Francis Howell High School

School Information

School Name:  Francis Howell High School
School Address:  7001 Highway 94 South
                        St. Charles, Missouri 63304
School Phone:  (636) 851-4700
School Fax:  (636) 851-4115
Principal:  Dr. Chris Greiner
Principal E-Mail:  chris.greiner@fhsdschools.org

Demographics
Number of Students:  1,840
Number eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch:  3%
Percent of Limited English Proficient:  0%
Percent of Special Education:  10.3%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White (94%)
• Black (4%)
• Hispanic (<1%)
• Asian/Pacific Island (1%)
• Other (<1%)

Present Student Achievement Data in at least three points to demonstrate trends – for example, three consecutive years or the first, third, and fifth years. The data report should always include the most recent school year and should always offer a basis of comparison (for example, state scores, national scores, similar SES schools).

State Test: Meeting and exceeding proficiency (10th and 11th grades)

School test	2004 (school/state)	2005 (school/state)	2006 (school/state)	2007 (school/state)	2008 (school/state)
Comm. Arts	37/20	39/23	42/43	55/44	59.3
Math	22/10	21/17	49/42	62/45	60.1

 

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

• All staff members set classroom goals in the areas of achievement, attendance, and behavior that are monitored every 4 ∏ weeks.
• Each PLC team sets its achievement goal around a specific, high leverage academic standard that is embedded within the common assessments given by the PLC so that student achievement related to the standard may be monitored and appropriate adjustments in instruction may be developed within the context of the team meetings. Last year, when we began this process, nearly 90 percent of the PLC teams met their achievement goal each semester.    
• Individual classes of students who meet the achievement, attendance, and behavior goals each quarter are recognized in celebration activities.
• Teachers in singleton courses such as band, choir, world languages, and Advanced Placement begin formal collaboration with their course-alike colleagues in the other two high schools in the district.  
• The staff at FHHS has embarked on a three year professional development expedition that will have teachers spending a semester doing action research in the following areas: Marzano’s Best Practices, Tomlinson’s Differentiated Instruction, Stiggin’s Assessment for Student Learning, Reading in the content area, Web Page development, and Technology Integration.
• Our staff, students, and parents set value statements each year that align with the school mission and vision.

 

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

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

• Each quarter we compare special education and regular education student learning data in CWC classes on common assessments each quarter to assess our progress towards closing the achievement gap between these groups of students. The special education teacher and the regular education teacher meet each quarter with a member of the administrative team to present results and discuss future action plans.
• All PLC groups administer one common summative exam and two common formative exams each semester which are entered into a Mastery Manager software system to aid in data collection. Based on the data teachers form action plans.
• All PLC groups develop a student achievement goal based on a critical learning standard within their content areas.  Teachers track and evaluate student progress toward mastering this learning standard on each of the three common assessments per semester using the Mastery Manager software.    
• Each quarter we track the percent of letter grades received in our PLC courses along with grade point average to assess whether we are decreasing our D’s and F’s. We also track the same data in regards to final exams given in those PLC courses.

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

• This year marks the addition of a weekly forty minute academic support homeroom that provides students opportunities to request additional support or enrichment from their teachers and participate in school or class-wide activities.  As part of the homeroom, students set individual academic goals that their homeroom teachers help monitor at the end of each quarter.  Our 9th grade mentoring program also convenes during this time.
• We have begun an elective credit course designed to provide direct instruction in a combination of study skills and communication arts, math, or science curriculum.  This course provides additional instruction, remediation, and enrichment to enrolled ninth and tenth grade students in a content area in which they have historically been challenged.  
• Our district has allocated funds to support tutoring in Math and Communication Arts during the school day. We enlist the help of a subject certified tutor to assist classroom teachers on a regularly scheduled basis for 1–3 days per week.

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.

• The building administrator who oversees our school PLC organization meets monthly with the leaders from each PLC group. During these meetings we share our PLC groups progress towards meeting PLC work product deadlines. We also provide our PLC leaders with ongoing professional development that is taken back to their groups which meet weekly for approximately 45 minutes.

 

List any Awards and Recognition Garnered by Your School

• 2007-8 Red Quill Award from ACT
• Missouri’s Top Ten Most Improved Schools in Communication Arts 04–05 and 05–06.
• FHHS met Adequate Yearly Progress in the areas of Math and Communication Arts 03–04 and 04–05.
• Under the guidance of then principal Pam Sloan (currently district Chief Academic Officer) FHHS was awarded Missouri Accelerated Schools Outstanding Service Award for Professional Learning Communities. Ms. Sloan was also named St. Louis Area Principal of the Year in 2005.
• Current FHHS principal Dr. Chris Greiner was awarded the St. Louis Assistant Principal of the Year award in 2004.