Orange County Public Schools Stephanie Minter, Principal 13700 Narcoossee Rd Orlando, FL 32832-6925 Document Generated On September 20, 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 3 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 5 Additional Information 6
Introduction Every school has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and procedures by which the school makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a school stays faithful to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder engagement, the trends and issues affecting the school, and the kinds of programs and services that a school implements to support student learning. The purpose of the (ES) is to provide a school with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the school community will have a more complete picture of how the school perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This summary is structured for the school to reflect on how it provides teaching and learning on a day to day basis. Page 1
Description of the School Describe the school's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced in the last three years. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the school serves? is located at 13700 Narcoossee Road, Orlando, FL, 32832, and primarily serves the community of Lake Nona. serves 1,630 students in grades 6-8. 's minority population is currently 65%, and the Free/Reduced Lunch rate is 44%. The school is located in the community of Lake Nona, which houses a 650-acre health and life sciences park, known as Lake Nona Medical City-which includes facilities for the advancement of medical treatment, research, and education. Education is a priority at Lake Nona, and the community includes UCF's Health Sciences Campus, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, UF Research and Medical Center, and the new VA Medical Center. While the Lake Nona Community affords residents access to some of the best medical care and/or educational opportunities in Central Florida, the popularity of this new community in meeting the educational needs of new residents and their school-age children. LNMS opened its doors in 2012-2013, at capacity, and continues to grow. The biggest challenge LNMS faces stems from the community's high growth in population over a relatively short period of time. 's student enrollment has grown from 1,273 students in August, 2012, to 1,630 students in April, 2015-a 28% growth in the school's student population in just three years. Additionally, OCPS recently broke ground on a relief elementary school across the street from LNMS, as the feeder elementary schools into LNMS are currently at or above capacity. The Lake Nona community has been slated for a relief middle school that will open for the 2016-2017 school year. As a result of the tremendous growth over the past several years, LNMS has recently added seven additional portable classrooms, bringing the total additions to the original building to thirty portable classrooms. Student enrollment continues to rise and census predictions indicate the likelihood of necessitating creative solutions for accommodating the increasing student population of LNMS, such as a co-taught model for instruction, in order to meet class size mandates within the current infrastructure. 's Student Demographic Information: Hispanic students-51.1%, 831 students White students-31.5%, 513 students Black students-8.9%, 145 students Multi-racial students-2.3%, 37 students Asian/Pacific Islander students-6%, 97 students Native American or Alaska Native students-0.2%, 2 students Page 2
School's Purpose Provide the school's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the school embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students. 's purpose is to provide a safe, diverse educational community where all students have the opportunity to excel academically, personally, artistically, athletically, and socially. As part of Orange County Public Schools, Lake Nona's Vision, Mission, and Goals are as follows: the top OCPS Vision To be the top producer of successful students in the nation OCPS Mission To lead our students to success with the support and involvement of families and the community OCPS Goals To focus our efforts to accomplish our mission and achieve our vision, the board and superintendent set five broad goals. 1. Intense Focus on Student Achievement 2. High-Performing and Dedicated Team 3. Safe Learning and Working Environment 4. Efficient Operations 5. Sustained Community Engagement The administration at encourages frequent and direct communication between teachers and parents for the development of relationships and support of student success. Program offerings are communicated to stakeholders at -program offerings support and enhance student learning through rigorous courses, including Spanish, French, AVID, high school credit courses, and advanced classes, as well as an award-winning Fine Arts department, offering courses for students in visual and performing arts. supports continuous student involvement in extra-curricular sports and activities, offering students the opportunity to choose from over thirty extracurricular and athletic organizations, and strives to involve students from various backgrounds. Each activity is sponsored by a teacher and meets regularly. Choices for enrichment activities include National Junior Honor Society, CRU, NONA Science, Junior Thespians, Book Club, Chess Club, Art Club, Math Club, Odyssey of the Mind, Student Government Association, Running Club, Yearbook, and Unified Sports/Special Olympics. Intramural sports are offered throughout the year: Volleyball, Soccer, Basketball, and Track. Additionally, recognizes teacher-nominated Student and Citizens of the Month for each grade level subject-area and invites parents and families to participate in an award ceremony celebrating their achievements. As LNMS strives to continue to develop and implement new, rigorous academic programs, a number of advancements are being considered as additions to the course offerings currently available for the 2015-2016 school year. One exciting new course offering for next year is Advanced Placement Spanish, which makes only the second middle school in the state of Florida to offer this rigorous, college-level course. Page 3
In addition to enrichment activities, also provides additional supports for struggling students. Students found to need additional support in reading and/or math are recommended for Saturday Learning Labs, where they receive instructional support, delivered in small groups, by highly-qualified teachers. Course Recovery opportunities are provided before and after school, as well as during Saturday Learning Labs. An after school tutoring program provides support for all students who may be in need of academic support in English/Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. puts an emphasis on creating a safe and positive environment for students, in order to promote learning. Routines and procedures are developed and implemented with that goal in mind. Consistent and clear expectations for student behavior are explicitly taught and are reinforced throughout the school year. Systems for providing a safe environment for students are monitored continuously for their effectiveness, and adjusted as needed, to ensure that safety is of the utmost consideration to meet the needs of students and the school at all times. provides clear and consistent expectations for student behavior, in order to maximize instructional time for all. Lake Nona Middle School utilizes a progressive discipline plan, in which students are treated fairly and consistently. School and classroom behavioral expectations are clearly communicated. Grade level assemblies and other reviews of school-wide policies and procedures are held quarterly, to reinforce the school and classroom expectations. Page 4
Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement Describe the school's notable achievements and areas of improvement in the last three years. Additionally, describe areas for improvement that the school is striving to achieve in the next three years. In the past three years, has had many notable academic, athletic, and extracurricular accomplishments. Within the academic realm, continues to be among the top-ranked middle schools in the district in ELA, math, social studies, and science performance. LNMS student scores on the Math FCAT, Reading FCAT, and Science FCAT have increased steadily over the past three years. LNMS's FCAT Math scores increased from 68.9 percent of students scoring at proficiency in 2011 to 74.1 in 2014. Additionally, LNMS outperformed the district average by 14.3 percent. FCAT Reading scores increased from 74 to 77 percent from 2011 to 2014, again outperforming the district average by 13.3 percent in 2014. FCAT Science scores showed the greatest rate of growth for students, with scores improving from 51.9 percent of students demonstrating proficiency in 2011, to 70.2 percent of students demonstrating proficiency in 2014, with LNMS students outperforming the district by 15.1 percentage points. At, we are constantly striving for the academic success of our students in all subject areas. Although the FCAT Math and Reading tests have been replaced with the new Florida Standards Assessments for both math and ELA (English Language Arts), students and teachers are working hard to ensure the continued increase in the percentage of students demonstrating proficiency in both math and ELA. Specifically, LNMS places additional focus and emphasis on minimizing the performance gap between the school as a whole and subgroup populations, including the ELL (English Language Learner) and ESE (Exceptional Student Education) populations. For the 2013-2014 school year, earned the title of being the #1 middle school in Scholastic's Read for the World Record Summer Reading Challenge, with the most logged reading minutes in the world- 4,444,734 minutes read by LNMS students. Our Science Olympiad team placed 2nd out of 19 teams in the regional competition, and went on to compete in the state tournament. In addition to our academic accomplishments, LNMS performing and visual arts department has proven itself as an example for others middle schools to follow. First, our Principal, Mr. Martinez, was recognized as the Middle School Arts Principal of the Year for Orange County Public Schools, by the United Arts of Central Florida. Later in the school year, LNMS underwent a rigorous application process through the Florida Alliance for Arts Education and the Florida Department of Education, which evaluated the school on the following factors: leadership, highly qualified and effective arts teachers, curriculum, facilities, scheduling and support, community connection, and school culture. Their evaluation of Lake Nona's arts programs resulted in our being selected as a Florida Arts Model Schools (FAMS). Two of this year's most notable performing arts accomplishments were the girls' chorus group's performance on ABC's Frozen Christmas Special that aired on the ABC Network on Christmas day, and our boys' choral group's performance of the National Anthem at the Braves vs. Yankees Spring training game on March 18th. Page 5
Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. N/A Page 6