2013-2014 State of the School Address

1. 2013-2014 State of the School Address Belwood Elementary School Chad Moore, Principal Tuesday, august 27th, 2013

2. Welcome • My professional background and experience • 7th/8th grade Social Studies teacher: Ashworth Middle (2004-2010) • Assistant Principal, Sonoraville Elementary (2010-2013) • The new school year is off to a great start • Purpose of this evening’s meeting • Parent involvement is critical to our school’s success • Parent input is vital to improving what we do

3. Updates on No Child Left Behind and AYP • Beginning last school year, Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) is no longer the state’s accountability measure for schools. • Title I schools will move from an NCLB needs improvement (NI) status based on AYP to a Reward, Priority, Focus or Alert school status. • All core subject areas (reading, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies) will now be measured to ensure college and career readiness. • The College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) is the new measurement tool by which school improvement is assessed.

4. New CCRPI measurements • For the 2011-2012 school year, Belwood earned 87.9 out of 100 points on the new CCRPI measurement. The CCRPI score for the 12-13 school year should be released this fall. • Strengths: integrating Reading and SS, impact of math and reading coaches, highly qualified teachers • Weaknesses: need to challenge advanced students, need to add time to content area schedules, need to identify meaningful data to drive planning/instruction, need for additional instructional resources.

5. What does this mean? • Every student matters, and every subject matters. • We can no longer focus on certain groups of students or certain subjects. • Test scores alone can no longer be our focus—behavior, attendance, school culture and character development are vital to school improvement as well. • Teachers and students (and parents) must be accountable for their own performance.

6. Teacher qualifications • 100% of teachers and paraprofessionals at Belwood are ranked “Highly Qualified” by the Georgia Department of Education. • In order to be considered “Highly Qualified,” a teacher must be teaching in the same educational field as indicated by his or her certificate 100% of the day. • The No Child Left Behind legislation gives parents the right to know the qualifications of their child’s teacher. If you have questions/concerns about your child’s teacher’s credentials, please call the school office.

7. Plan for Improvement • Our School Improvement Plan (SIP) is a “living” document that drives our instruction, planning, and assessment. This document contains our goals, and what actions/strategies we will take to achieve those goals. The SIP will be located on the table at the front of the school as well as on our website. • Our Parent Involvement Policy (PIP) will also drive school improvement as it outlines the opportunities and resources available to parents and community members to volunteer and support the school. The PIP will be located on the table at the front of the school as well as on our website. • Other Title I documents such as the School/Parent/Student Compact, School-Wide Plan, District Parent Involvement Policy, etc. are available for your input and feedback as well.

8. Feedback and involvement needed • Your input and feedback on these and all Title I documents are welcomed and appreciated. If you have ideas/suggestions for improvement, please call me, email me, or make an appointment to talk to me about them. It will require everyone’s efforts to help Belwood continue to “Build Exceptional Students.” • Please consider volunteering. We highly encourage you to be involved in our school. Contact Tony Waters if you’d like more information about volunteer opportunities • Contact information: • Phone: 706-629-9547 • cmoore@gcbe.org (Principal) • twaters@gcbe.org (Parent Involvement Coordinator)