Summary Slide

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Summary Slide

• Reading First! Everyday at home and
  at school.

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Reading First! Everyday at home and
at school.

• Matilda F. Dunston Elementary School
• 1825 Remount Road
• North Charleston, South Carolina
• Phone [phone]
• Patricia J. Schaffer, Principal

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Many things can wait the child cannot. Now is
the time his bones are being formed, his mind is
being developed. To him, we can not say
tomorrow his name is
today. Gabriela Mistral
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School Mission Statement

• The mission of Matilda F. Dunston Elementary
  School is APEx Achieving Performance
  Excellence.
• This means we will
• 1. Act responsibly.
• 2. Succeed academically.
• 3. Become life-long learners.

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School Goal for APEXAPEXAchieving Performance
EXcellence
At Dunston School we are Expecting
SUCCESS! Putting Students First! Implementing
Best Practice. Basing Decisions on
Research. Evaluating Success with Data.
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If you think of vision and mission as an
organizations head and heart, the values it
holds are its soul. Making Common Sense
Common Practice
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Expectations in Performance

• By the end of 2004-05, we will have no ratings of
  Unsatisfactory
• on our State Report Card.
• By the end of 2006-07, we will have an Absolute
  rating of Good or Excellent on our State Report
  Card.
• By the end of 2007, we will
• meet AYP for English Language Arts and Math on
  our State Report Card.

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School Leadership Team

• The principal will establish a school leadership
  team. They will be known as the KOTS team
  around our school..
• KOTS.
• Keepers of the Spirit! Team

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School Leadership Team
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Covenants for the Keepers of the Spirit Team

• The KOTS Team will serve as the Dunston School
  Leadership Team.
• Our team identified covenants or work agreements
  for ourselves. We signed off on team and
  individual commitments defining our work ethics.

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Team Commitments

• As a team, we will
• plan for success.
• be positive!
• support BEST practice.
• evaluate our work.
• read professionally.
• support the CCSD Plan for Excellence.
• We will be known as the Keepers of the Spirit.

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Individual Commitments

• As a team member, I will
• actively listen to others.
• attend meetings.
• be on time for meetings.
• share ideas.
• maintain confidentiality.
• meet weekly.
• follow an agenda for meetings.
• As a team member, I will be known as a Keeper of
  the Spirit.

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TEAMwork!
We want to develop a professional learning
community at our school where the teachers and
leadership work together to focus on student
learning. This requires TEAMwork!
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Components of Our School Plan
Keys to for the Dunston Plan

Coherent Curriculum
Integrated Instructional Plans
Tools for Evaluation
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Closing the Achievement Gap
To Close the Achievement Gap at Dunston we
will establish a Safe and Orderly school
climate. provide an Inclusive setting for
learning. accept NO Excuses.
We are in the Childrens Business. Matilda F.
Dunston
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Building a Learning Community

• At Dunston, we will Build a Learning Community
  through a positive school-wide approach to
  discipline.
• We will have
• five school rules.SPORT.
• four community agreements.
• include Morning Meetings
• in daily schedule in all classes..

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School Motto

• Our school motto is the Golden Rule.
• Treat others the way you want others to treat you.

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Staff Slogan

• Our staff slogan is a favorite saying from
  Matilda F. Dunston. Our school is named in honor
  of Mrs. Dunstons work in our community.
• We are in the childrens business!
• Matilda F. Dunston

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School Rules. SPORT
Safety First!
Take care of Property!
Maintain Order.
Respect self and others..
Be ON-Task.
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Four Agreements

• In our school learning community we will keep
  four agreements at all times.
• They are
• 1. Active Listening.
• 2. Mutual Respect
• 3. No Put Downs.
• 4. Right to Pass.

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Morning Meetings

• Morning Meetings will be held in all classrooms.
  Common time for meetings is reflected in the
  school schedule.
• We will use Morning Meetings to
• Set the agenda for the day.
• Develop a positive feeling tone in our school.
• Build the learning community in each classroom.

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Public Relations

• To support a learning community at our school, we
  will develop a public relations plan.
• Our PR plan will focus on
• new logo for our school.
• communication
• with staff, parents, and community.
• community involvement
• including mentors and speakers.

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New Logo
We chose a new logo to reflect our school goal.
Our mascot will be reading bears. Our school
slogan is Reading First! Everyday at home and
at school. BEAR at Dunston! BBe
EExcited AAbout RReading!
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Communication

• We will communicate with parents, teachers, and
  students to keep our school community informed
  about school happenings.
• We will
• send school-wide monthly newsletters/calendars
  to parents
• and business education partners.
• send weekly progress reports home on Tuesdays.
• send class news home on Tuesdays with WPRs.
• use email and/or eChalk.
• establish a phone tree of staff.

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Community Involvement

• TV-4 has selected our school as one of the
  communitys Lowcountry Promise schools this
  year.
• Getting the community involved in the school is
  the goal for Lowcountry Promise. This effort
  is part of Americas Promise.

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Lowcountry Promise

• The mission of Americas Promise is to mobilize
  people from every sector of American life to
  build the character and competence of our
  nations youth by fulfilling five promises.
• The five promises are
• 1. caring adults
• 2. safe places
• 3. healthy start
• 4. marketable skills
• 5. opportunities to serve

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Inclusion

• Our superintendent set the direction for our
  district to implement inclusion in all elementary
  schools so that we will better meet the needs of
  all students.

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Inclusion Advisory Group

• We established an Inclusion Advisory Group for
  our school.
• The IAG will meet with the principal to plan for
  success
• for all students at our school.

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Inclusion Advisory Group
The Inclusion Coach is an an hoc member of the
school Inclusion Advisory Group.
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IAG Process

• Our Inclusion Advisory Group followed a process
  to develop a plan for action.
• Step 1 Identify IAG members.
• Step 2 Meet for training.
• Step 3 Define a guiding purpose for the
  group.
• Step 4 Take StockPrioritize action needed.
• Step 5 Develop a Plan of Action for the
  Future
• Step 6 Monitor Plan for Success.

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Step 1--IAG

• Identify the Inclusion Advisory Group members.
• Our team will include
• principal
• grade level representatives
• school psychologist
• speech clinician
• resource teacher
• literacy teacher

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Step 2--Train

• Our Inclusion Advisory Group met in the summer
  for training with other school groups from our
  district. CCSD provided expert presenters to
  provide training for us.

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Step 3--Purpose

• At our school we will implement our Reading
  First! grant so that all students can read well
  by the end of grade three. This is our Guiding
  Purpose.
• We will
• provide an inclusive learning environment
• implement BEST practice.
• utilize data assessment to determine what
  works.

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Step 4Take Stock
Take StockPrioritize action needed. Our IAG
identified three activities that we rated as
priorities to get started with Inclusion at our
school. Priority items are 1. Time for
collaboration. 2. Schedule and calendar for
implementation. 3. Professional Development.
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Step 5--Plan

• Develop a Plan for Success.
• Our school Inclusion Advisory Group developed a
  plan for success for the five priority
  activities.
• Our plan includes
• activities.
• goals.
• strategies.
• evidence.
• tasks/timelines.

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Step 6--Monitor

• Our IAG will monitor our Plan for Success and
  make adjustments based on data.

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NO Excuses!
Excuses
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No matter how far you have gone on the wrong
road, turn back. Turkish proverb
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Turn Around!
Which way to go?
The Dunston Turn Around Model will focus on
school change and reading.
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Reading First!
Reading First! is
the turn around model we chose for our school.
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Reading First Team
The RF District Coordinator is an an hoc member
of the school RF team.
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Reading First will
enable and motivate teachers to
understand and confidently
implement SBRR programs,
strategies, skills and assessment in their
classrooms.
SBRR Scientific Based Reading Research
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5 Components of SBRR
Comprehension
Vocabulary
Fluency
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
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Reading First!

• Goal
• Every child will be reading well by the end of
  grade three.
• Note
• Well is proficient on grade
  level.

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Connections
APEX Achieving Performance Excellence
Life Goals.
No Child Left Behind
Home Reading Goals
Charleston Plan for Excellence
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Benefits of Reading First!
Professional Development
School-wide Literacy Focus
Instructional Materials
Intervention Support
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School-wide Literacy Focus

• At Dunston, all grade levels, will focus on
  literacy.
• We will accomplish this through
• A Comprehensive Reading program which
• is part of our Coherent Curriculum and
• based on our SC Standards.
• Implement SBRR through plans that include
• strategies, skills, and assessment.

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School-wide Literacy Focus

• At Dunston, we will put Reading First! through
  the implementation of our RF grant.
• This first year we will
• have an at-home reading program for all grades.
• integrate reading-writing-reading process
• into daily instruction.
• celebrate literacy.

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Professional Development

• Inquiry
• Study groups
• Coaching
• Collaboration and Conversation at various levels
  to ensure the sustainability of this initiative

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Instructional Materials

• At Dunston, we spent a good portion of our
  instructional materials budget on books.
• Materials were ordered through our Reading First
  grant funding to update classroom libraries, our
  shared materials, and our media center.

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Intervention Support

• A literacy teacher will be funded through the
  grant. She will provide intervention support for
  students through one-on-one instruction and by
  working with small groups.
• The literacy teacher will be Reading Recovery
  trained.

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School Organization
The organization at the school is based on a
shared leadership model. It is expected that the
principal is the instructional leader at the
school.
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Putting It All Together
School Success
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Funding School Improvement

• General Operating Fund
• Title I Homework Grant
• Act 135 Retraining Grant
• Year Long Comprehensive
• Reading First! Grant

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Principal as Instructional Leader What is the
role of the principal in school?
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Probably the most important and the most
difficultjob of an instructional leader is to
change the prevailing culture of a schoolA
schools culture has far more influence on life
and learning in the schoolhouse than the
president of the country, the state department of
education, the superintendent, the school board,
or even the principal, teachers, and parents can
ever have. Roland Barth Interview
with Michael Fullan Journal of Staff
Development, 2003
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• Principals have to be almost as concerned about
  the success of other schools in the district as
  they are about their own schools.
• ..focus on changing the culture of the school
• Changing the culture is important because it
  establishes norms of continuous interaction.
• The single factor common to successful change is
  that relationships improve. If relationships
  improve, schools get better.
• Interview with Michael Fullan
• Journal of Staff Development, 2003

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Instructional Planning Time
We provided time in our schedule for teachers to
meet together to plan units of
instruction. review assessment data. meet with
principal and support teams for reflection.
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To Think About.
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Charleston County Schools Best in South Carolina!