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NCA Accreditation @ West Central

2011-2012 School Year Year 3 after the Quality assurance review - last year, we were able to submit our progress towards recommendations presented in the March 2009 QAR. NCA / AdvancED accepted our progress and we maintain our accreditation.

Part of the district accreditation process requires that each school create a set of goals and a school improvement process that falls under the District-Level strategic plan. School level plans need to include a number of components - specific and measurable goals, how the goals will be measured and planned interventions should all be included in the school-level document.

As we tie those school-specific plans to the District Strategic Plan, two areas fit naturally - student achievement and organizational climate. Other areas could be included as well. Remember that the 2009 QAR process included a recommendation that we develop baseline and interval assessments to gauge progress on priority areas.

Recommendations from the March 2009 Quality Assurance Review process: 1. Develop baseline and interval assessments to gauge the progress made on priority areas within the strategic plan. 2. Develop a system for rotation of staff on and off the various committees in the district. 3. Improve the application of technology to support teaching and learning.
 * 2010-2011 School Year**
 * Surveys have been developed for various groups to gauge progress on climate related goals.
 * Students
 * Parents
 * Staff
 * graduates
 * comunity members
 * A rotation has been established for all district level committees. Teachers normally serve a two year term, and two staff members from each building serve on each committee. The terms are alternating, so there is one new staff member and one experienced staff member on each committee. The NCA leadership committee is an exception due to the five year NCA school improvement model.
 * Hired two technology integrationist support personnel
 * 2010: Increased bandwidth from 2.5 to 20 MB
 * 2009-2010: Provided macbook laptop to each teacher
 * 2010-2011 school year - implemented a 1:1 laptop program in the high school
 * 2009-2010 added 14 promethean boards
 * 2010-2011 added 425 macbook laptops for all students in the high school for all students.
 * 2010-2011 older high school computers were redistributed to other buildings.
 * 2009-2010 ceiling fixed projectors installed in each classroom in Humboldt elementary.
 * June / August 2010 - training for teachers, implementation of project based learning with technology and technology inflused lessons and units, by apple certified educators
 * Added a 0.5 FTE computer teacher at Humboldt Elementary
 * 2009-2010 early release in-service time was spent on technology related issues in each building.
 * 2009-2010 full day format was developed in which staff members had the opportunity to show how they had used technology differently during the school year and all staff had the freedom to choose which staff members' projects to view.
 * 2011-2012 plan to add 8 more promethean boards to the elementary schools
 * 2011-2012 plan to add one classroom set of ipad 2 to the middle school technology hardware

4. Establish a district level climate team with the responsibility to coordinate school initiatives relating to an enhanced climate for teaching and learning. Faculty advisory council is used to has been charged with planning events for all district staff.
 * this group plans the district holiday gathering for the past two years
 * we have added at the building level discretionary money for team building / morale building over the course of the year.
 * We have revised the teacher of the year process through a committee, resulting in the selection of our TOY by looking at the merits of their nomination as well as what they have done in the past year as a classroom teacher. TOY is selected by a committee of staff members, high school students, community members and administrators.

5. Take steps to formally identify a transition process for students moving on to each new academic level in the district (2nd to 3rd, 5th to 6th, 8th to 9th). In each critical grade transition, we schedule a meeting between teachers of those grades, where teachers visit with one another regarding students who are at risk, ways that the team can help students to transition.

8th to ninth
 * Guidance classes taught by career counselor with a focus on developing four year plans for 8th grade students in preparation for HS coursework.
 * Use SD "my life" programming to do career exploration that helps students to develop four year plans for high school
 * Sponsor an "eighth grade transition night" where we invite parents into the building for a presentation respecting high school requirements, coursework, etc.

5th to 6th 2nd to 3rd
 * Career counselor and student support counselor will meet with elementary students to put a name with a face
 * 5th grade students come to the middle school where MS students help to prepare them and answer questions about MS.
 * Students are bussed over to walk the halls, see classrooms, etc.

In 2009, the West Central School District successfully completed the first Quality Assurance Review using the District Accreditation Model.

Executive Summary - progress toward recommendations from QAR Supporting Documents The SAR document is a School Improvement Analysis document that details the demographics of the district, what the district has done to assess needs, goals and accountability.

The SAR document includes a requirement for submission of "best practices" that can be shared with other districts. The document below outlines West Central's submission.



The overall plan for WC is the strategic plan - this is modified every year based on input from various committees and groups. The board does approve the strategic plan every year, and makes modifications as necessary.