2013 Agnes Meyer. Nominees

Transcription

1 Superintendent s Annual Report for School Year Published Fall 2013 Kathy Crane Coleman ES Winner Amy Costanzo Grace Miller ES Helen Olinger Pearson ES Beth Conolly Brumfield ES Matt Yonkey Kettle Run HS Congratulations to the 2013 Agnes Meyer Linda Koval Liberty HS Diane Graves Cedar Lee MS Suzan Linch Smith ES Bradley ES Outstanding Teacher Nominees Kristin Vercammen Greenville ES Selena Dickey Taylor MS Sydney Kelly Walter ES Cristin Myers Thompson ES Sam Bombard Pierce ES Rose Fahey Auburn MS

2 Page 2 Superintendent s Annual Report A Message from the Superintendent... I am grateful you have taken the time and effort to open this annual report and look through it. This is my first official report to the citizenry of Fauquier County since I became superintendent on May 1, To say that it is a privilege to serve as the superintendent of schools here may sound trite, but it is so true. I am humbled to have this opportunity and pledge to do the best job that I possibly can to serve the citizens, but most of all the students and staff of this school division. In the months that I have been here I have been extremely impressed with the quality of the employees and the caliber of the students. Because that is true, I want this report to focus on people... the people who make up this school division. Yes, you will find data in the pages of this report, but because there are faces behind the data, I am choosing to highlight the achievements of the excellent students, teachers and support staff who make up Fauquier County Public Schools. On the cover of this report are the 14 teachers nominated by their schools for consideration as The Washington Post s 2013 Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher of the Year. I believe that the most important factor in any child s education is the quality of the teacher standing before him or her. We have some of the best in Fauquier County, and while we are proud of all of them, we especially salute those nominated as Outstanding Teacher of the Year. We offer special congratulations to Kathy Crane, reading specialist at Coleman Elementary School, honored as this year s Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher of the Year. I hope you enjoy perusing the pages of this report and know you will appreciate the accomplishments of our students and teachers. Feel free to share your thoughts with me regarding the report, especially as we offer it in an electronic format for the first time, as we take another step in being good stewards of our stakeholders resources. David Jeck, Ed.D. Division Superintendent

3 Superintendent s Annual Report Page 3 Our Students Reached Exceptional Heights in School Year st In the National Merit Scholarship Program, Mollie Rodgers, Kettle Run High School senior, was named a Commended Student, placing in the top 5% of 1.5 million students. Geography Bee Participants Cedar Lee Middle School eighth-grade student Matthew Schwindt and Taylor Middle School eighth-grader Jeremy Alexander were semifinalists in the 2013 Virginia National Geographic Bee. Students with the top 100 scores across the Commonwealth were invited to participate. Published Author Warrenton Lifestyle Magazine selected Taylor Middle School seventh-grade student Lauren Albert s article A Day at Taylor Middle I Will Not Soon Forget for publication in the October 2012 issue of the community magazine. The Hipster A drawing by Fauquier High School junior Natalie Smith received first place in the nation in the category art/ illustration: hand-drawn in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Awards Program.

4 Page 4 2nd Superintendent s Annual Report SECOND IN THE NATION Two Fauquier High School students, senior Sam Eleazar and junior Matthew Jacobs, won first place in the state and second place in the nation in the 2013 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Contest. The secondplace national win was the highest any team from Virginia has ever achieved in the national Ford/AAA auto skills competition. Students in automotive technology instructor Scott Freeman s classes have done consistently well in the state competition, winning first place five times and second place three times in eight consecutive years. 4th FOURTH IN THE NATION State Fair Winner Liberty High School junior Kaitlyn Marston placed second overall and first in the use division in the state FFA horticulture demonstration competition at the 2012 Virginia State Fair. Fauquier High School senior Alexandra Wolfe finished fourth in the nation in the National Automotive Technology competition at The New York International Auto Show in April She also won first in the state in the SkillsUSA national automotive technology competition.

5 Superintendent s Annual Report Page 5 10th STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Several business partners offered paid summer or full-time employment to FCPS special needs students participating in the division s Employment Training Program. TENTH IN THE NATION The Fauquier High School Marching Band placed tenth in the nation in the USBands National Championship for Open Class Bands. Read what employers said about their student employees with special needs: He showed initiative and went out of his way to get along with everybody. We fell in love with him. He s a great kid, and he s doing really well. He has been great. He is always in a good mood. He s fabulous. He does just about anything and everything we ask him to. He s great. Auburn Middle School s Farm 2 Table Garden, planted and tended by students, was one of six selected for the Piedmont Environmental Council s first school and community garden awards.

6 Page 6 Superintendent s Annual Report Abigail Seitz, a Fauquier High School junior, received a silver medal in the journalism category in the 2013 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a national program that evaluated more than 230,000 works of art and writing. Only the top 1% of submissions were recognized. Eight percent of the student body in grades 4-12 earned All A s to earn a place on the inaugural Superintendent s List of Distinguished Students. Warrenton Middle School eighth-grader Drew Marino won the County Spelling Bee for the fourth year in a row! FHS seniors Garrett Croson, Summer Church and Kevin Sanford placed in the top 10% in the 2013 DECA State Leadership Conference competitions, qualifying for national competition. Technology Student Association members Tanvi Suresh, Maggie Swift and Hannah Murray (KRHS) and Dana Lehman (FHS) qualified for national TSA competition. VIRGINIA HONOR BAND The Kettle Run High School Band earned the distinction of a Virginia Honor Band for the fifth year in a row, one of only three bands in the state to earn and maintain the distinction since the year the schools first opened. To be named a Virginia Honor Band, both the wind ensemble and the marching band have to earn a superior rating from the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association during a state assessment.

7 Superintendent s Annual Report Page 7 Destination Imagination Teams Qualify for Globals Zach and the Ladies from Brumfield and Pierce Elementary Schools Urban Journalism Workshop Kettle Run High School junior Abby Duker was selected to participate in the Urban Journalism Workshop in Washington, D.C. She spent every Saturday for eight weeks working under the guidance of experienced Washington Post reporters. Fauquier and Liberty High Schools Two teams qualified to attend Destination Imagination (DI) Globals competition in Knoxville; DI is the largest creative thinking and problem solving competition in the world. To qualify, Zach and the Ladies won first in the state, and the team of FHS and LHS 11th graders won third in the state. FIRST IN STATE Kettle Run High School student Shannon McAvoy took first place in Introduction to Business in state FBLA competition, and Liberty High School student Jenny Harmon took fourth in Client Service.

8 Page 8 Superintendent s Annual Report Our Principals, Teachers and Staff Led the Way in School Year Big Sister of the Year Pierce Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Heather Welsh was named the 2012 Big Sister of the Year for the Commonwealth of Virginia. National Board Certified Teachers During school year two more teachers became National Board Certified, bringing the total NBC teachers employed by FCPS to 21. Pat Baker Gifted and Talented Teacher Walter Elementary Stacey Babish Reading Specialist Greenville Elementary Ann Meyer Math Teacher Fauquier High Patricia Baker, Fauquier County Public Schools first National Board Certified teacher, completed her NBCT renewal process to extend certification for another 10 years. Fun Fact Liberty High School history teacher Amy Acors was selected to be an extra in Steven Spielberg s film Lincoln and was also selected to participate in a Google Hangout with Mr. Spielberg and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

9 Superintendent s Annual Report Page 9 P A R Virginia Middle School Principal of the Year Steve Parker, principal of Cedar Lee Middle School, was the state winner in the National Association of Secondary Schools Program. Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award Kathy Crane, reading specialist at Coleman Elementary School, received the Washington Post s Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award. C R A K N E E R S P E N C E R Reading Teacher of the Year Brooks Spencer, reading specialist at Cedar Lee Middle School, was named the Greater Washington Reading Council s Reading Teacher of the Year. Rec Professional of the Year Donna Wilbur, P.E. teacher at Smith Elementary, was named Recreation Professional of the Year by the Virginia Association of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance at the regional level. W I L B U R

10 Page 10 Looking at FCPS through the Lens of Data Federal Graduation Indicator High schools, school divisions and the state must meet annual objectives for the percentage of students who graduate with a Standard or Advanced Studies Diploma. This objective is known as the Federal Graduation Indicator to distinguish it from the Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate Cohort (Four Years) FCPS State 89% 83% State Graduation Rate The FCPS On-Time Graduation Rate (percentage of first-time ninth-graders who earned a Board of Education-approved diploma within four years) has increased by 7.1 percentage points since 2008, improving each year. FCPS Class of 2013 State 94% 89.1% Superintendent s Annual Report Federal Annual Measurable Objectives Under federal requirements, Virginia must establish annual measurable objectives for proficiency in reading and mathematics. The chart below provides the percentage of students passing in those areas in at the division level and the state level as well as in the other core subject areas. English Math Writing History Science Disbursements 75th FCPS State Per Pupil Expenditures Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) measure a school division s disbursements by category and state ranking of 132 school divisions. Fiscal Year 2012 PPE Instruction 31st Administration 84th

11 Superintendent s Annual Report Page 11 College Readiness The ACT and the SAT are two widely accepted national comprehensive exams that colleges use in their admissions process to measure students college readiness. Both exams test students in reading, math and writing; ACT adds a science component. ACT Average Scores Results reported on a scale of 1 to 36 SAT Average Scores Results reported on a scale of 600 to Composite Score FCPS Virginia USA Total Score FCPS Virginia USA Employees As of June 30, 2013 Number of Classified: 783 Number of Certified: 1,042 Number of Full-Time Teachers: 862 Special Education: 132 National Board Certified: 21 Master s Degree or Higher: 507 Turnover Rate (percentage of staff who leave the division each year for a variety of reasons): Teachers 6.9% Principals 4.1% Other Certifed 6.3% Bus Drivers 11.7% Custodians 17.9% Health 20.0% Food Service 21.1% Aides 9.0% Office Worker 5.3% Students As of June 30, 2013 Enrollment: 11,065 Ethnicity White: 8,233 Hispanic: 1,176 Black/African-American: 1,025 Asian: 212 American Indian: 35 Hawaiian: 12 Two or more ethnicities: 372 Discipline: 0.9% English Language Learners: 4.5% Gifted and Talented Services: 13.4% Industry Certifications: 482 taken, 344 passed Special Education Services: 10.9% Subsidized Meal Participants: 23.4% Transportation: 166 routes which included 3,544 bus stops and 3.2 million miles traveled For more detailed reports visit

12 Page 12 Superintendent s Annual Report Standard 2M of the Standards of Quality for public schools in Virginia stipulates that the school division must report to the public the actual pupil/ teacher ratio in elementary classrooms for the current school year. This ratio includes fulltime classroom teachers and cannot include resource personnel. As of Sept. 30, 2013, this ratio is as follows for school year : Bradley: 21:1 Brumfield: 21:1 Coleman: 20:1 Greenville: 22:1 Miller: 21:1 Pearson: 22:1 FCPS Pupil-Teacher Ratios Pierce: 22:1 Ritchie: 21:1 Smith: 21:1 Thompson: 20:1 Walter: 20:1 Standard 2M further requires that the school division report pupil/teacher ratio with all resource and teacher personnel included. Resource personnel are teachers of art, music, health and physical education, speech, technology and special education; reading and math specialists; librarians; psychologists; diagnosticians; and counselors. This ratio follows, as reported in the State Superintendent s Annual Report on the Virginia Department of Education website as of Oct. 28, 2013: Pupil/Teacher Ratio K-7: 17.2:1 Pupil/Teacher Ratio 8-12: 9.2:1 98% felt teachers were knowledgeable about the subject taught 99% felt teachers had high expectations for quality work 92% said they had a positive learning experience in high school 84% felt students were accepting of diverse races, religions, abilities, lifestyles and nationalities Senior Exit Survey 92% felt their school was clean, orderly and well maintained, and 95% found their school facilities adequate 92% felt teachers were available for assistance with academic concerns 88% felt the staff cared about them 97% felt their school provided a safe learning environment

13 Superintendent s Annual Report Page 13 Strategic Plan Aspirations 2015 Looking Back: Years 1 through 3 Aspirations 2015, the school division s five-year strategic plan, saw its third year of implementation in school year In the first three years of implementation, 58 of 132 action plans were championed; 54 have been completed. The chart at right reflects the percentage of action plans completed in the seven strategies that provide the framework of Aspirations Action Plans Completed by Category Academics 40.6% Character 75.0% Environments 45.5% Staffing 38.5% Communication 50.0% Resources 43.8% Environmental Responsibility 33.3% Looking Ahead: Year 4 In November 2013 the School Board approved the recommendation that 16 additional action plans be championed and one action plan be revisited along with the four ongoing action plans for a total of 21 action plans being championed in Year 4. Want to know more about the school division s Strategic Plan Aspirations 2015? Visit and click on Division Strategic Plan under Quick Links

14 Page 14 Superintendent s Annual Report FCPS Operating Budget Revenues Expenditures

15 Superintendent s Annual Report Page 15 Although in its infancy, the Fauquier County Education Foundation is developing rapidly. A planning committee met in October and November, adopted a mission and began the process of determining the structure for the foundation. Please contact School Board Clerk Ginger Callahan at gcallahan@fcps1.org or (540) for more information on the Fauquier County Education Foundation. The school division s Crisis Management Plan has been extensively updated thanks to the hard work and dedication of a newly formed Crisis Management Planning Team, composed of members of the Fauquier County Sheriff s Office; Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management; Town of Warrenton Police; and key school division personnel. Innovation Ahead In partnership with Learning Tree International, FCPS will present the Fauquier County Regional Science and Engineering Fair March 22, 2014, at Stoneridge Events Center in Warrenton. The fair is open to private, public and homeschooled 6th through 12th grade students in Fauquier County. Visit fair.weebly.com. Efforts are underway to deepen students understanding of content by adding high-engagement activities and authentic learning opportunities through a variety of venues. Among these might be an enriched environmental studies program that includes additional visits to the Outdoor Lab and projects which emphasize science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Under discussion is an on-line introductory automotive class which would enable students at all three high schools to understand the rigor required to complete the full automotive technology program offered only at FHS.

16 Page 16 Superintendent s Annual Report MAKE A CONNECTION with Fauquier County Public Schools Web Page Newly redesigned YouTube Watch FCPS School Board meetings and other programs Citizens Time Speak at School Board Meetings Contact Us Use the form on the web page FCPS FCPS enotify Opt-in to get ed school division news releases, Parent Resource Center newsletters, etc. You One Hard Question Hear the superintendent answer One Hard Question weekly in a video at Send questions to ohq@fcps1.org School Support Council Meets first Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the School Board Office Partners in Education Make a Connection with Fauquier County Public Schools Chairman s Night Meet with the School Board Chair Connecting businesses with schools Questions? Call the school division at