Flory Academy

School Information

School Name:       Flory Academy of Sciences & Technology
School Address:   240 Flory Avenue
                              Moorpark, CA  93021
School Phone:      805-378-6303
School Fax:          805-531-6609
Principal:              Pam Hill      
Principal email:    phill@mrpk.org

Demographics

Number of Students:     497
Number Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch:  138
Percent of Limited English Proficient:       21%
Percent of Special Education:           11%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White     42%
• Black      1%
• Hispanic 34%
• Asian/Pacific Island   13%
• Other     10%

 

Please list source of comparison data:

Growth Following Inception of Professional Learning Community in the 2003-2004 School Year:

Missouri Assessment Program: Math Proficient and Advanced

Year	API CA	AYP met ?
02-03	774	yes
03-04	806	yes
04-05	853	yes
05-06	856	yes
06-07	892	yes

 

English-Language Arts (School/ State Comparison):

FAST (Flory Academy of Sciences & Technology) /State of California

ELA	04-05 FAST/State	05-06 FAST/State	06-07 FAST/State
2nd	77/42	70/47	78/48
3rd	68/31	77/36	71/37
4th	63/47	71/49	80/51
5th	47/43	54/43	62/44

 

Math	04-05 FAST/State	05-06 FAST/State	06-07 FAST/State
2nd	87/56	77/59	92/59
3rd	83/54	95/58	90/58
4th	58/50	73/54	87/56
5th	42/44	62/48	65/49

 

Science	04-05 FAST/State	05-06 FAST/State	06-07 FAST/State
5th	45/28	52/32	62/37

 

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you feel is particularly significant.

The data shown above clearly demonstrates the benefits of the development and implementation of a professional learning community at Flory Academy of Sciences & Technology (FAST). At the beginning of the implementation process, our jump in API scores was dramatic.  With changes in personnel and  more significant work to change from a textbook driven school to a standards driven school, our growth slowed slightly.  During the 2006-2007 school year, the staff felt that a significant change took place as we moved from PLC expectations to a PLC culture.  This resulted in another rise in student success as evidenced by our scores.

                          
Please present additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact on students and/or teachers.

Four years ago, the Moorpark Unified School District completed a two year process to reassess school configurations. This was accomplished by a committee of parents, community members, teachers, and administrators.  At the end of this process, it was decided that Flory School would change from its configuration as a  fourth and fifth grade only school to Flory Academy of Sciences & Technology,  a Kindergarten through fifth grade school with an emphasis on the sciences.  In looking at this immense challenge, my staff and I realized that this could not be accomplished in a school made up  of “independent contractors.”  I had attended several DuFour presentations and realized that this was the perfect opportunity to implement the ideas for collaboration and working together as a Professional Learning Community.  If we were to be successful, we would need to work together to create a unique environment that integrated math, science, and technology throughout the curriculum. The next step was immense.  With help from DuFour presentations and other experts in the field, we began to rearrange staff to create teams to move us from being textbook driven to standards driven. At the same time, we needed to work with the staff to find ways to integrate math, science, and technology across the curriculum using as many hands-on learning techniques as possible.  We also moved to an emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking.  To do this each grade level began designing their new curriculum which we organized into curriculum binders or electronic folders.  A Professional Learning Community procedure was then established so that the student data was analyzed on an ongoing basis to determine best practices to help all students. This procedure has undergone several revisions as we reevaluated our process and agreed upon a design that truly produced the desired results.  The current format we are using for PLC meetings is shown in Appendix A. Each teacher has a copy of this in their handbook and it is in the front of every curriculum binder.  We refer to the PLC chart many times during the year, and both the Coordinator and I sit in on PLC meetings to help keep the process focused and moving forward. The process was not always an easy one.  We all had to learn to trust each other, be able to voice and accept differences of opinion, come to consensus, and focus discussions on students rather than teachers, learning rather than teaching.  We set norms for meetings and eliminated the use of the words “can’t” and “won’t work” until we had given each idea a good try. At one point, we even brought in a private counselor to work with us on ways to disagree without taking things personally.
The results of all this work?  While retaining a diverse student population by using a lottery system to select students, our California standardized scores (API)  have gone from 774 to 892 in just four years. We have developed a Professional Learning Community culture that is comfortable for all staff and “the way we do business at FAST.”  One of the most exciting developments to come out of our FAST PLC is our relationship with California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.  Because we work as a PLC, we were chosen to pilot a Professional Development School relationship with them.  They hold classes on our campus so that their faculty and students can observe us in action.  Our teachers are released to teach some of their sessions, and CLU staff provide ongoing inservices and workshops for our staff.  Our teachers are now considered adjunct CLU faculty members.  We have student teachers, methods students, and interns (a pilot program created specifically for Flory), professors, and other CLU personnel joining us on a daily basis.  A number of our teachers are attending training to become evaluators of student teachers at FAST and other sites.
The past few years have been extremely busy and adventurous ones at FAST.  We owe our success to the collaboration that takes place on a daily basis through the PLC model.

 

Please elaborate upon strategies you have found to be effective in any of the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

At the beginning of the year, we assess school, grade level, and individual student data in order to set our goals for the year. We examine progress in each of these areas using data from previous years in order to monitor our students learning.  Each grade level team sets SMART (Systematic, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely)  goals for the year and identifies students who will need extra help.  At the end of each trimester, we administer common benchmark assessments, then meet to evaluate them, again looking for growth and determining what needs to be accomplished for each student.    While it is important to review the major overall yearly or trimester scores, we also realize the importance of monitoring day to day progress on an ongoing basis. Through creative scheduling and teacher dedication to student success, we have found time for our staff to collaborate weekly. During this time, teachers use the process outlined in our Professional Learning Community chart (Appendix A).  Lessons are planned collaboratively and then a common assessment is used to assess student progress.  Teachers bring student work and results to their next meeting to evaluate the lesson, identify best practices, and make plans for interventions or expanded learning opportunities.  Assessment results are used to determine gaps in the lesson itself to find out how specific groups of students such as second language learners did and are progressing and to find ways to assist at-risk students.

 

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

We have developed a number of ways to support student learning.  Our Rise and Shine program is a before-school intervention program provided for students who need additional support.  Classroom teachers work with identified students in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics according to student need.  Realizing that not all students can come early, each grade level has a daily time during the school day that we refer to as Launch Teaming. During this time, all students leave their home rooms to participate in intervention and/or extension classes, giving each child a chance to be challenged at his or her own level. We changed the name from Gap Teaming which implies that we will close the gap by moving the lower achieving students up while moving the more successful students down or keeping them in the same place while the others catch up. The term Launch Teaming was also created to reflect our NASA Explorer School status.  After school, we have an extended day program called Success Express.  Students who need additional time and help can participate in this program for assistance with homework as well as take part in many enrichment and extension activities such as drama, music, science, provided to all students who enroll. 
Flory Academy is implementing the Response to Intervention (RtI) model along with the Moorpark Unified School District.  Administrators and teacher representatives have attended numerous workshops in our district and at the Ventura County Office of Education.  Our teachers have worked in grade-alike groups with other district schools to define cut scores for a three tiered program of interventions.  They are evaluating research based intervention programs to use in the first two tiers and have also identified numerous effective strategies to assist at-risk students in the classroom and through other intervention services. The three tiered RtI intervention program is shown below.

RTI/Problem -Solving Process:Multi-Tiered Intervention

Tier 3 --1-5% Intensive
 Individualized, intensive interventions
Tier 2 –5-15% Targeted
Targeted, specific, high efficiency prevention and intervention services for at-risk students
Tier 1 –80-90% Universal
High quality instruction and positive behavioral support for ALL students

Tier 3: Despite intensity & duration of interventions, progress not made.  Consider SpEd Services.

Tier 2: Students at risk given higher intensity/duration interventions in/out of classroom.

Tier 1: Core instruction/universal interventions Preventive/Proactive Differentiation of Instruction

 

Parent participation is another vitally important piece of the educational puzzle.  Parent volunteers work with groups in the classrooms.  In addition to those who always volunteer, we make sure to encourage those parents who will benefit by learning more about ways to support their own child to attend evening classes on such topics as how to help children with math or language arts. Literacy nights are held for families of our second language learners, and students become teachers of family members as they learn English conversational skills, some phonics, and reading skills. Math nights provide instruction and supplies to take home to play learning games with their children.  Parents and other community members also attend second language computer and English classes on our campus.  Parents, staff, and the community work together as a team to support student learning.

3. Building the capacity of teachers to work as members of high performing collaborative teams who focus the efforts of their team on improved learning for students.

During our development of working together as a Professional Learning Community, we have certainly experienced challenges and growing pains.  Perhaps the greatest capacity building has come through experiencing success.  Each time members of the staff stepped out of their comfort zone to work in collaborative teams, student success has been an almost immediate result.  Scores over time have shown that the most student success comes from the most effective collaborative teams.  During many staff meetings, teachers talk about the excitement they share with their team when a unit or lesson is successful.  We are encouraging teachers to begin adding a phrase at the end of successful team planned lessons that states, “A product of FAST teacher collaboration.”  All of us need help from time to time, so if a team is struggling or begins to lose focus of the PLC, we provide the opportunity to observe other teams, or we sit together to establish agendas and assist with facilitation. Many people from other districts or learning institutions visit Flory Academy.  Almost every one of them comment on the excitement and enthusiasm of the staff and students.  Nothing succeeds like success, and that is very evident as we build the capacity of every teacher in our Professional Learning Community.

 

List any awards and recognition garnered by your school

• California Distinguished School
• Magnet School of America status and three year grant
• NASA Explorer School status and three year grant
• Title I Academic Achievement School