2013 Pathways to the Prize - School Winners

Pathways to the Prize Lessons from the 2011 SCORE Prize School Winners • Pathways to the Prize Lessons from the 2011 SCORE Prize School Winners School Attendance Review Team (SART) meetings: At these weekly meetings, the county attendance coordinator, school nurse, graduation coach, counselors, principals, special education case worker, and others as needed develop interventions for students with poor attendance records. • Advanced Placement classes: The school offered 14 AP classes in 2010-11, and students are expected to take and pass AP exams. Each course has a syllabus that was certified by the College Board. • Dual enrollment classes: Volunteer State Community College offers dual enrollment courses taught by a college professor that provide simultaneous high school and college credits for each high school student participant. • Using alternative consequences that minimize time out of class: The school uses lunch detention, community service, after-school detention, after-lunch clean-up, and other activities that do not interfere with class time for students with poor behavior. • College Day: 11th and 12th grade students attend a college fair at Cumberland University where institutions of higher education from across the state gather to meet the students and discuss postsecondary options. • Participation required policy: All students are required to turn in assignments, no matter how late. Teachers notify parents as soon as there are two missing assignments from the student. • ACT question of the day on the daily Bear News Network (BNN): Each day, an ACT question is published on the daily BNN, after which the correct answer is given and explained. • Students Taking a Right Stand (STARS): STARS offers counseling for students showing negative behaviors. The program plays an integral role in teachers’ discipline plans for unruly or unmotivated students. • STEM: This cross-curricular program involves science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Its goal is to prepare students who are interested in pursuing engineering after high school. • Graduate on Time (GOT): GOT offers alternative methods of instruction so that students can recover credits lost due to a failing grade. Credit is awarded upon successful mastery of a designated program. Students must have administrative approval to enroll in the class. • • Content Area Reading Studies (CARS): Teachers offer a course that focuses on test-taking skills and strategies so that students will do their best on various academic and aptitude tests, such as the ACT and SAT. Students can take the CARS class in their 11th- or 12th-grade year to raise their ACT scores. They spend half of the semester with an English teacher to work on the English and reading portions of the ACT and the other half of the semester with a math teacher. World Studies: Tenth grade students can take World Studies as an Honors World History and Honors English II cross-curricular course. The course is taught by two teachers, and students enroll for two sequential periods, allowing students in the classes to collaborate. Video: “Meeting Every Student’s Needs” youtu.be/aZgXF21HYdQ Cultivating strong leaders • Work-based learning: Students may enroll in work-based learning programs and any willing student with physical and/or mental disabilities may participate in a work-based transition program. Participation is based on cooperative efforts between the student, employer, faculty, staff, and disabled student services. When Mr. Brown came to the school, he sent the signal that MJHS leaders, staff, and students would have a focus on improvement. The principal and his assistant principals all agreed that it was their responsibility to ensure that everyone in the building—faculty and staff members and students—share the same school vision. • Merit Moms: A registered nurse with a certification in prenatal education meets with expectant mothers once a week for an 11-week voluntary, incentive-based program on childbirth and parenting for adolescents. The vision has been codified in the school improvement plan and operationalized in daily practice. The MJHS improvement plan and agenda set forth clear, focused expectations: • YouthLinks: Eligible students, ages 14-21, have opportunities to recover credits and receive a secondary school diploma or GED. The program provides tutoring and mentoring and prepares students for the workforce. • Evening meeting with parents: These evening meetings are held by grade level, and counselors and principals discuss issues that address academic success and opportunities. Parents of 12th-grade students convene frequently to hear about opportunities available for the students. The school also strongly encourages high performing students to accelerate their learning and has developed a number of programs for this purpose. These programs include the following: • The Academic Hall of Fame: Advanced Placement teachers select one student each term to have lunch off campus with the principal. They receive a plaque and earn recognition by the media. • Youth Leadership Wilson: Six students from Wilson County high schools, including Mt. Juliet, are selected through a competitive process to join Youth Leadership Wilson. • 28 Aggressive ass YۛY[

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