Tuscaloosa County Schools Mr. Mark A Franks, Administrator 12250 George Richmond Parkway Brookwood, AL 35444 Document Generated On February 9, 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 3 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 4 Additional Information 5
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? The Brookwood community worked together to plan and participate in all phases of the building of a new high school. The former building was built in 1959 and student enrollment exceeded capacity as well as the ability to provide technology that prepares students for a job force guided by technology. In August of 2014, the new opened with an enrollment of 996 with a growth capacity of 1200 students. This enrollment increased from the previous school year from 960 students. This state of the art high school has six computer labs, Smartboards in every classroom and additional computers in every Career Technical classroom. We have ten Career Technical teachers in five clusters that offer twenty-five different career technical classes. With our location in proximity to the Mercedes plant and the University of Alabama, we now offer two apprenticeship programs. The first program developed partners our students with BLG Logistics, Inc where this company provides instruction on campus by a German logistics specialist and hands-on experience in the BLG warehouse. Students train all year and upon graduation are employed by BLG Logistics, Inc. Through the Transportation and Logistics cluster, students are able to earn high school credit, develop job ready skills and work toward full employment. The second partnership is with Aramark, Inc. under the creation of our Hospitality and Tourism program. Students receive instruction in the classroom that meet all the state standards as well as prepare them for the on-the-job experience they receive at the University of Alabama dining facilities. The new high school also has two gym facilities, competition and auxiliary, that provides opportunities for more competitions to be provided in the home school. The new school is the largest per square foot in Tuscaloosa County and services one of the fastest growing areas in the county. In addition toe sustained facts of last year's notation, the school enrollment at Brookwood High has grown to 1012. The old Brookwood High School campus is in the planning stages to be converted the into a Career Technical Education Facility. With the help of local work force members such as Mercedes, BLG, Aramark, McCabe Construction and many more, the sight is proposed and approved to house a minimum of five CTE programs. Of those five, Logistics, Culinary Arts, Hotel & Hospitality, Child development, and production and manufacturing are the front running programs in planning. Correlation between the work force group, Tuscaloosa County Schools and Shelton State Community College are working on a plan for students to receive college credit for students that complete the CTE programs. Concerning regular school academics at Brookwood High, a concentration of effort to recruit and provide additional training to existing staff to increase the number of Advanced Placement courses at Brookwood high is in process. AP Environmental Science was added to the curriculum this school year and hopes of AP Psychology next year. 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. strives to enhance student engagement to prepare every student for a successful life "Beyond Brookwood" to include education (higher), employment and enlistment. The school's purpose is embodied through career technical course offerings that provide a connection to the business world as well as exposure to military offerings, honors and advanced placement courses and a fine arts program that includes band, choral, theater and mass media. To further promote the purpose of the school, teacher's participate in professional development that includes the College and Career Ready Standards, technology, strategic teaching, and assessment. Through these professional development opportunities, instruction in the classroom promotes student engagement and higher order thinking. Page 3
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. CLAS Banner School 2013 - recognized as one of eleven innovative programs in the state of Alabama for the development of the apprenticeship program between and BLG Logistics, Inc. The agriscience program has further developed its video conferencing instruction by broadcasting classes to two schools simultaneously. The video conferencing instruction has provided $20,000.00+ for the agriscience program. This program has received grants from Auburn University, Alabama Power and many other local business. Through these grants, such classes as aquaculture, animal science, veterinary science and biotechnology have been offered for the students at. Through the grants, a greenhouse has been built with current plans of creating an outdoor classroom located near the greenhouse. The JROTC program is the fourth largest in the state with a very active enrollment of 350+ students. The Family and Consumer Science program has created a partnership with Aramark, Inc., service provider for all of Bama Dining at the University of Alabama. Students receive instruction that meets the all state standards as well as on the job skills for Bama Dining. Students receive instruction three days a week and work two days a week with the teacher working side by side with the students. Culinary Arts is now offered for the first time at BHS. There is also a new Hospitality and Tourism curriculum being used. This will parallel the development of the new CTE center at the old BHS Campus. The Business program has participated in the WISE! Financial Competitions every year and has earned the title of state champions for four years in a row. Each year the students have had the opportunity to participate in Nationals in St. Louis Missouri. The teacher has been named the WISE! Financial teacher of the year and our program is rated in the top fifty in the United States. All BHS History Teachers are participants of the American Village Historical training. History classes at BHS take regular field trips to American Village in Shelby County to watch reenactments of the Revolutionary War. Two BHS Science Teachers were of the 25 selected form the state of Alabama to attend the "Mountains to Gulf" which is a 10 day excursion across the Alabama to study and observe the vast biodiversity in Alabama. Page 4
Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. With the building of the new school, the community has seen the realization of a five year project. Teachers, students, parents, alumni and local governments created a facility that provides a clean, safe environment for our students to grow and learn. State of the art innovations exist in the new school. Students of Brookwood are "at the top" in Tuscaloosa County in having access to technology and technological resources for learning. Page 5