FY 2011 - Town of Uxbridge

Whitin Middle
School continued
School Culture and Environment
Teacher Teams Work Together to
Enhance a Spirit of Staff Collegiality
School Ambiance is Student-Centered
and Creates a Climate for Learning
Extracurricular Activities are Inclusive
and Encourage Participation for All
Expectations Challenge Students to
Show Effort – Attitude – Respect
Effective School Practices
School Improvement Planning that
Reflects Breaking Ranks in the Middle
Professional Development Focuses on
Improving Instruction
School wide Priority to Implement
Differentiated Instruction and
Assessment
Ongoing Efforts to Improve Student
Achievement on MCAS Tests
Strong Parent (PTO) Cooperation,
Involvement, and Support
Uxbridge High
School
Uxbridge High School is a
comprehensive high school rich in
tradition and spirit that offers a rigorous
curriculum and prepares its students for
their life after high school. The
administrative team consisting of Tara
Bennett, Principal and Erik Arnold,
Assistant Principal and two Deans of
Students lead approximately 460
students and over 70 staff members.
New Programs
Promenade
On May 6th, Promenade 2011 took
place on the grounds of Uxbridge High
School. Initiated by the UHS School
Council, Promenade 2011 provided a red
-carpet ceremony, a picturesque gazebo,
a beautiful and blooming garden, and
transportation to and from the Biltmore
in RI. Wayne Tanson (Science) emceed
the event with DJ Nick LaPete
(Performing Arts) spinning the tunes that
senior Ben Callahan created. Over 300
family members, friends, staff, and
community members were able to
admire the lovely gowns and the snappy
t u x e d o s w o r n b y t h e
students. Promenade is built upon the
vision of bringing the Uxbridge community
together to support the safety of our
students.
Naviance
Naviance Succeed promotes college
and career readiness through increased
collaboration, rigor and transparency. It is
a comprehensive online solution designed
to achieve the desired outcomes while
measuring progress against milestones.
Naviance Succeed integrates tools for
planning across four critical areas into a
single powerful solution: success
planning, career planning, course
planning, and college planning. These
four functional areas are combined with
robust analytics, powerful communication
tools and a student/family portal to give
you the ability to raise accountability and
performance across a number of key
indicators leading to increased
engagement, improvements in academic
performance and overall workplace and
college readiness.
On-Line Scheduling
Students entering grades 9-12
completed their 2011-2012 schedule
through an on-line process. Students were
presented the program of studies in early
March, had a couple of weeks to review
offered classes, speak with staff and
consult with their parents/guardians prior
to making selections on-line in mid-March.
A meeting with their guidance counselor
took place shortly after the completion of
the on-line scheduling process. Schedules
were available to students entering grades
10-12 prior to the end of the school year.
Summer Reading
UHS staff members selected a
choice book to read over the summer and
will then hold a discussion group in early
September 2011. Students reviewed
available selections and made their
summer reading choice on-line in June.
Students participating in summer reading
will receive 2 points to their class grade of
their choosing for the first trimester.
Existing Programs
Mosaic Studio Program
The 2010 – 2011 school year marks
the ninth year for the Mosaic Studio
program. Aimed at students in grades 7 –
12, the Mosaic Studio is able to provide a
combination of academic and therapeutic
supports in order to engage all students in
the learning process.
Pre-Vocational Life Skills
The Pre-Vocational Life Skills
Program at Uxbridge High School is a
special education program which is
designed to meet the academic and
prevocational needs of students who
possess significant special needs
requiring small group and individual
instruction. A major focus of the program
is to help our students attain academic,
daily living, and pre-employment skills.
This program has been at UHS for over
15 years.
Performing Arts
The Uxbridge High School Marching
band performed in local parades:
Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day – they
were wonderful! Beauty and the Beast,
the musical, was a smashing success with
three sell-out performances in March.
Community of Caring
Community of Caring is a K-12,
whole school, comprehensive character
education program. Community of Caring
was founded in 1982 by Eunice Kennedy
Shriver and has been adopted by almost
1,400 schools nationwide and in Canada.
It is research-based and has a proven
record of accomplishment. Community of
Caring promotes the universally accepted
ethical values of caring, respect,
responsibility, trust and family are the
foundation on which responsible decisions
and behaviors are based. Community of
Caring schools weave these values into
every aspect of school life and the existing
curriculum through a framework and
components that include: Professional
Development/Ongoing Support, Values In
and Across the Curriculum, Family and
Community Involvement , Service
Learning, Student Leadership/Forums
and Social Inclusion.
Reading Buddies
Child Development classes
continued the Reading Buddies with
elementary children at Taft. High school
students visit Taft twice a week to help
elementary students read and write
books. This has proven to be so
successful that discussion about
Page 48
FY 2011 :: Town of Uxbridge Annual Report