leadership in high schools

Twitter, a social network, introduced me to Mr. Blake, an alternative education teacher, who assited me in brainstroming prior to the visit to Niagara Academy, an Alternative School program organized and run by Niagara-Orleans BOCES under the leadership of its teachers and Principal Sushma Szortec. 

Key Questions:

What are the positive attributes of Niagara Academy?  What works?  Mr. Blake noted keenly that most alt. ed schools focus on the negative.  Bad students, ill funded programs etc.

What systems does the school work with in order  to reduce the student drop out rate? 

What training do the teachers receive in keeping the strategies of success sustainable and alive?

Examine the earlier post and respond to these questions in light of your alternative education experience and what is being accomplished at Niagara Academy.  I will also be sharing this post with the faculty, staff and leadership of that school, in order to get  broader  perspectives

I am interested in seeing different lesson plan formats that teachers use.  In particular I am curious to learn how formats differ depending on the Universities and Colleges teachers are trained at.   Examples of lesson plans that have been adopted from internet sources are also welcome.

In addition to this, I am also curious about how often school leaders check teacher plan books and what feedback they give to teachers. 

Memo to Parents.  This memo was issued a day before our field trip to all parents and guardians. 

Tomorrow, 9.23.08 your child will be leaving school at 9am to participat4e in the interactive exhibit titled Step Into Africa.  This exhibit is displayed at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena and is a project of World Vision.

The goals of this field trip for high school students grades 9-12 are:

1. To expose students to like on another continent.
2. To share with students the plight of children faced with poverty and illness
3. To show students family life that has been affected so drastically by long tem illness
4. To allow students to identify poverty indicators in societies other that the U.S.
5. To allow students to participate in a discussion about world poverty and global illness with references to whose role it is to solve these issues
6. To allow students to comprehend the implications of sexual promiscuity, blood transfusions and the meaning of epidemics and pandemics
7. To develop student respect and responsibility in the community
8. To allow students to experience the architectural genius of a modern day Jamestown City (NY) landmark.   

Post script:  The students of the Hewes Center did successfully complete the field trip.  They were joined by 2 teachers, R. Dorey and A. Montgomery, myself and our Public Relations Officer, J. Lindell.  Transportation was provided by the BOCES.  For those who were concerned about the religious overtones that peppered this exhibit, my response was simple:  govts in third world countries are too poor, ( Oprah Winfrey is wealthier than most Africa governments) experiencing civil war or corrupt to sometimes deal with the issues that affect a mere 1 million people.  If world churches and other philanthropic groups/individuals do not step in, who will. 

Other public schools that participated in this field trip for their students were Jamestown CSD and Clymer CSD.  To those teachers and administrators who saw the value of this experience for their students and put aside the separation of church and state rule which underlies school governance, KUDOS.  This experience was about the World Wide Web - Learning that is Whenever, Wherever, Whoever. 

Four administrators from Erie 2 BOCES representing the Alternative Education programs, visited Niagara Academy a program within the Oleans-Niagara BOCES.  Three years ago, the Superintendent there, Dr. Clark Godshall, serving as an interim superintendent for Erie 2 had invited me to visit this school facility.  The invitation got shelved somehow.  Connections made at High Schools New Face, 2008 led to my speaking to team members from Niagara Academy ( SSzortec, Muio, Goldman) and getting another invitation to visit this time with a team of educators. 

I am still reeling from the truly positive energy that vibrates through this 250 plus student population comprised of middle and high school students.  The positive energy is apparent both amongst the staff and students.  We started our morning being welcomed by the Principal Sushma  Szortec who gave us an over-view of what our day could look like bases on our interests.  

Highlights of our visit:

•  A historical lesson in leadership and service by the Principal.  Mission and Vision
•  A meeting with 2 counselors explaining their in-depth work with students utilizing a caseload of 25 students and dealing with every aspect of the student’s life.  Every student is assigned a counselor irrespective of whether counselling is a mandated service or not.  Students and can request a change of counselors if the relationship is deemed by poor, ineffective or “going no where” by student. 
•  A meeting with 2 members of the Graduation Committee, classroom teachers,  who laise with school district guidance counselors to plan and outline a course work of study that will lead to graduation. 
• A tour of the facility conducted by two randomly chosen high school students.  Here we learnt about ALC rooms - alternative learning centers where students go if they are having trouble in class with other students, issues at home etc.  Teaching and learning  is provided in these rooms and students can remain here for 1 period or more depending on their circumstances.  RR rooms are Rest and Recovery Rooms manned by counselors (?)/staff where students go when having a conflict that needs resolution and can be solved in 10-15 minutes.  Students are penalized for documented behavior at the time of the incident, not for any errant behavior that occurs on the way to ALC or RR areas.  Students interviewed about why there are no fights and mayhem in the school, reported that they felt safe, were treated fairly by the faculty and school culture therefore did not feel the need to take matters into their own hands - they trust the adults. 
• A structured point and level system is in effect.  Posted in every classroom and one that determines the school culture which is student centered by determined by the faculty and staff. 
• The school has no School Resource Officer.  This is both deliberate and intentional.  The school culture will not support the existence of this office.  Students are exposed to a non-threatening environment focused on problem resolution and recovery. 
• The school nurse has the authority vested in this office by the school board to drug test students in a far more precise way than most schools.  The test kit is scientific, lab. oriented and checks for over 30 illegal substances;  the nurse has the ability to  deliver the results within the school without resorting to the police or hospitals.    All incoming students are asked for a parents sign off on drug testing.  If parents refuse and students are suspected of being under the influence, parents are asked to fetch their children and not bring them back until a full disclosure with lab tests is conducted on the same day that the student was removed from school. 
• Classroom visitations to a home and careers classroom, a music/band room. gym, a special ed. 1:6:1 classroom. 
• Classroom sizes range from 1:6 to 1:12 max. 
• Team meetings with staff at both the middle and high school level.  These meetings are scheduled during the school day, daily and involve all program personnel.  Conversations are about students and student programming.  Committee chairs report out to the principal and at faculty meetings. 
• Lunch with 3 student council members, Mrs. Hulse the art teacher and her Instructional Assistant (I.A)(teacher aide or paraprofessional).  I.A. is the term used at Niagara Academy.
• De-briefing session with the Principal in the school library which has an entire wall devoted to professional readings, journals and documentaries celebrating teaching and learning.  Teachers are encouraged to use and refer to these sources in their conversations about learning, schools and teaching. 
• Attendance at a weekly Faculty meeting which stays true to the same format.  Celebrations, Committee Reports, 21st century skills development and use in classrooms by teachers which involves teachers sharing their instructional tools/teaching skills  which are then distributed to all faculty and attached on a key chain celebrating teachers, What instructional strategy worked in your classroom this week, What was the response of students.   

Have you got a sense of what makes Niagara Academy an alternative school? 

What salient features identify your school program? 

How does your school program reach out to students and make them feel a part of the behavioral culture that is standard and expected? 

In planning for this trip I relied on wet paint the social site used by Niagara Academy, email and telephone.  Niagara Academy now has a site on NING which they will invite us to.  I asked for help in brainstorming questions, from my TWITTER friend Mr. Blake and will address those valuable  questions under separate blog post

September 23, 2008, twenty students from the Hewes Center together with teachers and staff will take a tour of an interactive exhibit titled Step into Africa at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena in Jamestown, NY which will highlight the issue of HIV and Aids in Africa.  Students will get a glimpse into traditional African life and see how this devastating illness has changed the scope of family life and affected entire generations on the African continent. 

The students have been selected by their counselors and teachers with preference given to students coming from home schools farther away from inner city Jamestown and those who are 11th and 12th graders. 

Here is an example of a precursor student activity that will be used with students:

1. What do you know about Aids/HIV and how does this information affect your life?
2. Since learning through reading or TV about these diseases have you changed anything in your life, have you changed how you view illness and its spread?
3. What do you expect to see at the interactive exhibit?

Post-assessment:

1. How has viewing the interactive exhibit affected you?
2. What have you learnt about African Life and the effects of the wide-scale spead of Aids/HIV in those counteries?
3. How has this field trip changed you?
4. What will you tell your friends about this field trip and what you experienced?

The BOCES Public Relations officer, Jarred Lindall will be in attendance for this exhibition and will accompany our students on this learning adventure.  The responses of students will be used by teachers to educate our high school students and programs as well as inform our organization about the ways in which current affairs affect youth and their vision.