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College & Career Readiness
OVERVIEW
Our goal is that Community Achieves schools form networks of results-focused partners to support the school community in achieving these common outcomes:
- Students are actively involved in their learning
- Students maintain academic success
- Students prepare for post-secondary education and career
- Before/after school tutoring - all subjects, all grades; literacy/reading clinic especially
- Project-based and/or experiential learning opportunities - job shadows, service learning
- Partners and/or vendors for college fairs, career expos
- In-school programming or enrichment - college/career themes
- ACT prep, college readiness, FAFSA support, college/career presentations, etc.
- In-school programming or enrichment - creative or innovative subjects
- performing arts, gardening, chess, service learning, fine art, STEM, robotics, etc.
- Clubs/intramurals with academic/college-related content
- Field trip support
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Review the common asks listed above, or check out Community Achieves schools' site-specific needs and asks in the box below. Then, respond to the College & Career Readiness Invitation to Participate by submitting a response via the form to the right!
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Click here for a list of Alignment Nashville's current initiatives.
Site-Specific Needs & Asks
NEEDS & ASKS BY CLUSTER
Antioch Cluster • Cane Ridge Cluster • Glencliff Cluster • Hunters Lane Cluster • Maplewood Cluster • McGavock Cluster • Overton Cluster • Pearl-Cohn Cluster • Stratford Cluster • Whites Creek Cluster
NEEDS & ASKS BY INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL
Antioch High • Bailey Middle • Buena Vista Elementary • Cole Elementary • Creswell Middle • DuPont Hadley Middle • Gra-Mar Middle • Hunters Lane High • Inglewood Elementary • Jere Baxter Middle • Joelton Middle • Margaret Allen Middle • McKissack Middle • Napier Elementary • Pearl-Cohn High • Tusculum Elementary • Whitsitt Elementary
Antioch High School celebrated a 4% decrease in mobility rate for the 2014-15 school year, compared to the previous year. Average daily attendance was unchanged and while the percentage of students with chronic absence, i.e., absent at least 10% of the days enrolled decreased slightly as it remains a significant barrier with 18% of our students being chronically absent.
2015 End of Course test results show the following percentages of students proficient or advanced in each area:
- Algebra I: 50%
- Algebra II: 26%
- English I: 61%
- English II: 57%
- English III: 31%
- Biology: 51%
- Chemistry: 15%
In 2014-2015, the percentage of students scoring a 21 or higher on the ACT remained approximately the same as the previous year at 18%.
85% of Antioch’s students completed FASFA applications. Antioch’s students were offered over $2.5 million in scholarship money in 2014-2015, which accounts for $1,500,000 increase over the 2013-2014 scholarship dollar amounts.
Antioch High School is inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to provide after school, on-site mentoring on site tutoring or other programs geared toward social and emotional wellness. The school also wants external support to provide on-site workshops on anger management, self-esteem building, and emotional awareness during advisory, school lunch hours and or after school.
While a large percentage of Antioch’s students completed FAFSA applications last year, we will continue to host FAFSA workshops. We are inviting community organizations and individuals to assist with that workshop.
In Spring of 2016 Antioch will host Wellness Exams in conjunction with School Health,PENCIL and Amerigroup, We love our parents luncheon, which gives parents and students the opportunity to speak with school staff and review data and address concerns, FAFSA Night, PENCIL FRC Partner meetings and events, which gives our staff, community partner, parents and the community a glimpse as to the resources that Antioch offers as well as the investments the partners and community make towards Antioch High School.
At the end of last school year, Antioch hosted a senior pinning award ceremony. The event would include games, food, music, etc.; Antioch is inviting partners to facilitate the planning and event support.
In 2014-15 38% of our students were proficient or advanced in reading/LA, 49% in math, and 46% in science. Compared to 2013-14, students achieved higher scores in math. However, the scores in Reading/Language Arts and Science were largely unchanged.
To support teachers in the classroom to work on literacy and math, Margaret Allen is partnering with Trevecca Nazarene University, which will send a group of students from the Department of Education to meet with teachers and support our school in the areas of ELA and Math on a weekly basis. Margaret Allen is inviting other local colleges and universities to become part of this network of support to our teachers throughout the 2015-16 school year.
Ninety one percent of the Margaret Allen students are categorized as economically disadvantaged. Students that come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds often do not have access to opportunities that other peers their age have. Toa address this need, Margaret Allen would like to provide more enrichment opportunities for students. Our students have an Advisory period for 20 minutes each morning and Club Time every other week, scheduled during the school day. We are inviting community organizations and individuals to provide enrichment opportunities (e.g., creative, performing arts, gardening, service learning) to our students during Advisory and/or Club times, which will continue throughout the school year. We are also seeking partners to provide afterschool tutoring to students.
The 2014-15 TCAP results for Cole ES are as follows:
50% were proficient or advanced in Math
27% were proficient or advanced in Reading / Language Arts
46% were proficient or advanced in Science
Almost half of the students at Cole ES are classified as English language learners. As such, a large percentage of family members are also English language learners, with only 33% speaking English in the home. To promote literacy among the students and improve our students’ TCAP scores in Reading/Language Arts, Cole sees a need to increase students’ capacity to learn to read in their native languages. We are inviting community organizations and individuals to help us provide books in the students’ families’ native languages, including Spanish, Kurdish, Nepalese, Burmese, Russian, etc.
Another important indicator of academic readiness is attendance. While only 8% of Cole’s students were chronically absent in the 2014-15 school year, there continues to be an issue with students arriving on-time for the school day. Cole’s school hours are 8-3:00, with doors opening at 7:30, breakfast served at 7:45, and students expected to be their in chairs at 7:55, when parents also need to be out of the building. Cole is inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to develop a campaign and outreach program to promote on-time arrival. We believe that continuing to implement the Triple A Achievers program that rewards children for Academic achievement, daily Attendance, and positive Attitude in addition to an outreach program could potentially include neighborhood flyers and signs, incentives for grade-level competitions, student awards for perfect attendance or on-time arrival, information programming for families to incorporate a value on-time arrival (e.g., establishing routines at home, importance of student sleep patterns), among other strategies.
2014-15 TCAP results demonstrate a need to provide Whitsitt students academic enrichment and tutoring:
24% were proficient or advanced in Math
13% were proficient or advanced in Reading / Language Arts
19% were proficient or advanced in Science
Whitsitt ES is in “priority school” status, which provides for faculty to undergo planning and professional development on every third Monday of the month to work on instructional strategies and team building from 8:20 to 10 am starting on Sept. 21. While faculty builds capacity during planning and professional development, Whitsitt ES is inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to provide enrichment activities to disadvantaged students who don't have resources to participate in extra-curricular activities that are often available to their more economically advantaged counterparts, e.g., Boys & Girls Scouts, Lego Robotics, Chess Club. While we have already scheduled some programming, we are still seeking community partners to provide additional monthly programming, which is required for the entire student population.
Additionally, Whitsitt is seeking to create partnerships with community organizations or individuals to provide afterschool tutoring and assistance on a regular basis.
What’s more, Whitsitt will start Saturday school, and after-school tutoring in December.
There’s a pending partnership with a Hispanic United Methodist Church that may provide childcare and parent workshops while students are getting extra help. Saturday school is from 9 am to noon. Faculty and staff that signs up to work on Saturday will do so from 8:30 to 1 pm.
Whitsitt needs to partnerships that will be able to provide workshops to parents.
Over the past few years, the percent of Gra-Mar Middle Prep students achieving a benchmark EXPLORE Composite score has ranged between 10% and 18%, which is predictive of achieving an ACT benchmark score of 21 or above. To help our students perform better, we are in need of tutors. The Tripod Survey suggests that our lowest favorability ratings are in captivating –inspiring curiosity and interest of our students. We want to have a College Fair and Career Expo to see if we can get our students excited about their possibilities through exposure to area Colleges and Local Businesses.
Gra-Mar Middle Prep is looking for tutors who can work with our student’s one on one or in a group setting. We need tutors during the school day from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. We also need tutors for our Gladiator Academy, which meets on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month beginning in September from 9 am to 12 noon.
We are also looking for Vendors for our College Fair and Career Expo. These events will happen during the school day the date and time TBD.
The 2015 TCAP results show an increased percentage of Jere Baxter students scoring proficient or advanced in Math, Reading/Language Arts, and Science, at 34%, 18%, and 32%, respectively. Our goal for 2015-16 is to further increase the number of students scoring proficient or advance on the state standardized test by 50% and increase testing scores in ELA by 15%.
To achieve these gains in literacy, Jere Baxter is inviting community organizations and individuals to provide tutoring in our Reading Clinic, which takes place every other Friday to support those students falling below proficient and advance placement. Tutoring will be held afterschool, and can be completed one on one or in groups. We are asking that volunteers commit to the biweekly tutoring scheduled the entire year. We are inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with us to provide tutoring in the reading clinic every other Friday, from 3:55 to 6:00. The program will take place throughout the year. Additionally, Jere Baxter continues to partner with NAZA as a major source for afterschool tutoring for our students.
Jere Baxter Middle Prep's school counselor will conduct college awareness guidance lessons during the district college week of September 21st-25th, and throughout the school year. Jere Baxter will offer real world college experience to their students by going on several college visit throughout the school year.
In addition, DuPont Hadley is a blended learning pilot school this year, incorporating enough computers for each student to use during any class period. Each classroom has a cart of computers that are used as part of the learning day in different capacities. Blended learning simply means blending online and site based learning. It is not an alternative to traditional schooling, but a way in which public education begins to connect all the assets – communities, families, youth development organizations, etc. into learning opportunities that transcend physical boundaries. We are seeking community partners to assist in furthering our goals to create technically savvy students who are college and career ready and engaging parents and the community by helping with the following:
- Project-based learning opportunities
- Community engagement with online opportunities
- Student engagement by helping students be creators and collaborators instead of just consumers of media
- Assist in making technology available to all families
Napier Enhanced Option Elementary School:
- 23% in Math
- 13% in Reading/ELA
- 20% in Science
- 63% in Social Studies
Our goals for this 2015-2016 year:
- 35.1% Math
- 29.3% Reading
- 31.2% Science
Teachers want to work at Tusculum ES where attendance and discipline problems are relatively low. Only 16 of 825 students that attended Tusculum during 2014-15 had serious discipline issues. Daily attendance for 2014-15 was 95%, however, of these students, 8% were chronically absent.
Of concern is the Mobility Rate for Tusculum students which held steady at 33% for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years making improvement of math and reading/language arts achievement a significant challenge.
The percentage of students achieving proficient/ advanced on the 2014-15 TCAP Math assessment was 37%, 16% in Reading / Language Arts, and 18% in Science.
These three indicators, attendance, discipline and academic achievement can predict high school dropout rates. Research indicates that students that are not reading at grade level by third grade will fall further and further behind as they move on to middle and high school.
95% of Tusculum students are economically disadvantaged, 75% are from families that do not speak English at home therefore started pre-K without English.
Tusculum students currently participate in Reading Recovery, Reading clinic (volunteer tutors) and RTII during the school day. Community volunteers provide teacher assistance and community partners provide much needed classroom supplies so students have the tools they need to learn.
Tusculum seeks assistance with strategic planning to provide Family Literacy programming including backpacks with academic support materials and partnerships with Overton High School and McMurray Middle School to train 7th - 12th grade students to tutor and mentor Tusculum students.
Tusculum seeks partnerships with agencies to provide afterschool tutoring programs on campus, also in four apartment complexes where half of Tusculum students live.
To increase opportunities for exploration of post-secondary options, partners are desired to participate in a career fair. Also, Tusculum seeks assistance with strategic planning to provide learning opportunities such as field trips for all students.
Buena Vista Enhanced Option Elementary School:
Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Management Magnet High School:
An increased percentage of Bailey MS students scored proficient or advanced on the TCAP standardized test for Math and Science in 2015, with percentages at 28% and 36%, respectively. Only 12% of the students scored proficient or advanced in Reading / Language Arts. Bailey MS has seen in improvements in both the daily attendance rate from 92.7% in 2014 to 94.2% in 2015 and chronic absence rates from 29% in 2014 to 18% in 2015.
To further these gains and address continued needs, Bailey will continue to provide Targeted Advisory Groups and Restorative Justice to the students. Bailey will also add the following community supports: Navigating the Teens Years Program, College Fair and Visits, and Girls Mentoring Group.
Bailey offers STEM elective classes to students during regular school hours. Bailey is inviting organizations and individuals to partner with teachers to enhance the STEM elective classes beginning on September 10 and running weekly on Thursdays for 16 weeks from 3 – 3:50. Specifically, we are in need of partners that work in the engineering, technology, and math parts of STEM. Class sizes will vary from 12 -15 students. For a list of some of the electives offered in the past, visit the website: http://baileyms.mnps.org/pages/BaileySTEMMagnetMS/Academics/STEM_Electives
While IES saw an increase in the percent of students with proficient or advanced TCAP scores in 2015, the rates continue to be low: Math 31%; Reading/Language Arts 18%; Science 20%. IES students would benefit from tutoring in a variety of elementary subjects, the most of fundamental of which is reading. IES invites community partners to provide volunteers to participate in tutoring during school and after-school.
In a recent national study, Deborah Vandell of the University of California, Irvine, found that regular participation in afterschool programs results in overall improvements in academic achievement, reductions in school absences and improvements in behavioral outcomes, all benchmarks for student success. Most IES students either walk home to unspecified, unstructured/unmonitored, nonacademic activities. Many others walk to the adjacent South Inglewood Community Center, where no regular programming or staffing exists for these students. IES has only one ongoing after-school program, The Learning Zone, provided by the Family Affair Ministries. Less than 10% of our students are enrolled in The Learning Zone. Due to the lack of high-quality, structured and monitored after-school activities, IES staff has proposed several after-school programs, such as music and theater clubs,, and Nashville Please Don’t Litter, a musical performance program that will use the arts to teach our students and engage our neighborhood in substantive environmental awareness.
IES invites organizations and individuals to provide short- or long-term, high-quality after-school activities (academic, sports, or arts/cultural enrichment) for students who typically do not attend after-school programs. We ask that programs address the typical barriers to participation, including program costs, transportation, snacks, and parent/guardian commitment. Some partners may provide funding or transportation, while others may provide programming and staffing. IES invites organizations and individuals to provide volunteers, donated materials, and/or funding for the after-school programs developed by our IES staff and artist-partners.
IES is in the process of developing a formal partnership with Book’em. In order to become a Book’em Reading is Fundamental school, we must establish at least one strong sponsorship. IES invites local businesses to sponsor at least one grade level at IES, engage volunteers willing to participate in Book’em training, and commit to four to six brief, in-school activities per school year.
Creswell Arts Magnet Middle Prep:
Joelton’s TCAP scores show a need to increase focus on the academic success of students. Joelton is on the priority list this year and working hard to get off. The percentage of students scoring in the proficient or advanced categories on the TCAP for 2014-15 are as follows:
Math: 23.9
Reading/ELA: 19.1
Science: 26.0
MNPS 2014-15 data show that 24% or Joelton students were chronically absent (missed 10% of the days enrolled). Joelton also had an “exit rate” of 23%, meaning 23% of the enrolled students left Joelton throughout the school year. Joelton wishes to reduce chronic absences and mobility exits in pursuit of stronger academic performance and student morale.
We are asking partners to collaborate with our instructional coach to create and implement projects to engage our students in meaningful work. We are inviting organizations to provide incentives to teachers and students who have the greatest increase in attendance. Additionally we are inviting organizations and individuals to partner with us to tutor students, specifically in math and reading.