Katherine Brennan/Rogers School - Connecticut State Department ...

James Hillhouse High School
School Improvement Grant – Section B: Descriptive Information
The Superintendent, the Executive Leadership Team, the principal, and the Redesign Team at Hillhouse will develop
plans that will sustain the reforms past the funding period. We believe that once the Smaller Learning Communities
model is successfully established, it will be sustained.
The Superintendent and the Board of Education are committed to the reform agenda. Teams will provide information to
the Superintendent and will present progress of their initiatives to the Board of Education.
B4 Establish a timeline delineating the steps the district will take to implement the selected intervention in each Tier I
and Tier II school the district commits to serve.
By the end of June, it is anticipated the Superintendent and the NHPS Board of Education will have selected and hired a
new principal for Hillhouse High School, as well as a new Director of Instruction for Turnaround / Transformational
Schools.
It is anticipated that scheduling of students and staff into the new Smaller Learning Communities will occur before the
end of the school year. In conjunction with the Hillhouse Parent Group, parents and community members will be invited
to a series of orientation and information sessions about the new Hillhouse Smaller Learning Communities High School
before the end of this school year and prior to the beginning of the school year. Incoming ninth graders will begin school
one week prior to the rest of the school for orientation and testing. Parents and incoming ninth graders will be invited to
a special orientation session.
During the summer, the principal will collaborate with the school’s assistant principals and key staff members to identify
Teacher Leaders, who will become members of the Hillhouse Redesign Team.
The ACES PDSI Transitional Support Team will participate as members of the Redesign Team. This Team will be
responsible for developing a systematic process for strategic implementation of the SIG Transformational School Model.
The ACES PDSI plan for establishing Smaller Learning Communities at Hillhouse begins during the summer and
continues throughout the school year. The comprehensive plan also provides for a timeline of professional development
activities for both the academic school year and throughout each summer for the next three years through a gradual
release model. Leadership and effective instruction are highlighted throughout the plan. The professional development
outline is sequential and extremely well-planned.
*See copy of ACES PDSI Transformational School Support Model (9) at end of Section B
The Director of Instruction for Turnaround / Transformational Schools will meet with the Hillhouse Redesign Team
during the summer and throughout the school year to provide assistance in program development, as well as in overall
monitoring. He/she will assist in overseeing the successful implementation of the requirements for SIG and will
collaborate with outside agencies to provide greater assistance to Hillhouse.
The new Teacher Evaluation Plan and the new Principal Evaluation Plan will begin this coming fall. As previously
indicated, the new evaluation system for the NHPS is truly targeted at improving teacher and leadership effectiveness by
creating a system that is tied to improving staff performance and increasing student achievement. This is a critical step
as we commence our commitment to SIG requirements. Again, the Redesign Team will create a very detailed,
comprehensive timeline over the summer for submission to Superintendent.
B5 Provide a description of how the district has consulted with relevant stakeholders, including parents,
regarding the district’s application and implementation of the intervention model in its Tier I and Tier II schools.
The Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction (Imma Canelli), the Assistant Superintendent of Portfolio
and Evaluation Review (Garth Harries) and the Director of Instruction (Charles Williams) met with a team from
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