Executive Summary Hamilton High School Hamilton School District Dr. Kathleen Cooke, Superintendent W220 N6151 Town Line Rd. Sussex, WI 53089
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Executive Summary 2 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 5 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 7 Additional Information 9
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 Executive Summary (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
Executive Summary 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? Location Hamilton High School is located west of Milwaukee in northern Waukesha County. The Hamilton School District covers about 35 square miles and has about 23,000 residents. The district serves six municipalities and has an enrollment of approximately 4,200 students in one learning center, four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. There are three municipal public libraries, three golf courses, municipal parks, bike and snowmobile trails and a county park with swimming, camping and ski trails located throughout the district. Carroll College, UW College at Waukesha and Waukesha County Technical College are within 10 miles of the district. The proximity to Milwaukee offers residents cultural and sporting activities including professional theater, ballet, symphony, baseball, basketball and football. History of Hamilton High School The doors of Hamilton High School opened in 1962 to freshman and sophomores assigned to this new union high school who had previously attended Pewaukee, Arrowhead, Germantown, Menomonee Falls, Brookfield, Wauwatosa and Waukesha. Each consecutive year, a class was added until the first senior class graduated in the spring of 1965. Its name is in honor of Alexander Hamilton, a signer of the Constitution who fought for freedom, one of the rights being the freedom of education. The name was chosen in a "Name the School Contest" held in 1959 submitted by Butler resident Linda Wicklund. Significant additions to the original building include new classrooms in 1970, a science wing with eight state-of-the-art science classrooms in 1996 and the Hamilton Fine Arts Center in 2004. This 35,000-square-foot addition includes a 750-seat theater, full-fly stage, orchestra pit for live musical accompaniment, ticket booth, dressing rooms, new music rooms, costume-prop storage, control booth area and art display area. Thanks to a grant written by Hamilton High School staff members, the Fitness Center, equipped with more than 35 machines, opened its doors to the community in 2006. During the summer of 2008, the school's main gymnasium underwent a major facelift, including updated bleachers, floor and overall appearance. Internal and external scoreboards were purchased during the fall of 2012, supported exclusively through several area businesses who served as anchor donors. Grade Configuration Hamilton High School serves students in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. The student class-day consists of four-periods, which allows implementation of the most effective teaching strategies. Classes meet for 83 minutes per day, with an intervention block of 35 minutes between first and second period. This intervention block is designed to assist students with further remedial assistance, homework completion, or accelerated academic support. By nearly doubling the class period, students finish a yearlong course in one semester. Staff Education Teacher Counselor Administrator Total Page 2
BA 45 0 0 45 MA 35 7 4 46 Ph.D. 0 0 0 0 Total 80 7 4 91 Staff Gender Teacher Counselor Administrator Total Male 33 2 3 38 Female 47 3 1 51 Total 80 5 4 89 Staff Attendance Teacher Counselor Administrator Total Attendance 94.32% 97.38% 94.14% 95.28% Staff Age Teacher Counselor Administrator Total 24-35 26 1 1 28 36-50 34 3 3 40 51-20 3 0 23 Total 80 7 4 91 Student Enrollment by Ethnicity (08-09, 09-10, 10-11, respectively) Asian or Pacific Islander-72, 67, 65 Black-50, 50, 48 Hispanic-37, 43,48 American Indian/Alaskan-6, 6, 8 White-1122, 1182, 1221 Two or More-0, 0, 21 Total-1287, 1348, 1411 Student Attendance by Grade Level (08-09, 09-10, 10-11, respectively) Grade 9-96.1, 96.3, 96.3 Grade 10-95.7, 95.5, 95.2 Grade 11-94.2, 95.6, 93.3 Grade 12-93.1, 93.9, 93.4 Average-94.8, 95.4, 94.6 Features and Challenges Hamilton serves families from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Many of our students live with parents who not only work white collar jobs but are distinguished in the community for various reasons. In addition, Hamilton also educates students who are the first to graduate high school and whose parents were born and raised in the community, employed as farmers or worked in the trades. The challenge is to provide a comprehensive education to all students and support parents/guardians in their quest to raise contributing members of society. Page 3
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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. Purpose Statement: Hamilton High School Hamilton High School is recognized as a leader in providing a student-centered educational environment that maximizes achievement for all students. Through Strategic and Site Planning efforts, the community's expectations are the blueprint for what public education will provide to this area's young people. School staff members help guide students to success in all areas of the academic spectrum. The curriculum is comprehensive - preparing students for whatever path they choose following graduation. Hamilton prides itself on a continual curriculum updating process that reflects new programs and materials. Technology is used as a learning tool and is accessible to all students. Students' academic skills and talents show in standardized test scores consistently above national and state averages which are increasingly competitive with the highest achieving districts in the state. Students also excel in co-curricular activities and athletics. Hamilton High School adopted and utilizes the following mission statement: "It is the mission of the Hamilton School District, a childcentered, progressive, pro-active organization, to ensure maximum level of achievement for each student, through a respectful and active learning environment: A rigorous, relevant curriculum and a highly qualified, caring staff in concert with our diverse community." Belief Statements Engage... meaningful, active involvement spark intellectual curiosity and innovation promote interactive learning utilize real-life, relevant tasks apply technology as a tool for learning involve parents partner with the community connect globally Empower... enabling all to find success believe in self equip with knowledge and skills build mutual trust promote transparency and openness develop resiliency overcome obstacles believe in others Achieve... reaching our highest potential set and meet goals monitor progress Page 5
do better today than yesterday inspire and create think critically and solve problems produce quality work build for our future Program Offerings and Expectations To support all students with varying levels of strength/need, the following courses/programs are available at Hamilton: Club Success, Freshman Seminar, Guided Academic Practice(GAP), GAP Advisement, GAP Study Skills, GAP Reading, GAP College, GAP Grammar, GAP Career, GAP Language Mechanics, Gateway to High School, Math Advantage, Math Advisement, Advanced Placement, Advanced Standing, Co-Op, Honors, Independent Study, PASS, Transcripted Credit, 2+2+2 Programs, and Youth Apprenticeship. Student Extra and Co-curricular Participation Enrollment Grades 9-12 - 1411 Number of offerings - 52 Academic participation rate - 71% Athletic participation rate - 51% Music participation rate - 14% Extra-/Co-curricular activities are school sanctioned groups or events, not offered for credit or grade, designed to broaden, develop, and enhance school experience in areas of academics, athletics, and music. Data are reported for grades 9 through 12. The participation rate for each activity category is determined by the number of participants divided by the enrollment reported on the third Friday in September. Participation percentages continue to increase. Students involved in several activities are counted more than once. Page 6
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. Notable Achievements Newsweek Magazine's "America's Best High Schools" list for 2012 Highlights the best 1,000 public high schools in the nation proven to be the most effective in turning out college-ready graduates Only 21 Wisconsin high schools were on this year's list Ranking based on graduation rate, percent of graduates accepted to college, Advanced Placement test participation and results, and average ACT or SAT scores The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Top Workplaces Based on results from anonymous employee survey conducted by an independent research firm District's participation rate was 91 percent among all employees Bloomberg Business Week: Sussex - Best Place to Raise Your Kids 2012 4,169 communities evaluated Researchers evaluated educational factors, economic factors, crime, amenities, air quality and ethnic diversity with school performance, expenditures and income given most weight Milwaukee Magazine top 10 school districts Both the high school and district were rated No. 7 Rankings based on state standardized test score results and college readiness as measured by the ACT and Advanced Placement tests. Among the top 10 school districts, Hamilton had the lowest per-pupil spending with some districts spending nearly $2,600 more per pupil Hamilton High School - National AP Honor Roll One of only 367 U.S. and Canadian high schools recognized for simultaneously increasing access to Advanced Placement course work while maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams With a pass rate of 89.3 percent in 2009-10, Hamilton had the highest AP pass rate among all Waukesha County school districts Hamilton High School - WIAA Spirit of Excellence Award-Excellence in spirit, sportsmanship, ans service to the school and community 2011-Region IV and State Recipients 2012-Region IV Recipients Areas of Improvement Advanced Placement Challenge Index: Challenge Index is defined as the number of Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate exams taken by students, divided by the number of graduated seniors. Public high schools with scores of +1.0 or higher meet the challenge index and are listed Newsweek on an annual basis. Year Challenge Index Page 7
2008-1.48 2009-1.30 2010 +1.08 2011 +1.32 ACT The ACT test is primarily administered to students who intend to enroll in a college or university upon graduation from high school. Hamilton continues to earn composite scores that exceed the national average. Hamilton students consistently outperform other students in the state. Hamilton students earned the highest ACT composite score of 24.1 in the school's history during the 09-10 school year and second highest score of 23.6 during the 10-11 school year. Areas for Improvement The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) chose Hamilton as one of the school districts to pilot the new state Teacher Effectiveness Model in the upcoming school year. Hamilton volunteered to participate in the pilot as a way to gain training and prepare staff to implement the new model. The district will provide feedback to the DPI regarding the educator evaluation initiative, part of federal education reform intended to improve student learning. One administrator and three teachers from Hamilton High School have been selected to participate in the formalized training and pilot program to begin fall of 2012. Intervention Block Beginning in the fall of 2012, Hamilton will operate on an 83 minute, four period day. The school day will include a daily 35 minute intervention block, designed to assist all students with further academic support. RtI math and reading intervention blocks are already established. Teachers have been trained, benchmark assessments delivered, and slope lines created and evaluated. The intervention block model also addresses the needs of students earning a course grade(s) of D or F. At the end of each term, students earning less than satisfactory grades will report three days a week to an intervention classroom designed to address the deficit areas until a satisfactory grade is earned. In addition, each department created a master advisement schedule for students earning passing grades to select three locations of choice. The following are just a few of their options: homework assistance, absence make-up work, research, peer tutor, and/or accelerated work. Because this is our first year, we will evaluate the strength and growth areas of this schedule and modify as necessary. Page 8
Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. 1). In addition to the information provided in the prior three sections, Hamilton is utilizing the following assessment data to assist with Response to Intervention (RtI) initiatives: MAP (Math and Reading)-universal screener for grades 9 and 10; STAR (Math and Reading) Accelerated Reader-universal screener for grade 11 and progress monitoring for grades 9, 10, and 11. Tier 2 interventions include district evidence-based assessments and ALEKS math program. Tier 3 interventions include MCI, RMI, and STAR math. 2). Individualized learning plans are being developed with the help of Naviance. This program assists counselors with freshmen four year planning and standardized test review, manages college and career readiness, and provides the opportunity for students to take personality surveys and career interest inventories. 3). As a part of the new intervention block schedule, teachers will provide students with curricular extensions in the following areas: grade 9-planning your future, grade 10-standardized test review, grade 11-reading strategies, grade 12-financial literacy. 4). The Hamilton High School profile in its entirety is included as an artifact for the peer review team to access during their peer review. Page 9