Valley Park Middle School

1
Valley Park Middle School

• Running with Character
• MASSP Fall Conference Presentation

2
Introductions

• Valley Park Middle Leadership Team Members
• David Fleer Physical Education / PIC
• Dr. Tad Savage - Principal

3
School Demographics

• Valley Park Middle School (VPMS) is home to 241
  students, thirty-four certified staff, and
  seventeen support personnel. Valley Parks
  socio-economic status is low to middle class,
  with much of the community made up of starter
  homes contributing to a high transient
  population.
• 67 - Caucasian 17 - Special Education
• 24 - African-American 22 - St. Louis
  desegregation
• 8 - Asian and Hispanic 52 - Free and reduced
  lunch

4
Valley Park Middle School

• Will a fully implemented character education
  program make a difference in your school?
• Proof is in the data

5
Evidence of Effectiveness

• Discipline Data 4 Areas
• Average Daily Attendance
• Academic Achievement Data 3 Areas
• Student, Parent, and Teacher Survey Data

6
Number of Discipline Referrals

• 2003 to 2009 50 Decrease
• 785 Office Referrals (2003)
• 393 Office Referrals (2009)

7
Positive Intervention Center (PIC)

• 2003 to 2009 62 Decrease
• 843 Days in PIC (2003)
• 320 Days in PIC (2009)

8
Bus Suspensions

• 2003 to 2009 48 Decrease
• 54 Bus suspension days (2003)
• 28 Bus suspension days (2009)

9
OSS

• 2003 to 2009 72 Decrease
• 356 Days lost to OSS (2003)
• 101 Days lost to OSS (2009)

10
Attendance

• 2003 to 2009 1.6 Increase
• Attendance in 2003 - 93.7.
• Attendance in 2009 - 95.3.

11
Academic AchievementReading

• 2003 - 49.5 of students read at or above grade
  level.
• 2009 - 74 of students read at or above grade
  level.

12
Academic AchievementGrades

• 2003 - 43 of students earned at least one A or
  B on their report card.
• 2009 - 74 of students earned at least one A or
  B on their report card.

13
VPMS MAP Comm Arts Scores

• 2002 Communication Arts 20
• 2009 Communication Arts 65.3State Goal in
  2009 was 59.2 Proficient and Advanced in
  Communication Arts

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VPMS MAP Math Scores

• 2002 Math 20
• 2009 Math 68State Goal in 2008 was 54.1
  Proficient and Advanced in Mathematics

15
Our 11 Guiding Principles

• Character Education Partnership
• (CEP)
• www.character.org
• Quick Guide Handout

16
Getting Started - 2003

• Surveyed students, staff, and parents on the 11
  Principles of Character Education
• Character Education Partnership (CEP)

17
Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
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Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
19
Year One - 2004
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Year One - 2004

• School Leadership Team of the Principal,
  Counselor, 2 Teachers and a Parent was formed

21
Year One - 2004

• First goal of the SLT was interpret data gathered
  from surveys
• SLT began working on an action plan to assess
  needs identified in the survey.
• Goals for the first year were Student Autonomy
  and Sense of Belonging

22
Year One - 2004

• Faculty was trained on the 11 Principles
• Defined our character traits that were
  appropriate to VPMS
• Input came from faculty, students, parents and
  community members

23
Year One - 2004

• SLT submitted a Character Education policy to our
  board of education
• The policy was adopted as a district policy and
  not just a school policy

24
Year One - 2004

• Big ideas for the first year
• Get people talking about character education
• Get more students, teachers and parents involved
  in the program

25
Year One - 2004

• Not everyone was on board. Many saw character
  education as something that will go away sooner
  or later
• SLT helped to initiate discussion on character
  education and the new climate of VPMS

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Red Ribbon Week
St. Jude Math-a-thon
Crossing Jordan
Hawk Time
Valley Park Middle School Character Umbrella
Seedfolks
Home Visits
Yes Pa
PTO
Play 60
Friday E-Mail Updates
Hoops 4 Heart
Community Outreach Events
Breakfast Club
Peer Mediation
Classroom Integration
Staff In-Service 11 Principles
Class Meetings
TAAG
Boys Town
C SLT
Circle of Concern Food Drives
Horizon Hawk Time
Shoe Man
Character Posters
ZAP/ELO
Sunshine Committee
Sportsmanship T-Shirts
Business Partnerships
Character Council
Stream Team
Professional Role Models
Back to School Picnic
VPMS NSOC Fun Run
B.A.N.
B.O.Y. B.
Firehouse 2
Announcements
Girls On The Run
Caught With Character
District C Stars Breakfast
Cyberbullying Awareness
Ronald McDonald House
National Junior Honor Society
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Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
28
Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
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Year Two - 2005
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Year Two - 2005

• Reassessment Year
• Looked at new data
• Evaluated areas of gains and setbacks
• Time to step up training

31
Year Two - 2005

• Look at previous years data
• The survey data helped us modify goals and
  objectives in our action plan to meet our
  schools needs

32
Year Two - 2005

• Caring Schools Community Class Meetings in the
  Content Area
• Helped give students feelings of autonomy and
  belonging
• Class meetings now used for multiple purposes

33
Year Two - 2005

• Training included writing lesson plans for all
  subject areas
• VPMS teachers worked with CSD to pilot video
• 2006 Promising Practice

34
Year Two - 2005

• Peer Mediation became our second initiative
• Students wanted more of a voice on how to handle
  peer conflicts
• Program is run by the counselor and teacher as
  well as a well-trained group of students

35
Year Two - 2005

• Program was developed by looking at other
  programs in Missouri, as well as around the
  country
• VPMS has developed a very successful Peer
  Mediation overnight camp for our students

36
Year Two - 2005

• Our students work together to solve the problem
• All VPMS students get the opportunity to learn
  conflict resolution techniques to use in real
  life
• 2007 Promising Practice

37
Year Two - 2005

• The Parent/Teacher Organization was our final
  initiative in this year
• Our SLT determined that in order for our students
  to be successful, parents need to be a part of
  the process

38
Year Two - 2005

• PTO was created to help our students and support
  our character education program

39
Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
40
Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
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Year Three and Beyond
42
Year Three and Beyond

• Past themes include
• Building Character
• Cooking With Character
• Growing in Character
• Running With Character

43
Year Three and Beyond

• Adult role models became a focus for VPMS
• Our TAAG program helps to drive the message home
• Family Court judge volunteers her time to mentor
  some of our students to help them be successful

44
Year Three and Beyond

• Principal walk-through to look for evidence of
  the use of character education
• Curriculum Integration became a very large part
  of the process
• Character Education does not always have to be
  planned
• teachable moments

45
Year Three and Beyond

• An area of concern for us as a faculty, was our
  advisory, or Hawk Time
• What can we do to make the time we spend with our
  students more meaningful?
• We revamped our Hawk Time to be able to have more
  character time

46
Year Three and Beyond

• Monday Read For Character Days
• Character Books/Articles/Current Events that
  emphasize character education

47
Year Three and Beyond

• Tuesday Character Education Days
• Lessons in character that emphasize the word of
  the month or the previous days reading
• Wednesday Service Learning Day
• Each grade level community focuses on a project
  of their choice

48
Year Three and Beyond

• Thursday Academic Advisory
• Students get academic assistance from teachers
• Friday
• Team Time
• Activities for each grade level picked by the
  team

49
Year Three and Beyond

• Horizon Hawk Time
• Special activity days
• Multiple grade span
• Everyone gets a chance to choose something
  different
• Only done 4 times a year

50
Year Three and Beyond

• 2008 Promising Practice Winner for Positive
  Intervention Center (PIC)

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Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
52
Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
53
Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
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Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
55
Additional Information

• If you want more information or to see more
  materials we use, please visit our website
• www.vp.k12.mo.us
• or email at tsavage_at_vp.k12.mo.us