Multiple Learning Styles and Effective Small Group Interaction & Instruction Weekly SWOT team meetings to discuss strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats PLCs on Research behind successful intervention strategies (we could hyperlink to our Research findings) Development of an Action Plan (we could hyperlink to an Action Plan)

Traditional School Schedule: 7:50 – 9:30 1st Period (extra time allotted due to announcements) 9:35 – 11:05 2nd Period 11:10 – 1:05 3rd Period with built in lunches 11:00 – 11:35 A Lunch 11:45 – 12:20 B Lunch 12:30 – 1:05 C Lunch 1:10 – 2:40 4th Period 2:40 Dismissal New Schedule: (Tuesdays & Thursdays) 7:50 – 9:15 1st Period (use video announcements during lunch every day) 9:20 -10:00 Remediation/ enrichment period 10:05-11:35 2nd Period 11:40 – 1:20 3rd Period with built in lunches 11:40 – 12:10 A Lunch 12:15 – 12:45 B Lunch 12:50 – 1:20 C Lunch 1:20 – 2:40 4th Period Shaved 5 minutes off of each Reduced lunch by 5 minutes Reduced the amount of time between lunches by 5 minutes Allows for a 50 minute remediation and enrichment block Teachers already have cafeteria duty, could just beef up student supervision to make sure they are being as tidy as possible to help cafeteria staff with transitions Put remediation period after first period to prevent students from viewing enrichment as an optional activity.

After two semesters of implementation, the School Improvement Team will analyze: Impact of Difficulties Discipline incidents Classroom disruptions Missing/Incomplete Assignments Students failing or at risk of failing (see student survey) Dropout* Student Behaviors regular school attendance Student apathy (see student survey) **NEEDS MORE...

Quote: “a semester-length course taken twice a week or once a week is by definition more intensive than the same course taken three times a week.” Source: Gallo, M. A., & Odu, M. (2009). Examining the relationship between class scheduling and student achievement in College Algebra. Community College Review, 36(4), Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Use: By scheduling enrichment twice a week, more intensive, focused remediation is taking effect. Quote: “Building a high school schedule around the needs of the students rather than plugging the students into the schedule provides opportunities to teach the expanded core curriculum and offers appropriate pacing of mandated core courses.” Source: Lohmeier, K. L. (2007). Integrating expanded core sessions into the K-12 program: A high school scheduling approach. Re:View, 39(1), Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Use: Reminds us that scheduling should be student-friendly and focused on successful intervention as a proactive approach.

QUOTE: Thinking strategically means school must make "better use of time and resources” (Gerard,2007, p. 56) without extending the school day Source: Gerard, V.(2007). Year-Round Schools Look Better All the Time. Communicator (30)1, USE: Although longer school days and school years are widely supported, this schedule will allow school to directly impact student achievement without time extension; important because many high school students have jobs and responsibilities after school; we also could used this research to justify the decision to pull time out of classes and lunches QUOTE: “[Schedule decisions are] situational, dependent on the make-up of each school population” (Klein,2004, p.448). Source: Klein, J.(2001). Attention, scholastic achievement and timing of lesson. ScandinavianJournal of EducationalResearch, 45(3), 301–309. USE: We decided to put this block in the mornings rather than at the end of the day in an attempt to prevent students as seeing this time as "optional" and checking out of school early; putting this period in the morning will also accommodate the schedules of juniors and seniors who have internships and extensions classes off campus in the afternoons PARAPHRASE: As schools move to fulfill the rigors of a 21st century education, educators are expected to actively and continuously seek ways to enhance instruction and improve student learning. The pursuit of this level of instructional efficacy an only occur in an environment where the key resources of people and time are used strategically. Source: Miles,K., & Frank, S. (2008). The strategic school: Making the most ofpeople, time and money. ThousandOaks, CA: Corwin Press. USE: We recognized the need for immediate and drastic intervention and did not allow budget constraints to limit the services we provide to our students.