International School

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International School

• Year End Update
• June 4, 2008

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School Mission

• The International School strives to offer the
  best comprehensive secondary education in the
  United States. It provides a unique focus on the
  phenomenon of globalization and actively teaches
  the principles of global citizenship. The school
  takes a leadership role in education in
  developing the most integrated and effective
  curriculum in all academic areas. It also
  provides the most nurturing and supportive
  learning community involving students, parents,
  faculty, and administration. The International
  School continually measures its practice against
  the best, in order to set the standard for all.

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Tonights Goals

• Give an honest assessment of where we are as a
  school
• Provide additional good news about our school
• Share and discuss some areas of concerns
• Discuss next steps and areas for improvement
• Some question and answers, and begin a dialog
  around community wide issues.

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The good news

• Highest performing school in the district, and
  one of the highest performing schools in the
  country

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The best secondary education

• GPA
• Low failure rate
• College Preparation
• AP Other measures

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International School Highest GPA of all High
Schools in the District for 3 years straight
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I.S. Lowest DF rate in the district-Again!
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US News World Report

• IS Ranked 5 in the country
• Highest in the district and the state
• Based on combination of factors including WASL,
  of tests taken, and AP passage rate.

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Newsweek Ranking

• International ranked 10 by Newsweek magazine.
• Highest ever ranking and highest ranking in the
  state.

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2008 National Merit Finalists

• 4- Highest ever
• Steven Ambo
• Logan Gowdey
• Katie Nelson
• Lucas Petrucci

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2009 National Merit Scholarship Program

• 13
• Highest ever in our school.
• Megan Addison
• Charles Cooper
• Philip de Sa e Silva,
• Leah Fantle
• Dandi Huang
• Jonathan Matson
• Paul Malmsten
• Allison Reeder
• Andrea Rogers
• Jessica Smith
• Maia Szafer,
• Anthony Trinh
• Sophia Welti

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1 in the State of Washington

• Most physically fit secondary school in the State
  of Washington.
• Washington Health Federation-Governors Health
  Bowl Challenge
• 5,000 award to our PE department for this
  amazing effort.

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Our student admitted to college at an amazing rate

• 24 of 28 admitted to UW in most selective year
  ever
• 5 students admitted to UW Honors Program
• Stanford, USC, Santa Clara, Washington
  University, Brown, Georgetown, Boston University,
  Gonzaga, Whitman, Kenyon, Cal Poly, Rensalaer
  Technical institute, Purdue, Notre Dame, Duke,
  Arizona State University, Western Washington,
  SPU, Seattle U., and many others.

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Scholarships Awards

• Too many to list, but here are a few highlights
• 2 Presidential Scholarship Nominees
• Steven Ambo
• Katie Nelson
• 1 Herff Jones Leadership Recipient
• Katie Nelson
• Washington Scholar (4 year tuition to any school
  in the state of Washington)
• Logan Gowdey

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More Honors

• Full Ride Scholarship to Arizona State University
• Scott Spencer
• Boston University Trustees Scholarship
• Logan Gowdey
• Mary Gates Scholarship Recipient

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More good news Student service and student
citizenship

• Our kids care about making the world they live in
  better. They are demonstrating strong
  citizenship.
• Bite of International
• Flood Relief for Southwest Washington
• Relay for Life
• Senior Prom for senior citizens

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Areas of reflection and continued improvement

• PDC
• Homework survey
• IB discussion and inquiry
• PTSA
• Continued support for library, extended tutorial
• New SAT review class started
• BSF
• A math support instructional assistant was hired
  to support middle school math students.
• School District
• Continued reflection and modification of
  curriculum

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Economic Reality

• There is a district wide budget reduction (4.8
  Million over two years). Every school is being
  impacted. Our major reduction is in the area of
  allocation of funds for teachers (FTE).
• .9 FTE reduction (1.0 FTE 1 full time teacher)
• There will also be a smaller building budget as
  well.
• These same kinds of reductions are occurring
  across the district.

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Multiple departments are receiving some
reductions.

• Humanities
• International Studies
• PE
• French
• German
• Counseling

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Average Class Sizes

• Humanities 27.9
• I.S. 29.5
• Science 26.5
• Math 25.3
• French 27
• German 24.6
• PE 28
• Art 27
• Music 36.7
• School Avg. 28

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We will continue to be great

• While the reductions make for a tighter class
  sizes, overall, we are in very good shape.
• The secondary average class size is about 29. We
  are slightly below this average.
• We will have the best instruction, and the best
  support in every classroom.

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Questions about Staffing or budget?
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The tough news

• Community, citizenship, and responsibility
• A note A large portion of our students are very
  well behaved, make excellent choices, and are
  good citizens of the school.
• Recent events have led to believe, however, that
  we have some work to do with some of our students
  in the area of personal responsibility and
  citizenship toward the school.

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Drinking Drug Use

• Most recent incident
• Approximately 7 students directly involved over a
  period of about 3 to 4 weeks.
• Drinking occurred mostly during lunch time.
• One day, two students went to the emergency room.
• The alcohol was stolen (be a few of the 7
  students) from their homes and brought to school
  without parent knowledge.
• Some other students knew about what was going on,
  but either chose not to tell any adults, or did
  not know how to tell an adult.

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Drinking and drug use continued

• Ashland Focus Week Trip this year
• 911 call for drug over dose
• 3 students suspended for drinking or drug use.
• Other senior students involved, but conspired to
  cover up what occurred.
• Past focus week trips, stories of students
  drinking as well
• Parents and students have reported that some
  students were bragging about alcohol and drug use
  on FaceBook.

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School Culture?

• While the most recent and dramatic event of
  middle school students drinking during lunch was
  shocking, what was also concerning was a possible
  acceptance of drinking and drug use by some
  students during school events across grade
  levels.

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What we did?

• Revise lunch policy
• Safety first (bathrooms and library are now open)
• Student class meetings
• A community Forum
• Teachers have met to discuss new guidelines for
  over night trips, etc. These will be announced
  soon.

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Student Perspective
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Next Steps

• Will need to revise lunch policy again.
• It cant be the way it was before but we need
  more space. I am considering several options.
• Continued dialog with l students and staff about
  building a stronger community between and among
  grades.
• Discussion around teaching responsibility on
  multiple levels individual, for your friends,
  your family, and your community.
• Continued discussion around drug and alcohol
  issues Its a societal issue, and it takes a
  broad based response.

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Discussion Questions?
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The future

• Were in great shape however, like any community
  we have definite areas for improvement.
• But, we cant be complacent we need to focus on
  our core goals, continue to analyze the data,
  continue to collaborate, and continue to find
  ways to improve our school community in all
  areas academic, emotional and physical.
• I look forward to the journey with you.