Galena City School District Mr. John H Riddle, Principal PO Box 359 Galena, AK 99741-359 Document Generated On October 29, 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 4 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 6 Additional Information 8
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
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? GILA is a statewide boarding school for students that are seeking yet another choice, and is Alaska's longest operating residential secondary school with a focus on career and technical education. It is an accredited school for grades 9-12 and also offers post-secondary adult career and technical programs. GILA offers students from all over the state the opportunity to gain the knowledge, skills, and certifications needed to prepare them for the standards of industry. Students can take courses in aviation, carpentry, welding, cosmetology, computer software applications, driver's education, health sciences and culinary arts programs while working to meet our high academic standards. Additionally, students can earn university credit upon successful completion of any of our current seventeen CTE courses for which we have articulation agreements with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Our career and technical education teachers are hired from industry and/or have completed education programs in their content areas validating these programs as meeting the standards required by industry. GILA is located in Galena (pop. 500+), a rural setting appealing to the lifestyle of our mostly rural students. The GILA student body is made up of students who come to us from approximately 80 different communities from across Alaska. We are very lucky to have a student body with such rich cultural diversity. All students are enrolled here to pursue a more focused emphasis on their academic attainment and to begin their development in one of our career and technical areas. The GILA campus is located on a decommissioned (BRAC closure) U.S. Air Force base and offers modern residential and educational facilities. This unique school enjoys strong partnerships with the City of Galena, Louden Tribal Council, University of Alaska Fairbanks and various organizations/businesses enabling it to provide first class education to its students. GILA's enrollment goal is to expand our residential student population to 300 students. Enrollment at the end of the 2008/09 school year was 94. The 2009-10 school year enrollment was 124. The 2010/11 enrollment was 199. The 2011/2012 enrollment was 200. Enrollment during the 2014/2015 was 224. Our current enrollment as of the 2015/2016 school year is 211. As we are a school of choice, which provides boarding school accommodations for students from far and wide, our enrollment fluctuates. GILA students are served during the school day by 11 Type T certified teachers working in various content areas and capacities, 2 Type M certified teachers, 1 Type C certified school counselor, and 2 Type B administrators working in the school. Additionally, we have an administrator who carries out administrative duties during the school day and also serves as our Director of Residence Life, 2 residence life counselors, and 22 highly dedicated residence life support staff working to provide a safe, productive, and enjoyable living environment for our students. We are only one of two district high schools in the city of Galena. Our students benefit in that they take classes on both the GILA and Sydney C. Huntington campuses. This provides them with increased academic and CTE opportunities. 100% of the teachers at are teaching in their specific area of endorsement. GILA's teacher-body historically very stable. This is especially true when compared to other rural schools/districts. We hired 4 new teachers, 1 new counselor, and we added an administrator in the position of Assistant Principal. Of the 13 classroom instructors 1 school counselor and 3 administrators serving GILA students, 9 have Bachelor's degrees and 7 have Master's degrees. Page 2
GILA serves students coming from a wide variety of academic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. While we have many students who come to us with strong academic records, many are also at-risk and come to us deficient in credits and essential background knowledge. GILA continues to work toward increasing the number of credit recovery opportunities for students as well as increasing the number of fundamental math and language arts classes for our students who need this help. We have increased the number of these classes offered. These students, who come from districts with many divergent instructional practices, will continue to need the remediation/interventions that GILA provides so that new students' who transition into our rigorous high school curriculum will have a chance at success. We also continue to grow our upper end classes and to expand our CTE pathways to include more courses which lead to industry certifications or which prepare our students for entry into the university or post-secondary CTE institutions. With the current incremental increases toward fulfilling our enrollment potential; there are many operational and instructional challenges that are being presented along the way (staffing, facilities, dormitory space, food services, etc.). As such, GILA has revamped its student application process which offers families both a web-based electronic application system as well as a hard copy application so that ultimately there will be a steady high quality pool of candidates waiting for entry. Currently, we have a waiting list of students wanting to enroll in our school. In other attempts to increase our enrollment, GILA has continued on-line social media, radio and newspaper advertisements throughout the state to garner an even more diverse, state-wide representation within the student body. We are also represented at a widely attended statewide conference for the same purpose. The Galena City School District will continue looking at ways to grow our student population at GILA while maintaining a sharp focus on providing quality education in all areas. Our intent is to provide Alaska parents with a choice for the education of their students and to provide our students the highest quality instruction in each academic area. Page 3
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. Our Vision To provide the highest quality educational options for families in the state of Alaska ensuring our graduates are well-grounded, well-educated individuals able to maneuver effectively in a dynamic world Our Mission Active, enthusiastic engagement that inspires learning for every student, in every content area, every day Our Core Values - Academic excellence and innovation are promoted in all facets of school programs and activities - Every person is uniquely valuable and is treated with dignity and respect - Learning is a differentiated and life-long process - Education is a collaborative community responsibility - Learning is dependent on fostering stable relationships - Overall student success is dependent on high standards and expectations - Diversity within our district is respected and appreciated - Resource management decisions are student centered and sustainable Student Learning - Provide a rigorous standards-based curriculum, differentiated learning opportunities, and a flexible instructional approach that meets individual needs, ensuring that each student reaches high levels of learning and graduates with post-secondary and career options - Instruction - Utilize research-supported, differentiated instruction and assessment strategies in all content areas and programs aligned to the State of Alaska English/Language Arts standards, literacy standards across all content areas, and Career and Technical Education industry standards. - College and Career Preparation - Increase the percentage of students district-wide who qualify for the Alaska Performance Scholarship by 5% annually. - Reporting Tools - Develop and implement research-supported coaching tools for teaching and administrative staff that clearly align with student learning outcomes by July 1, 2015 - School Innovation - Partner with statewide agencies to grow district-wide Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs focusing on STEM initiatives. Increase CTE articulation agreements by 4 courses annually with the University of Alaska Fairbanks system. - Attract and Retain - Attract and retain high quality candidates through the development of an organizational culture focused on growth, collaboration, and innovation - Professional Development - Ensure well-planned, outcome-based, high quality, job-embedded professional development focused on increased student learning outcomes - Student Retention - Increase student retention district-wide to 80% Community and Stakeholder Engagement - Strengthen collaboration with all GCSD stakeholders to promote a shared value and responsibility for all student learning opportunities Page 4
- Communication - Ensure 100% of all GCSD families are personally contacted by GCSD staff each marking period, at a minimum - Parent Advisory Committees - All GCSD schools and programs will seek feedback on a quarterly basis on district initiatives through stronger engagement between GCSD schools and Parent Advisory Committees. - Stakeholder Feedback - Provide regular opportunities for GCSD stakeholders to provide feedback on district initiatives through anonymous surveys, town meetings (minimum of two annually), and the GCSD website. - Public Relations - Educate all GCSD stakeholders through regular monthly communication that promotes district programs and performance. Resource Management - Ensure well-managed financial resources aligned with and in support of student learning and energy conservation - Fund Balance - Maintain fund balances as close to 10% as possible to ensure district-wide financial flexibility and stability - Resource Allocation - Ensure a budget development and implementation process that allocates resources based on alignment with the strategic plan and instructional outcomes by May 2015. - Sustainability - Partner with key community and statewide agencies to support the development of renewable, sustainable community-wide energy resources including the development of energy conservation measures for each school district utilized building Page 5
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. is a school of choice. We often accept students who are behind in the credits they need to graduate. Most of the students who attend GILA are Alaska Native (87%) and come from small, isolated villages with limited access to quality educational programs and services. Over half (54%) of our students are identified as living in poverty (as measured by Free and Reduced Price Lunch). This number is low because many of the boarding student's parents do not complete the FRPL forms. An analysis of our current student body showed that 74% of our students come from school districts where over 50% of the children live in families receiving some form of public assistance. Many Alaska Native students attending GILA are lacking math and employability skills needed to be successful in post-secondary training or college. In 2014, 56.12% of GILA Alaska Native students scored below proficiency in math on the Alaska SBA assessment. Alaska Native students accounted for 98% of non-proficient students in math. In 2015, the state began to assess students using a new assessment, the Alaska Measure of Progress that is based on new standards that are more rigorous than those previous. 2015 test scores have not yet been released, but it is expected that math scores will drop. We are celebrating the fact that we have been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education which will help us achieve our student learning goals. This project focuses on increasing the number of Alaska Native students who meet math standards; make progress towards individual math learning goals; understand the role math plays in everyday life and employment; score at a level 4 or higher on the WorkKeys assessment; have been exposed to career clusters and options; have developed their own personal learning and career plan; and have developed a personal post-secondary work or post-secondary training plan. The work of this grant involves collaboration with our professional development consultants (PEAK Learning Systems, Achieve 3000, & The National Research Center for Career & Technical Education) as well as with our various industry and post-secondary partners. We celebrate as well our adoption and use of 2 standardized, norm referenced benchmark assessment systems (Reading & Math) which will help us gauge student learning levels, determine data-based instructional needs, and measure student learning growth. It is clear that over the next 3 years our primary focus will be on increasing the performance of all of our students in the areas of mathematics and reading performance of our Alaska Native & American Indian and our Economically Disadvantaged subgroups. We will also work to improve parent communication with school residential and instructional staff. We continue to celebrate the fact that we have been able to continually add additional CTE courses to fit in our current career pathways and which have also been able to be articulated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks so that students may receive university credit. Currently we offer 17 courses within 6 career pathways wherein students can earn college credit and/or industry certifications. We are also in the early stages of entering into an agreement with UAF and 2 other districts to offer 2 additional courses within a new career pathway. We have 2 CTE career pathways for which we have not developed articulation agreements. No articulation agreements have been established within our Culinary Program although industry certifications are earned. Our Cosmetology Program offers students the opportunity to log hours with the Alaska State Board of Barber's and Hairdressers but does not have an articulation agreement with a post-secondary institution. Page 6
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Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. has a Parent Advisory Council which serves as an advisory board and a conduit for information sharing. This group meets monthly via teleconference and on-site each May. More and more of our parents and guardians are gaining access to digital means of communication and we are working to increase our communication through the use of these tools. On a daily basis, we will continue to provide students access to the skills and general knowledge that will be of benefit to them and to all others residing in their communities. Our focus is on preparing our students for many of life's possibilities through hands-on learning and academic rigor that will lead to success in their chosen career field and as citizens. Our intent is to meet the needs of all of our students with the curricula choices that will best fit their academic and career needs and goals. The meeting of our beginning level students at their academic levels, as well as offering more advanced courses for those students preparing for a transition to a college experience, will allow GILA to grow and to maintain a balanced and diversified student body. Finally, we will continue working on increasing our skills and knowledge with research-based instruction and assessment practices across our 9-12 curriculum. Our ultimate goal is to eradicate the achievement gap that persists between Alaskan Native students and the largest/most affluent populations within the state. Page 8