Putnam City High School

School Information

School Name:  Putnam City High School
School Address:  5300 NW 50th Street
                              Oklahoma City OK  73122
School Phone:      405-789-4350
School Fax:           405-789-1662
Principal:              Dr. Don Wentroth
Principal email:    dwentroth@putnamcityschools.org

Demographics

Number of Students:    1987
Number Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch:    994   (50%)
Percent of Limited English Proficient:  9%
Percent of Special Education:    12%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White     50%
• Black      23%
• Hispanic   14%
• Asian/Pacific Island    4%
• Other     9%

Present Student Achievement Data in at least three points to demonstrate trends – for example, three consecutive years or the first, third, and fifth years.

Percentage of students passing End Of Instruction State Testing / Average State Scores

	Math	Reading	Science	Social St.
2003	6%/22%	71%/62%	50%/45%	76%/68%
2004	10%/30%	61%/62%	40%/51%	75%/71%
2005	19%/32%	68%/69%	49%/49%	78%/70%
2006	23%/38%	72%/72%	55%/55%	71%/73%
2007	83%/77%	78%/75%	60%/55%	83%/72%

 

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

Our Algebra, End of Instruction Test scores show a significant increase.  This can be associated with utilizing our Friday required tutoring time for students on the cusp of Limited Knowledge.  We used teacher generated benchmark testing to identify those students who required extra support.

Additional data of interest is the increased reading scores for Sophomore Reading End of Instruction Testing.  In fact, the Hispanic, Black and Special Education populations made large gains in this area.  We attribute this success partly to the required tutoring in our Friday tutoring sessions as well as more training in Mark Forget’s strategies of Gist, Guided Reading, and Anticipation guides.  We also have had Larry Bell come and speak to our faculty to use his UNRAVEL strategy in all content areas.

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 teachers belong to at least one PLC group at our school.  These groups meet 55 minutes together every week where they have agendas designed to discuss benchmark data, testing information on their students from last school year, teaching strategies, and motivational ideas to help their students learn more in their classrooms.  A counselor and principal participate in core subject PLC meetings each week as a contributing member.  These agendas are kept on file so that they can see what was effective in the past and not have to reinvent the wheel each year.  These PLC meeting began last year at the same time we had these amazing results on our state testing.

 

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

 

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Our benchmark testing has been the most effective monitoring tool we’ve had for the past two years.  Algebra students take these tests each two weeks.  They are specific, timely, and provide immediate feedback for teachers and students to appropriately access student learning and their teaching practice.  Curriculum maps of the information are taught along during the school term and the benchmark testing follows what was taught and what should have been learned by our students.  Interventions are put into place by teachers so that weaknesses are supported.  These benchmark tests are being developed by all content areas whether or not they are a part of the state testing subjects.

 

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

We have developed a freshman academy.  This is different than most I have seen across the United States.  In the spring, my team of teachers, their counselor, and assistant principal go to our feeder middle school and identify with the help of their 8th grade teachers students who struggle and who might be at-risk their freshman year.  We give this group some of our best faculty members as well as extra support with making the transition to high school.  Their GPA each year as 9th graders improves over 1.00 from their 8th grade year.  We have students that never would have survived their 9th grade year graduating and taking AP classes because of their start in the freshman academy.

We have a sophomore piece we call Successful Transitions that helps many of these students and new students to our building their 10th grade year.  These students who need again, a little more support their 10th grade year are placed in an elective called Successful Transitions while they are taking Geometry and English II.

We changed a state law concerning how much time must be spent in class every day.  We now have built into the school day, time where students who are making less than a C average or if they have any zeros must go to their teacher’s room for required tutoring.  This time is also very useful for honor students to get the extra help needed to go from grades of B to A.  Our program is very intensive and I can provide more information if you are interested.  It really is quit remarkable.

Our Algebra and English II teachers share a common planning time so that their conversations can continue outside their PLC meetings.  My faculty is very professional and the expertise needed to do the difficult jobs ahead of us can be found within the faculty if we give them the time to have professional conversations.

 

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.

Teacher leaders in each PLC group have been coached in the areas of writing smart goals and developing leadership skills necessary for conducting focused, task oriented PLC meetings.  Each PLC group in our building develops a smart goal each year.  We revisit those at the beginning of each school year.  Teacher leaders are sent to PLC institutes and workshops held by Dr. Eaker each year.

PLC teams are empowered to make instructional decisions based on their student data, proven instructional practice and flexible scheduling.  Teachers are encouraged who attend professional development opportunities to returning embedded staff development to our faculty.  We have these embedded staff development meetings once a month during the teachers’ planning periods.  This develops the leadership potential and capacity of our staff (I believe this is critical to a healthy school).

Our faculty has developed a system of privileges to reward our students for giving us their best efforts in the classrooms as well as on their state testing.  If a student is in “Good Standing” they have the ability to drive their cars to school; they may attend our Winter Formal and Spring Prom; they may attend school performances and athletic events; they have options every Friday afternoon instead of attending required tutoring; and if they have a certain GPA they will be able to leave campus for lunch.

List any Awards and Recognition Garnered by Your School

We have had several teachers recognized as our state’s best in content areas.  I was one of three finalists for National Principal of the year at another school 5 years ago.  One of our students last year received a $91,000 grant that she wrote to Farmers Insurance to help prevent Drop-outs.

Our school has been on the Needs Improvement list when I came 4 years ago.  We made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) last year and with the gains we have made over the past few years, are hoping to never be on that list again after this year.  In Oklahoma, you must make this Adequate Yearly Progress two years in a row in order to be removed from this list.  We have truly become a Professional Learning Community and our state testing and our school’s atmosphere demonstrates it to all who have visited.