REAVIS REBIRTH - LISC Chicago

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SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION PLAN We will use team-building activities and a culture of high expectations to put the interests of students at the center of our thoughts, conversations and work. Alongside the extended-day and learning activities, we will partner with Near North Health Systems/Komed to build and operate an in-school health center. The center will provide a full range of physical and mental health services and its staff will manage or contribute to related health education programs. We will improve the quality of food in our cafeteria by adding a salad bar and add after-school meals through a Kid’s Café. Social supports will include needs assessment, introduction of the Unity Project to help faculty guide and support students as they build decision-making skills, mentoring programs and a partnership with the nearby Center for Working Families to help families improve their financial strength. All middle-school students will be exposed to multiple programs about high school selection and preparation, and eighth graders will participate in college-awareness programs. Phasing and impact The School Transformation Plan will be implemented over a four-year period, with an initial emphasis on building a rigorous academic program through the recruitment, induction and development of high-quality staff. The after-school, Saturday and summer sessions will be integrated into the academic day; wherever possible, after-school staff and tutors will receive the same curriculum training or professional development as the daytime teachers. The anticipated impact of an improved and more cohesive teaching staff is improved academic achievement; increased participation of students in the academic program; and higher levels of students that are engaged in the academic program. We also anticipate improvements in student reading capabilities and writing assignments; student portfolios with examples of their work and progress; and students who are prepared to take on a rigorous mathematics curriculum in high school. The health center and social supports will help create a healthier student body that is better able to engage in learning. We anticipate a reduction of preventable disease and injury, fewer health related absences and improved behavior. There will be a continued decrease in student discipline referrals as teachers are provided with more tools and support to manage students and classrooms. 9 | REAVIS REBIRTH
4 EXTENDED DAY AND LEARNING: BUILDING A FOUNDATION We have made good progress at Reavis over the last three years on academic improvement, but much more is needed to reach our vision for Reavis graduates. Our plan is to create a more rigorous academic environment, with a special focus on the middle-school grades. We will create departmentalized learning in grades 6 through 8 and work with the Chicago New Teacher Center to hire and train new teachers with the required subject-matter certifications. We will also create an extended-day program that provides additional time for intensive academic work with teachers, tutors and other support personnel, along with enrichment activities that help address health, social and emotional needs. The foundation of the middle-school program will be a young teaching staff that participates in regular professional development and coaching to build a more effective and demanding academic program. When Principal Johnson began at Reavis, the school copier was printing 1.5 million sheets a year, an indication that much of the classroom time was spent filling in work sheets. Now, several new programs are already in place — such as the Chicago Reading Initiative to improve performance and the college-awareness program Gear Up, in partnership with the University of Chicago — and more programs will be added. Student success will continue to be celebrated, with student gains recognized in monthly cluster town hall meetings (grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8). These assemblies celebrate student birthdays and achievements such as most improved for behavior, most improved academics, and other improvements and successes in or out of school. Departmentalized middle school Our middle-school students now stay with the same classroom teacher most of the day, but we will shift from these self-contained classrooms to a departmentalized program to expose all middle-school students to teachers with subject-matter expertise in language arts, math, history and science. Graduates of Reavis who participated in the planning process said that a departmentalized structure would help prepare students for the transition to high school. Reavis Elementary School ISS Plan | 10
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