South Caldwell High School formed a School Improvement Team (SIT), a professional learning community comprised of faculty, staff,

administrators, parents, and students whose focus is to improve the learning environment at SCHS. SCHSs SIT mem ers are selected y allot and!or appointed y "dministration. The team conducts monthly meetings and an e#ample of an agenda item is the development of the schools mission and vision statements, as well as a listing of school eliefs. SCHSs mission statement is that SCHS will empower students with the s$ills necessary to ecome responsi le citi%ens who achieve academic, social, and professional success. The vision of SCHS is to create a learning community where there is success for all, preparation for tomorrow, and learning for a lifetime. SCHSs eliefs or values are& "ll students will e empowered to learn, achieve, and succeed. "ll students learn est when they are appropriately challenged and actively engaged in the learning process through activities that ta$e into account different learning styles. "ll students can increase their understanding of cultural diversity through the study of different people and cultures.

"ll students self'esteem can e enhanced y positive relationships and mutual respect etween and among students and staff.

"ll students can learn to ma$e appropriate decisions given a safe, supportive and comforta le learning environment.

"ll students learn est when teachers, administrators, parents, students and the community share the responsi ility for the support of the schools mission.

"ll students are uni(ue and valued individuals who should e treated impartially.

"ll students will e encouraged to develop into life'long learners who e#hi it positive character traits and accept responsi ility for their own decisions.

In the fall of )*+*, SCHSs accreditation through the Southern "ssociation of Colleges and Schools (S"CS) was re'evaluated. Through this process, the SIT revisited the schools mission and vision statements, as well as the school eliefs for their reflection of todays world. "s a result, SCHS remains their accreditation status through )*+,. "ccording to the -CT.CS, /,0 of teachers agree or strongly agree that faculty and leadership have a shared vision. Currently there are +,,12 students enrolled at South Caldwell High School. 3f those 4*2 are classified as freshman, 15/ are sophomores, 1,5 are 6uniors and 151 are seniors. In addition, /50 of students are .hite7 .*40 are 8ulti'racial7 .*+20 are "merican Indian7 .*+10 are "sian and .**50 are "frican "merican. "s you can see, SCHS is not very diverse with regards to student ethnicity. Therefore, an area for continued improvement is in the area of multiculturalism. The entire school community could enefit from increased multicultural programming. SCHS currently employs )55 employees including one 9rincipal and four "ssistant 9rincipals. There are +*4 Teachers, /:0 of which are fully licensed, )0 hold an emergency!provisional license and +0 are teaching via lateral entry. Thirty'one teachers are -ationally ;oard Certified with more faculty wor$ing toward this prestigious certification for the )*+1')*+4 school year. There are also +4 Teacher "ssistants employed in departments such as <#ceptional Children, 8edia Center and In' School Suspension. The Student Support Services =epartment is comprised of four School Counselors, a Social .or$er, a School -urse, one +!) time =ropout 9revention Coordinator, a Student Concerns Specialist, one > time CCC?TI @iaison, one > time College "dvisor funded through the Carolina College "dvising Corp, a Career =evelopment Coordinator, and a School Aesource 3fficer. There are

five Support Staff mem ers, a Technology Specialist, a 8edia Coordinator, and a Breshman "cademy =irector. "lso employed at SCHS are 5 custodians, +) Cafeteria Staff and )* ;us =rivers. SCHSs 9rincipal, C. 8ichael 9ea$e, is in his nineth year in this position. He came to SCHS from Charleston, SC where he served as 9rincipal and had a great deal of e#perience and success with Small @earning Communities. Caldwell County Schools, at this time was researching the Small @earning Communities concept and the implementation possi ilities for SCHS. 8r. 9ea$e is currently serving the longest principal tenure at one school in the entire county. 3liver Carter is the @ead "9 and his designated responsi ilities include @<" for Special <ducation Services, curriculum, discipline for grades ++ and +), personnel issues, graduation rate, drop'outs, truancy, student attendance, student transfers, graduation and athletics. Chris "c$erman was 9rincipal at .est @enoir <lementary School. His designated "9 responsi ilities at SCHS include uildings and grounds, school safety, capital outlay, SI9!needs assessment, uses and 9T3. Culie Hall, a former <nglish teacher from .est Caldwell is eginning her third year at SCHS. Her duties include testing, curriculum and staff development, all aspects of the freshman academy (discipline, registration, etcD) and te#t oo$s. @astly, Several faculty and staff mem ers at SCHS are encouraged through their official leadership roles such as department chairs and class sponsors to serve as Ego'toF people for those less e#perienced. However, there are others who serve their profession in a more unofficial way. Bor e#ample, =e ie 8ason, currently serves as SCHSs CCC?TIs liaison, is a retired administrator and assists several faculty mem ers in their development as educators. "dditionally, Conathan Haas, math teacher provides support to those faculty mem ers in need. SCHS is a traditional high school operating on a loc$ schedule. Students have the opportunity to achieve 1) credits upon graduation7 however, )5 are re(uired for diploma purposes. There is a variety of elective course availa le to students at SCHS. Some of the more uni(ue programs at SCHS are the <arly Childhood <ducation 9rogram, which includes a , Star 9reschool program and the "uto 8echanics 9rogram complete with an "S< certified full' functioning garage. "dditionally, SCHSs

8asonry program has een the State S$ills GS" Champion for the past +) years. There is also a range of "dvanced 9lacement and =ual <nrollment courses availa le to SCHS students. "ccording to the )*+*')*++ -C School Aeport Card, only 10 of SCHS students were enrolled in "dvanced College 9rep courses defined as "9, I;, community colleges and university courses. SCHSs student enrollment in "dvanced College 9rep courses is significantly less than the =istrict average of :0, as well as lower than the State average of ,0. Bor the )*+1')*+4 school year, SCHSs "9 course enrollment is )5*7 ) in -CH9HS. "9 course enrollment is pro6ected to e 14,7 , in -CH9HS for the )*+4')*+, school year. "s previously mentioned, SCHS currently offers a total of +) "9 courses7 ) english, ) math, + science, , social studies, + computer science and + fine arts. This is another area for growth as there are no offerings in the areas of forgein language and other disciplines. There are, however, ) students are enrolled in an "9 @atin course through -orth Carolina Hirtual 9u lic High School (-CH9HS). "9 course offerings are pro6ected to remain at +) for the )*+4')*+, school year. "lthough not all SCHS students enrolled in "9 courses ta$e the "9 e#am, the average "9 score for )*++ was ).2, (range of +',). "ccording to the College ;oard, students with scores of 1 and a ove are generally considered to e (ualified to receive college credit and !or placement into advanced college courses. In terms of the num er of studens ta$ing "9 e#ams, only ,)0 of students enrolled actually ta$e the e#am. Therefore, there is much room for growth in terms of "9 e#am scores and num er of test ta$ers. "dditionally, SCHS students have the opportunity ta$e a certain =ual <nrollment and Hus$ins courses through Caldwell Community College ? Technical Institute. =ual enrollment course offerings are mostly limited to ST<8 (Science, Technology, <ngineering and 8ath) courses7 however a few students are enrolled in Cosmetology, Certified -urse "ssistant and "utomotive Services. Hus$ins courses, high school courses taught in partnership with CCC?TI that offer college credit, include "utomotive, ;usiness ? 8ar$eting, Culinary "rts, <arly Childhood =evelopment, and Technical =rafting. "ccording to the )*++ -C School Aeport Card, only +50 of SCHS students were enrolled in

Career and Technical Courses oth at the high school and at the community college. Increasing the num er of students enrolling in Career ? Technical courses would e instrumental in preparing students for post'secondary opportunities and allow students to get a 6ump start on some of the eginning level courses in their prospective ma6ors. SCHS students typically ta$e the following college entrance e#ams7 S"T, "CT and the "ccuplacer (CCC?TIs placement test). "ccording to the )*++ -C School Aeport Card, only ,+0 of SCHS students too$ the S"T. These num ers are slightly elow the =istrict average of ,10 and significantly lower than the State average of 2:0. The average S"T score for SCHS students is 45* for Her al and ,1, for 8ath for a com ined score of +*+,. These scores are slightly a ove the =istrict average of /5) and the State average of +**+. "dditionally, the average test score for the "CT is )).47 slightly a ove the State average of )+./. SCHS offers an unweighted elective course in S"T!"CT prep7 however enrolled is e#tremely low. There are currently 1) students enrolled in this unweighted elective course with pro6ected enrollment for ne#t year at 1:. In an attempt to increase enrollment, SCHS provides students with financial reim ursement for one S"T or "CT registration fee upon successful completion of this course. SCHS students also ta$e the "ccuplacer for placement into CCC?TI courses and programs. "ccording to score reports from CCC?TI "dministration, out of the /, SCHS students that too$ the "ccuplacer, :) had to re'ta$e one or more of the four part test to ma$e the EcutF score. The EcutF score is the minimum score re(uired to ta$e college level courses. Therefore, the :) seniors that did not meet the EcutF score re(uirements must either ta$e remedial classes in their su 6ect of deficiency or study and re'ta$e that portion of the test efore they can enroll in college classes. 3 viously, this is an area for improvement in terms of college readiness and preparedness for SCHS students. SCHS is a mem er of the 4" -orthwest Conference and sponsors )4 athletic teams for males and females. "thletic teams such as, as$et all, tennis, soccer, golf, trac$ and swimming are availa le to students. SCHS also has an e#tremely competitive cheerleading and foot all team, as well as girls

soft all and a dance team. "dditionally, SCHSs ase all team is the )**: State Champions. This State Championship ase all team included 8adison ;umgarner who was the starting pitcher for Iame 4 of the )*+* .orld Seris for the San Brancisco Iiants. SCHS also sponsors 11 clu s and organi%ations that meet on a regular asis throughout the year7 for e#ample, Interact Clu , Jui% ;owl, and -ational ;eta Clu . In )**4, SCHS was very fortunate to receive a Small @earning Communities Irant. The Spartan (Breshman) "cademy is part of this grant. This State, Aegional, and -ationally recogni%ed program is in its nineth year of implementation. The Spartan "cademy creates a supportive, nurturing environment for /th graders as they transition to the high school environment with its rigorous academic course wor$. The goal is to focus on overall student achievement and prepare students for their education eyond high school and!or the wor$force. Through this grant, SCHS is also a le to provide upperclassmen with an e#tension of The Spartan "cademy e#perience through the Career "cademies!"dvisories. <ach Career "cademy!"dvisory offers a small learning community ased on student interests that challenge students to perform at a level that can increase their chances of future success. These four Career "cademies!"dvisories are "rts, Cultures ? Humanities "cademy, ;usiness ? 9u lic Service "cademy, Health ? 8edical Sciences "cademy, and 8ath, Science ? <ngineering "cademy. Students meet with their "cademy!"dvisory once a wee$ for thirty minutes. @esson topics include ut are not limited to career interests, college planning, conflict resolution, decision ma$ing, interviewing s$ills, resume writing, and team uilding. In +//), SCHS partnered with the Communities In Schools program. This highly successful program rings usiness and community people in to the school to serve as mentors to students selected to participate in the program. It also provides funding for one teacher!program director to coordinate and offer services to students such as enrichment, academic support, and dropout prevention. SCHS has a very active 9arent Teacher 3rgani%ation (9T3). The 9T3 provides SCHS with

invalua le partnerships etween teachers, parents and students. In fact, /20 of teachers agree or strongly agree that parents!guardians support teachers, contri uting to the success of students, according to the -C T.CS. The 9T3 mem ership for the )*+1')*+4 school year is +1,. SCHSs 9T3 rings parents, teachers and other community mem ers together to support the entire school. 3ne of the opportunities the 9T3 provides for students is in the form of a college scholarship. <ach year, one SCHS senior is awarded a K+*** scholarship to assist in funding their college education. However, since mem ership and fundraising efforts are up su stantially this year, two K+*** scholarships will e offered to students. 3ther activities the 9T3 provides are numerous volunteer opportunities for parents such as teacher appreciation activities, testing proctors, prom and other dance chaperones, and fundraising. Bor the third year in a row, South Caldwell High School was recogni%ed a School of =istinction and High Irowth School y the State of -orth Carolinas =epartment of 9u lic Instruction. The criteria for this designation states that 5*'/*0 of students are performing at grade level. "lthough SCHS showed a slight decline in overall test scores when ro$en down y ethnicity, results are a ove the State and =istrict results in most areas. " focus of concern or area for improvement in terms of student group would e in the areas that showed the greatest gap7 our @<9 students specifically Hispanics These scores decreased y ).20 in one year resulting in eing +.40 lower than the State average. Interestingly, 220 of teachers indicated a need for more professional development to teach <nglish @anguage @earners more effectively according to the )*+* -CT.CS. .ith regards to specific <3C test results, SCHSs scores increased in the su 6ect areas of "lge ra +, Civics and GS History (see Bigure ;). " slight decline was noted in test scores for the following su 6ects <nglish +, ;iology, and 9hysical Science. "nother area for improvement with regards to test scores is in the area of writing. In )**/')*+*, SCHSs writing composite dropped to 2+0 proficient. "dditionally, SCHS met all +1 performance targets set forth through the -o Child @eft ;ehind "ct (-C@;) and made "de(uate Learly 9rogress ("L9) for the past two years.

.hile SCHSs attendance rate is slightly elow the =istrict and State averages at /10, SCHS has made tremendous strides in the area of Iraduation Aate. The cohort graduation rate for SCHS for the )*+)')*+1 school year was higher than /,0. SCHSMs rate rose from /).) percent in )*++')*+). 3ne $ey reason for this drastic increase in Iraduation rate for SCHS is the implementation of an "t'Ais$ Committee. This professional learning community is composed of administrators, counselors, nurse, social wor$er and special programs director. This committee meets wee$ly to discuss students, mostly seniors, determined to e at'ris$ of not graduating on cohort. This team meets with students and their families, ma$es home visits, contacts student employers, wor$s etween teachers and students all in an effort to assist the student in academic success. "dditionally, in an effort to increase the county graduation rate, CCS developed a 8inimum Course =iploma program. "s mentioned previously, CCS re(uires )5 credits to graduate, which is a ove the -C State re(uirement of )* credits. This 8C= allows students who have met the State of -Cs High School graduation standards ut failed to meet the additional county re(uirements to graduate with a minimum of )) credits. In order to (ualify for an 8C=, students must e approved y a district'level team. SCHS is, for all accounts, a safe and orderly school. "ccording to the -CT.CS, /50 of teachers either agreed or strongly agreed that they wor$ in a safe school environment. Bor the )*+*' )*++ school year, SCHS reported a )0 decrease in short'term suspensions over the course of one year. 3ne reason for this decrease is CCSs implementation of " Suspensions "lternative 9rogram ("S"9). This program places students in a community ased service activity during their suspension. "ccording to program materials, this community involvement is designed to reduce the ris$ of students getting involved in the 6uvenile court system and!or dropping out. The "S"9 program serves the entire school district, however SCHS serves as the =irectors home ase. "dditionally, SCHS reported no long'term suspensions over the previous two years. Students

that commit numerous infractions or those that are severe enough to warrant a long term suspension participate in a discipline hearing conducted at the county level. The purpose of this hearing is to determine the appropriate course of action for disciplining the infraction, as well as to develop a plan that supports the students academic success while $eeping them on trac$ to complete their high school education. "n e#ample of this educational plan is placement in an alternative learning environment. The Caldwell County School system includes Iateway "lternative School, serving grades 2'+). In addition, CCS is currently developing and implementing a =ay Treatment program to serve students in an educational setting while addressing the educational arriers their mental and emotional disa ilities are creating. SCHSs School Improvement goals are outlined in the School Improvement 9lan (SI9). The plan presents the following goals as the focus for the )*+1')*+4 school year. School Ioal +& Improve student attendance rate y )0. School Ioal )& Implement!Integrate Common Core and <ssential Standards into all classes with fidelity and accounta ility. School goal 1& Integrate data technology resources into instruction and assessment process.

SCHS traditionally has one of the lowest attendance percentages in the county. The SCHS student attendance rate during the )*++')*+) school year was /1.,0. SCHS has and is continuing to try to ma$e improvements in student attendance. In order to improve in all areas of instruction, SCHS needs to focus of implementing the Common Core and <ssential Standards in all classes. Gltimately, this will improve rigor and standardi%ed test scores for all students. In addition, SCHS needs to use all forms of technology to help improve instruction and use data'driven resources to identify student and teacher individual needs. Teachers at SCHS need the time to develop proficiency with all the different prorams avalia le for the education of students and to improve instruction.