School Improvement Plan
Issaquah High School
School Improvement Plan
2021-22
A School Improvement Plan (SIP) ...
- Is developed according to the Washington Administrative Code 180-16-220
- Shows evidence of annual school board approval
- Includes information that staff certification requirements were met
- Includes evidence the plan is based on self-review and participation of required participants
- Considers a collection of data over time that is analyzed to determine the focus of the plan
- Promotes continuous improvement in student achievement in state learning standards
- Recognizes non-academic student learning, what, and how
- Addresses the characteristics of highly successful schools
- Is led by the principal and the building’s Leadership Team
- Requires collaboration with the school staff and district administration
- Addresses equity (e.g. gender, race, ethnicity, culture, language and physical/mental ability)
- Has action plans that are based on best practice as identified by quality research
- Is a continuous process that requires ongoing monitoring and adjustment
- Addresses the use of technology to facilitate instruction
- Addresses parent, family and community involvement
Characteristics of Successful Schools
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction identifies the following nine characteristics of successful schools:
- clear and shared focus
- high standards and expectations for all students
- effective school leadership
- high levels of collaboration and communication
- curriculum, instruction, and assessments aligned with state standards
- frequent monitoring of learning and teaching
- focused professional development
- supportive learning environment
- high levels of family and community involvement
SIP Planning
START DATE: Fall 2021
SITE COUNCIL REVIEW DATE: February 1, 2022
SCHOOL BOARD REVIEW DATE: March 2, 2022
PRINCIPAL: Erin Connolly
LEADERSHIP TEAM:
-
Will Buker – Assistant Principal
-
Mark Jergens-Zmuda – Assistant Principal
-
Jennifer Nicol – Assistant Principal
-
Doug Wolff – Assistant Principal
-
Nikki Jansen – Dean of Students
-
Kurtis Evans – Activities Coordinator
-
Bridget Johns – Teacher
-
Ellen Jarvinen – Teacher
-
Cristina Uramis – Teacher
-
Sarah Orton – Teacher
-
Keri Dean – Teacher
-
Kelly Crickmore – Teacher
-
Vale Crain – Teacher
-
Pat Holen – Teacher
-
Megan Jepson – Teacher
-
Natalie Sheehan – Teacher
-
Kari Leon – Teacher
-
Holly Hovey – Teacher
Staff and demographic information are available for each school at the OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) School Report Card Home.
- Re-Engagement & Recovery
- Data Study
- Achievement Goals & Actions
- Supporting & Monitoring School Improvement
Re-Engagement & Recovery
This section of the School Improvement Plan describes the strategies this school used to identify and address the social-emotional and academic needs for students to successfully re-engage in the learning community and their learning path.
- How did your school identify students who may have difficulty re-engaging in the learning community or may have social-emotional or mental health wellness needs?
- What strategies did your school employ to re-engage students and address wellness needs?
- How did your school identify pre-requisite skill gaps that might prevent a student from successfully accessing grade-level or course-appropriate learning?
How did your school identify students who may have difficulty re-engaging in the learning community or may have social-emotional or mental health wellness needs?
Academic Needs
- Tier 2 Team
- Our Tier 2 Team (made up of Counselors, Administrators, Special Education Department Chair, ELL department Chair, Dean of Students, and On Time Graduation Specialist) met to identify students who would need additional levels of academic support based on F rates from MT1, Q1, MT2, S1 and from the 20-21 school year.
- D/F rate Data Review
- At the end of each grading period, we reviewed D/F rates to determine which classes students seemed to be struggling in the most and worked with teachers to identify supports that could be offered to support student learning needs.
- Pre-Assessments and Skill Checks in classes
- Some departments utilized pre-assessments at the start of the year to examine students’ prior knowledge and skill mastery. Pre-assessments and other formative assessments were used to adjust curriculum, determine appropriate supports for students, and in some cases determine if a schedule change should be recommended in order to support student success.
- Attendance Data Review
- Since attendance rates are often tied to academic success our team worked to identify students who missed school frequently and applied some early interventions in an attempt to encourage student attendance.
Social and Emotional Health, Mental Health
- SDQ
- Reviewed SDQ results to connect with students and families and offer additional supports
- Counseling Staff
- Our counseling team proactively reached out to families on their caseloads that had previously needed additional Social/Emotional and Mental Health Support. They discussed additional supports that could be offered at 504 and McKinney Vento meetings with their families. The counseling team also works to meet with every 11th and 9th grader to identify students who need additional support. Counselors also held regular drop-in meetings so students could easily meet with them.
- Tier 2 Team
- During Tier 2 meetings with students, our Tier 2 coordinators surveyed students to identify the root cause of why they are struggling in their classes. Mental health and social/emotional health needs are often identified as an area that students ask for additional support.
- SEL Lessons
- Staff delivered a variety of SEL lessons during Nest that focused on social, emotional, and mental health. We encouraged students to reach out to an administrator or counselor if they felt like they needed additional support and teachers also referred students following the SEL lessons. We also asked teachers to help identify students who might benefit from additional support.
- Discipline and Attendance Meetings
- During our discipline and attendance meetings with families, our administrators worked to identify any social, emotional, or mental health needs that were impacting student behavior or attendance.
- Recovery Service and Parent Meetings
- During Recovery service meetings and other parent meetings throughout the school year, our staff asked families how Covid-19 and remote learning impacted their student and if there were additional ways that we could help support our students and families.
What strategies did your school employ to re-engage students and address wellness needs?
Addressing Wellness Needs
- Essential Learning Alignment
- Our teachers worked to adjust and realign their courses based on the impact of remote learning beginning in March 2020. Teachers worked to find ways to fill skill gaps that existed through accelerated learning. Essential Learnings were identified to help teachers determine what skills and content they should focus on in their classes and to allow teachers to have a clearer picture of what skills and knowledge students had mastered prior to entering their classes.
- Academic Supports
- Teachers offered a variety of academic supports for students outside of their general classroom instruction including Nest sessions during the school day and after school ISF Homework Labs for students to attend to receive additional support.
- Teachers offered Remediation plans that would allow students to get back on track in their classes following Quarter 1 and Academic Contracts for students to earn a P/D at various points during the school year. Teachers worked to identify key skills/knowledge that students would need to show competency in to earn a passing grade and identified alternative ways for students
- Tier 2 and Attendance Meetings
- During our Tier 2 and Attendance meetings, we were able to identify barriers that were making it difficult for students to re-engage with school. We were able to offer support like adjusting students’ schedules to find courses that were a better fit for them or even place them in classes with staff or peers that encouraged attendance and engagement. We were able to identify specific supports that might encourage student access including breaks during the day, check-ins with counselors and/or administrators, assigning students to support with teachers during Nest, connecting students with mentors, and assignments students to focus groups.
- Tier 2 Coordinators also served as advocates to help students ask for additional support or academic contracts with their teachers.
- 504/IEP Supports
- During 504 and IEP meetings, we were able to identify additional accommodations and modifications that needed to be implemented to address students’ needs. We expanded the student support center to allow for more students to access various accommodations including extended testing time and to providing students with a quiet space to take a break during the day.
- Students with IEPs also had the opportunity to access recovery services in order to ensure they could meet their IEP goals.
- Counseling Department Provides Social, Emotional, and Mental Supports
- Our counseling team worked to meet with students frequently throughout the year, including an individual check in with every 9th and 11th grader. They held frequent drop-in sessions for students and helped to connect students with our Swedish Mental Health counselor when appropriate.
- Our counseling team also held a variety of small group sessions for students who were experiencing anxiety to talk about strategies to support them.
- School-Wide SEL lessons were designed in partnership with our counseling team that were taught in classrooms during Nest time. Through these lessons, students were able to frequently review the various mental health supports we have available in the school.
- Schedule Adjustments
- Our team constantly monitored student progress in various courses to determine if there needed to be individual or system-wide schedule adjustments. Teachers, counselors, and our administrative team helped facilitate individual schedule changes for students to ensure the correct placement in classes.
- By consistently reviewing our D/F Rate data, we were able to identify areas where students were struggling more than they historically did. We added additional Lab classes for our Algebra 1 and Geometry courses based on the data related to those courses and added an additional Pre-Algebra course for students who had significant skill gaps that were preventing their success in Algebra 1.
- Guided Students
- We expanded our Guided Studies for the school year in order to provide more students with executive functioning support to help support them in their current classes and to allow them to access credit recovery in courses during the school day. We also were able to add an additional section of Guided Studies that began in the second semester so we would have additional seats for students who didn’t initially register but who were identified over the course of 1st semester.
- We also created three 9th grade specific credit recovery sections and encouraged students who struggled in middle school to take the course so they could begin receiving additional support at the start of the school year.
- Focus Groups
- We were able to host a variety of focus groups for our students this year including a focus group of students experiencing anxiety, Latinx students, and male Black students. Focus group meetings were held 1-2 times a month and they discussed what these students were experiencing at our school and would identify ways we could further support these students.
How did your school identify pre-requisite skill gaps that might prevent a student from successfully accessing grade-level or course-appropriate learning?
- Vertical and Horizontal Alignment through Essential Learnings
- Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, our teachers and their departments worked to adjust the Essential Learnings in each course based on the fact that we know our students’ engagement and learning was impacted by remote learning and the pandemic. These Essential Learnings were not only used to guide the curriculum design for each specific course, but also to inform vertical alignment within departments so staff could plan accordingly.
- Course Registration Process and Scheduling
- As students began the process of registering for courses for the 21-22 school year, our school team worked to help students and families make informed decisions to help ensure that students signed up for classes that balanced an academic challenge and student success.
- Our counseling and admin team produced a variety of videos and virtual presentations to walk families through the process but also took time to highlight key considerations students and families should keep in mind when registering for core classes.
- These videos were posted on the website and physical and electronic copies of the course selection paperwork were sent to students and families.
- Teachers in each course made specific recommendations to families regarding what course they recommended their students take for the following school year. For math classes, we take time to pre-fill the teacher recommendation into the course selection form so that families would need to make a conscious choice to go against the teachers’ recommendation.
- As we were building the Course Schedule for the 21-22 school year, we worked to try to create additional sections of classes that students historically struggle in to allow for smaller class sizes (e.g.,: Algebra 1). We also considered what classes were typically courses that students transferred into and tried to create enough space in those courses so that students could transfer into those courses if needed (e.g., Applied Algebra 2 and Personal Finance). We also worked to build in more support classes into our Course Schedule including numerous sections of Guided Studies and an Algebra 1 Support lab.
- After reviewing the D/F rate data from the 1st semester, we noticed that students were really struggling in their math courses at higher rates than usual, despite our teachers’ attempts to adjust curriculum and support students. Our math teachers were able to identify students they believed would benefit from releveling or taking a math support class. We then used those recommendations to send targeted communication to families to let them know about the teacher’s recommendation. We were able to use those recommendations along with Course Schedule adjustments and some additional FTE to build an additional Algebra1 Lab, a section of Pre-Algebra, and a Geometry Lab.
- As students began the process of registering for courses for the 21-22 school year, our school team worked to help students and families make informed decisions to help ensure that students signed up for classes that balanced an academic challenge and student success.
- Student Assessment and Grade Monitoring
- At the start of the school year, teachers used pre-assessments and formative assessments to gauge student understanding of content, mastery of skills, and learning needs. In many cases, this information was used to inform instruction, but in some cases this information was used to make recommendations regarding whether a student might need additional support during Nest Time, ISF homework labs, or in some cases individual schedule change recommendations were made.
Data Study
This section of the School Improvement Plan describes the use and study of student achievement data to inform SIP goals and to set learning targets to address systemic disproportionality. Targets to address disproportionality are in reference to state Smarter Balanced Assessments using the Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF), per state regulation. The most current WSIF available dates to 2019 due to the cancelation of recent state assessments. This WSIF provides a pre-pandemic baseline. Additional data available since the re-opening of schools is added to provide more current data for school improvement planning.
Washington School Improvement Framework
0
10
|
All Students |
American Indian/ Alaskan Native |
Asian |
Black / African American |
English Language Learners |
Hispanic / Latino of any Race(s) |
Low Income |
Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander |
Students with Disabilities |
Two or More Races |
White |
ELA Proficiency Rate |
93.0% |
|
94.2% |
71.4% |
28.0% |
71.7% |
64.2% |
|
36.8% |
94.0% |
94.5% |
Math Proficiency Rate |
47.6% |
|
64.3% |
34.3% |
29.4% |
19.2% |
18.9% |
|
7.7% |
45.8% |
45.1% |
Graduation Rate |
91.4% |
|
94.0% |
79.4% |
72.5% |
74.8% |
74.4% |
|
76.2% |
94.2% |
92.8% |
EL Progress Rate* |
59.8% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Regular Attendance Rate |
86.7% |
81.5% |
93.0% |
73.8% |
74.0% |
70.8% |
61.3% |
|
66.7% |
88.8% |
86.5% |
Ninth Grade On Track Rate |
87.0% |
|
96.0% |
58.2% |
72.5% |
66.0% |
51.0% |
|
56.7% |
84.5% |
87.6% |
Dual Credit Rate |
73.5% |
76.9% |
76.3% |
62.9% |
55.6% |
65.1% |
66.7% |
75.0% |
55.8% |
74.6% |
73.7% |
*The EL Progress measure only applies to students who are English Learners
The fall 2021 attendance rate is a measure of average percent of classes attended by subgroup.
The WSIF Regular Attendance Rate is the percent of students who had less than two absences per month.
Graduation Rate
IHS |
% On-time Adjusted |
% Extended Adjusted |
Class of 2016 |
91.5 |
94.2 |
Class of 2017 |
90.6 |
94.0 |
Class of 2018 |
91.8 |
93.6 |
Class of 2019 |
93.0 |
97.0 |
Class of 2020 |
94.9 |
|
Fall Percent of Classes Attended through 10/21/21
Subgroups |
% of classes attended |
Asian |
95.9 |
Black / African American |
88.2 |
Latinx |
86.6 |
Two or more races |
92.3 |
White |
92.7 |
ELL |
90.6 |
Students with Disabilities |
89.2 |
The fall 2021 attendance rate is a measure of average percent of classes attended by subgroup.
The WSIF Regular Attendance Rate is the percent of students who had less than two absences per month.
Incompletes / NC Rates (includes only subgroups with N>10)
IHS Demographics (2021-22) |
Spring 2020 Incompletes |
Spring 2020 Incompletes Percent |
Fall 2020 NC |
Fall 2020 NC Percent |
Spring 2021 NC |
Spring 2021 NC Percent |
|
Total |
312 |
1052 |
1426 |
||||
Asian |
27.9% |
32 |
10.3% |
153 |
14.5% |
226 |
15.8% |
Black/African American |
2.3% |
13 |
4.2% |
77 |
7.3% |
85 |
6.0% |
Hispanic / Latino of any race(s) |
8.0% |
94 |
30.1% |
297 |
28.2% |
363 |
25.5% |
Two or More Races |
7.3% |
50 |
16.0% |
170 |
16.2% |
201 |
14.1% |
White |
53.7% |
120 |
38.5% |
348 |
33.1% |
537 |
37.7% |
ELL |
4.3% |
40 |
12.8% |
136 |
12.9% |
173 |
12.1% |
IEP |
6.7% |
53 |
17.0% |
192 |
18.3% |
214 |
15.0% |
Data Study
- Describe your SIP team process for studying school-wide, disaggregated data and selecting SIP goals.
- Describe your observations regarding disproportionality that informed your SIP gap goal(s).
Describe your SIP team process for studying school-wide, disaggregated data and selecting SIP goals.
The data was shared with department chairs who then facilitated discussions with their departments regarding the school-wide, disaggregated data, and the proposed SIP goal. The school-wide data was used to measure our overall progress as a school and the disaggregated data was used to identify groups of students who we were struggling to support. Departments completed a survey regarding the data and proposed goals. Our Building Leadership Team discussed where we should focus our efforts. Our building is passionate about closing the gaps that exist between our general population and our students of color (Black and Latinx), but also felt like there were still needs to be addressed with our student population as a whole, including our graduation rate which we believe is heavily impacted by the attendance and health and wellness of our students.
Describe your observations regarding disproportionality that informed your SIP gap goal(s).
Our SIP Gap Goal areas are directly informed by our graduation rates for our students of color (Black and Latinx), ELL, and students who qualify for Special Education. We historically have held a graduation rate around 91% but our graduation rates for these groups have been an area we’ve consistently struggled to improve for years. These groups also consistently have lower state test scores and attendance rates. We believe that student attendance, health and wellness, and a sense of belonging all impact our ability to increase graduation rates for these groups.
Disproportionality Targets
Identify targets for each Washington School Improvement Framework subgroup for which you have baseline data. Baseline for group sizes of less than 20 are suppressed in public documents, targets are set for all groups.
SBA ELA Proficiency Rate
Group |
2017-19 WSIF Baseline |
2022 Target |
All Students (for comparison) |
93 |
--------------------------- |
Black / African American |
71.4 |
80 |
English Language Learners |
28 |
40 |
Hispanic/Latino of any race |
71.7 |
80 |
Low Income |
64.2 |
75 |
Students with Disabilities |
36.8 |
50 |
SBA Math Proficiency Rate
Group |
2017-19 WSIF Baseline |
2022 Target |
All Students (for comparison) |
47.6 |
--------------------------- |
Black / African American |
34.3 |
45 |
English Language Learners |
29.4 |
40 |
Hispanic/Latino of any race |
19.2 |
30 |
Low Income |
18.9 |
30 |
Students with Disabilities |
7.7 |
18 |
Regular Attendance Rate
Group |
2017-19 WSIF Baseline |
2022 Target |
All Students (for comparison) |
86.7 |
--------------------------- |
Black / African American |
73.8 |
80 |
English Language Learners |
74.0 |
80 |
Hispanic/Latino of any race |
70.8 |
80 |
Low Income |
61.3 |
70 |
Students with Disabilities |
66.7 |
75 |
Graduation Rate (HS only)
Group |
2017-19 WSIF Baseline |
2022 Target |
All Students (for comparison) |
91.1 |
--------------------------- |
Black / African American |
79.4 |
85 |
English Language Learners |
72.5 |
80 |
Hispanic/Latino of any race |
74.8 |
80 |
Low Income |
74.4 |
80 |
Students with Disabilities |
76.2 |
81 |
Achievement Goals & Actions
This section of the School Improvement Plan describes the setting of a specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and timely (SMART) school-wide achievement goal(s).
School-Wide Goal(s)
Issaquah High School will achieve a 100% on time graduation rate by 2024 by providing students with high quality instruction, targeted interventions, and supporting student health, wellness, and attendance.
Action Steps. What research-based strategies will be implemented to achieve school-wide goals?
- Professional Development around Grading Practices
- Our staff has been engaging in professional development and implementing practices that ensure that a student’s grade reflects student’s understanding of content and mastery of skills from each course, not necessarily a student’s behavior in class. This work has been ongoing for many years, but through our building’s work on remediation plans, academic contracts, and implementing EL-12 we are continuing to get closer to ensuring that a student’s grade represents their knowledge and skills.
- Multi-Tiered Support
- The staff regularly engages in professional development focused on how to support all students in their classes. We’ve discussed GLAD strategies, inclusion and coteaching practices, ways to make our classrooms more culturally inclusive and response, and Tier I interventions that teachers can implement in their individual classrooms including relationship-building, PBSES practices in the classroom, UDL aligned instructional practices (turn and talks, quick writes, jigsaws, etc.).
- Each Tier 2 Team coordinator works to identify the barriers that may prevent students from finding success and building supports to help them find success. Through their conversations with students and families they are able to determine what interventions might help a student find more academic success (academic/behavior contracts, schedule changes, check and connect, etc.).
- Attendance Interventions
- We know that students who have strong attendance are more likely to pass their classes. Our staff focused on relationship-building in their classrooms during the first few weeks of school, because we know that students who have good relationships with their teachers also have better attendance. We worked to utilize a variety of attendance interventions when we noticed students may have been struggling with attendance including attendance meetings with students and families, providing breaks during the day, making connections with staff members and/or VOICE mentors, schedule changes, restorative practices, check and connect, etc.).
- Classroom Interventions and Academic Supports
- Nest sessions for academic support and assigning students to specific Nest session based on their academic need.
- Weekly ISF Homework Lab sessions in a variety of subjects and special Lab sessions before major assessments in their courses.
- Course Selection and Course Schedule Development
- As mentioned above, we worked to make sure that families had all the information they would need to select a “just right” schedule for their student for the 21-22 school year. As any unanticipated struggles came up we worked to make adjustments to student schedules to help provide them with additional support.
- When building the Course Schedule, we also worked to build in additional support classes including Algebra 1 Lab, Geometry Lab, Guided Studies, and Pre-Algebra.
- Credit Recovery Opportunities in Guided Studies, Online After School Guided Studies, Summer School
- Guided Studies Program
- We expanded our Guided Studies program so more students could access academic support and credit recovery during the school day. Students are provided with support for executive functioning skills and academic support in their current classes (we have teachers from nearly every subject area teaching a section of the program). There are 286 students enrolled in the program this semester.
- Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Support
- Counseling Check Ins with every 9th and 11th grader
- Referrals to our Swedish Mental Health Counselor
- SEL lessons
- SDQ
Gap Closing Goal(s)
Issaquah High School will close the gap for on-time graduation for our Black and Latinx students.
- Action Steps. What additional research-based strategies will be implemented to achieve gap-closing goal?
- Approach to gap-closing. How will your action steps address disproportionality?
Action Steps. What additional research-based strategies will be implemented to achieve gap-closing goal?
- Focus Groups
- After speaking with some of our Latinx and Black students and families we heard the need for those students to form a connection in our school community with staff members who are a part of either the Black or Latinx community. Following those conversations, we worked to develop a Latinx focus group and a focus group for our male Black students. Our Latinx group is led by Liliana Medina (Family Partnership Liaison) and our Black group is led by Jordan Frost (Assistant Director of Student Interventions- Compliance). Each group meets 1-2 times a month to discuss concerns they have and bring suggestions on ways the school community can help support them.
- Latinx Guided Studies Section
- We developed a Latinx Guided Studies Section for 2nd semester that is taught by one of our Spanish teachers. These students are not only being provided with the executive functioning supports and credit recovery but are also able to work in an environment where they have some language support and communal support from other students.
- Tier 2 Academic and Attendance Interventions
- Many of our students who our Tier 2 team works with are either Black or Latinx. We’ve worked to find ways to build connections with their students, help identify barriers (academic, attendance, and social/emotional), and find ways to remove those barriers (schedule changes, academic and attendance contracts, connecting students with our Swedish mental health counselor, meeting with families, etc.).
- Curriculum and SEL Development
- When developing SEL lessons related to race, identity, and equity we work to not only ask students of color for their input and feedback but encourage them to help develop those lessons.
- Our teachers are also working to find ways to ensure that all of our students see themselves in the curriculum. Our English and Social Studies departments in particular have done a great job working to integrate Black and Latinx history and literature into their curriculum.
Approach to gap-closing. How will your action steps address disproportionality?
We know that feeling valued and having a sense of belonging within a community is an important aspect of student attendance and academic success. Through our conversations with our Black and Latinx students we’ve found that many of these students have struggled to find a sense of belonging within the broader Issaquah High School community. We believe by working to form positive relationships and helping students find academic success in their classes through specific interventions that we will be able to increase student attendance and academic success. Our Focus groups will help give students an opportunity to share their experiences with one another and connect them with staff members that can help serve as their advocate to help ensure that students’ voices are heard and are valued. Our Multi-Tiered Support System will help ensure that our staff is using strong instructional practices to reach all of their students and our Tier 2 Team will work to find specific interventions that support these students. We believe that by providing students with the opportunity to learn together and build relationships with our staff that we will be able to ensure that all of our students can find success in our school community.
Supporting & Monitoring School Improvement
This section describes the supports and monitoring of school improvement plan efforts.
- Professional Development. What professional learning activities will be needed to support the successful implementation?
- Resources Available. What existing and new resources will be used to accomplish the activity?
- Technology. How is technology being used to facilitate instruction?
- Family Engagement. How will you inform and engage families regarding your SIP goal(s)?
- Monitoring Effectiveness. What on-going artifacts or evidence will be gathered to show this activity is making a difference in student learning?
Professional Development. What professional learning activities will be needed to support the successful implementation?
- Essential Learning Alignment and Grading Practices Professional Development (August, October, and January)
- Trauma Informed Practices In the Classroom (August)
- Best Practices to Support Student Attendance (August and November)
- Tier 1 and Tier 2 Strategies in the Classroom (August and October)
- Enriching Students Training (August and September)
- LRCI Supports (August)
- ELL and GLAD Supports (August)
- Using Canvas to Support Students (August and September)
- Culturally Responsive Teaching in the Classroom
Resources Available. What existing and new resources will be used to accomplish the activity?
- Enriching Students
- Use to assign and track student attendance and participation at Nest sessions
- Canvas and Skyward
- Allows students to have access to current and past assignments
- Allows students and staff to monitor academic progress and attendance
- Credit Recovery Modules are provided on Canvas so students can access these courses outside of the regular school day.
- Family Partnership Liaison
- Our Family Partnership Liaison has been an incredible partner in helping us form connections with and identify and remove barriers for our students.
- Student Support Center
- The expansion of the student support center allows students a place where they can get caught up on work, take a break when class gets overwhelming, or take an assessment in a quieter space.
Technology. How is technology being used to facilitate instruction?
- Enriching Students
- Educational Tech Lead
- Our Educational Tech Leads have shared ways that Canvas and other instructional technology tools can be used during instruction.
- Laptops and Hotspots
- Laptops and hot spots were given to students who qualified based on financial need so they could continue to access their education outside of the school day. When we ran out of laptops available for check-out, we dismantled a library laptop cart and had some teachers offer to reduce the number of laptops they had in their classroom in order to make sure every student who needed a computer could get one.
- Turnitin.com
- NoRedInk
- ALEKS
- Calendly
Family Engagement. How will you inform and engage families regarding your SIP goal(s)?
- Tier 2 and Attendance Meetings
- During our Tier 2 and Attendance meetings our staff focuses on building relationships and stressing our desire to work in partnership with families in order to help support their students. The team works with parents to identify potential barriers, brainstorm supports, provide information about various school and community resources, and find ways to partner to support our students.
- Language Line and Alboum
- We regularly use Language Line and Alboum Translation Services to connect with our families who need additional language support.
- Targeted Communication to Specific Families
- We have sent out targeted messages to families of our students in our Focus groups and students who are struggling in math to share potential resources and opportunities.
- Our Family Partnership Liaison works with some of our families that are the most difficult to reach.
- Social Media
- At the request of students and families we’ve created an Issaquah High School Instagram page where we post information about opportunities for academic support, ways to connect with counselors, and events happening at school. We try to highlight various student groups and post reminders about upcoming deadlines.