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VISION and MISSION STATEMENTS

PONCE DE LEON HIGH SCHOOL'S VISION:
Ponce de Leon High School's administration, faculty, and support staff visualize literate students who are seekers of meaning and knowledge and are using this knowledge to satisfy their curiosity about life's complexities as they explore. These students will discover the old and compare it to the new as they strive to clarify their own identity and understand a world of many cultures and different beliefs.
As these students progress through the educational process, they will recognize their responsibility for changing conditions detrimental to human development, opportunity, and community. They will promote equity, tolerance, understanding, and acceptance of all people. The VISION mirrors an educational environment that provides for the development of the potential of all students and allows students to progress at their own ability level---yes, an environment rich with language, the arts, mathematical exercises, scientific explorations, and a program that inspires the art of communication with confidence. Looking to the future, students will harness knowledge in productive ways. The world of technology will be nothing to them. They will have developed skills to enter another phase of education. Ponce de Leon students will be "lifetime learners."

PONCE DE LEON HIGH SCHOOL'S MISSION:
With a philosophy grounded in the firm belief that each student is a unique person of intrinsic worth, Ponce de Leon High School's faculty and staff have a clear mission: to support an educational program which accomodates individuality rather than uniformity.
Building upon this basic belief that our students are individuals of diversified interests, aptitudes, talents, and goals, we seek to offer a program which accepts each student for who he is; thus, one that has a diversified curriculum of educational equity and reality-based relevance to the world beyond the classroom. Our mission requires that our teachers gain a greater knowledge of the student as an individual and use that knowledge to assist the student in developing the potential which is inherent in each. As educators, we pledge that this mission will be an ongoing one as we seek to make a positive difference in the lives of the sons and daughters of Ponce de Leon High School and to make our vision a reality.

PART I: CURRENT SCHOOL STATUS

SCHOOL PROFILE/DEMOGRAPHICS

Brief History and Background of the School

Ponce de Leon High School is located on the western side of Holmes County, a rural county in the Florida panhandle. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The majority of the community members are Caucasian and are employed outside of the immediate area. Ponce de Leon High School serves students in grades 6-12. This year's enrollment is approximately 432 students. This enrollment has fluctuated from around 404 to 450 over the past 8 years. It seems that, as there are those that move out, others move in to balance the process. A graduation class for PDLHS over the past 10 years has varied from 45 to 60 students.

Unique School Strengths for Next Year

The school saw gains in 11th grade science, 8th grade writing, and 9th grade math in the 08-09 school year.

Unique School Weaknesses for Next Year

The school saw declines in nearly every other area. The faculty are cognizant that the school has earned a "B" for the last two years, after a long string of "C" grades, and this is more relevant to them than making AYP.

Student Demographics

*Student population is consistent with that of the surrounding area within the county: 97% white and 3% other.
*Population by grade level: 65 - 6th grade; 72 - 7th grade; 75 - 8th grade; 62 - 9th grade; 52 - 10th; 51 - 11th; and 54 - 12th as of this writing. Approximately one-half of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch;
*Staff includes: 25 full-time faculty; 2 part-time faculty; 2 Administrators; 1 Guidance Counselor; 1 Reading Coach; 1/2 time Curriculum Coordinator; 1 Media Specialist; 2 ESE Instructional Aides; 4 Office Support Staff; 4 Cafeteria Personnel; and 4 Custodial Employees.
*Average class size for grades 9-12 is 17 and for grades 6-8 is 21.
*ESE teachers offer support in 6 core curriculum courses for inclusion students.
*Ponce de Leon Elementary is our feeder school.
*Special Programs include: A Dual Enrollment offered through Chipola College, Technical programs offered through Washington Holmes Technical Center and DCT.

Student Attendance Rates

Data not available.

Student Mobility

Data not available. However, PDLH has a limited mobility rate. Most students enter in grade 6 and exit in grade 12, after attending PDLE, the feeder elementary school down the hill.

Student Suspension Rates

Data not available for SY 2008-09. However, there has been one 3-day suspension to date in SY 2009-2010.

Student Retention Rates

Eleven (11) students were retained for the 2009-2010 school year. This represents less than 1 percent of the student body. The largest number of students (5) were retained in 9th grade.

Class Size

Classes conform to the statutory class-size limits in all grade levels.

Academic Performance of Feeder Pattern

The feeder school for PDLH is Ponce de Leon Elementary School, located on an adjacent campus. PDLE has not made AYP and is in restructuring. However, it has been strenghtening its academics and has shown progress with several student subgroups.

Partnerships and Grants

NA

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA

Note: The following links will open in a separate browser window.

School Grades Trend Data

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Trend Data

Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Trend Data

HIGHLY QUALIFIED ADMINISTRATORS

HIGHLY QUALIFIED INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES

HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS

Non-Highly Qualified Instructors

Staff Demographics

Teacher Mentoring Program

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Coordination and Integration

Note: For Title I schools only

Title I, Part A

Title I funds are used to provide supplemental instructional materials and intervention/remediation programs, such as Read 180 and Study Island.

Title I, Part C- Migrant

NA

Title I, Part D

Part D funds are used to provide dropout prevention services and to fund the alternative school.

Title II

These funds support professional development activities for instructional staff, class size reduction and technology activities.

Title III

NA

Title X- Homeless

NA - Holmes is not a grantee.

Supplemental Academic Instruction (SAI)

SAI funds are used to support third grade summer reading camp and summer school.

Violence Prevention Programs

Holmes County provides violence prevention programs focusing on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs through a partnership with the health department. PDLH has a very low violence rate, as does the district.

Nutrition Programs

PDLH participates in the free breakfast and free lunch program.

Housing Programs

NA

Head Start

NA

Adult Education

These programs are not provided through Holmes County Schools. The district contracts with Washington-Holmes Technical Center to provide adult education services.

Career and Technical Education

Ponce de Leon High has an active career and technical education program including business, agriculture,childcare and interior design. Ponce de Leon High also has a Business Academy.

Job Training

NA

Other

NA

Response to Instruction/Intervention (RtI)

School-based RtI Team

Identify the school-based RtI Leadership Team.

Buddy Brown
Janie Lolley
Stacey English
MaeLynn Hatfield

Describe how the school-based RtI Leadership Team functions (e.g. meeting processes and roles/functions).

The school is just beginning to implement RtI under the district plan. The team meets monthly to review the progress of students who are struggling, as recommended by teachers, and to brainstorm interventions.

Describe the role of the school-based RtI Leadership Team in the development and implementation of the school improvement plan

The school improvement plan reflects the input of the RtI leadership team as well as the district school improvement director.

RtI Implementation

Describe the data management system used to summarize tiered data.

The district and all Holmes County Schools use FAIR and the FLDOE-developed math and science assessments, together with monthly district-developed writing prompts.

Describe the plan to train staff on RtI.

The district RtI director, Marcy Dixon, is training staff and has trained the reading coaches to assist teachers in implementation. Training will continue throughout the school year per the district implementation plan.

School Wide Florida’s Continuous Improvement Model

Plan

Data Disaggregation 2008-2009 FCAT Data

What strengths and weaknesses were identified in the 2009 data by grade level, subject area, and clusters/strands?

The school showed a very weak performance on the 2008-09 FCAT across most grade levels and subject areas. Strengths included 11th grade science, 9th grade math, and 8th grade writing.

Instructional Calendar Development

What is the process for developing, implementing, and monitoring an Instructional Focus Calendar for reading, writing, mathematics, and science?

Holmes County has adopted the FLDOE-developed instructional focus calendars. All teachers are expected to implement these focus calendars, and this is monitored through school leader classroom walk-throughs and district team walk-throughs.

Which instructional Benchmarks will be given priority focus, based on need, for each content area (reading, writing, mathematics, and science)?

Our focus is not benchmark specific. We need to work on bell-to-bell instruction, higher order questioning, and overall academic press.

What is the process to ensure instruction is based on individual students’ needs, as opposed to the master schedule?

PDLH is a small enough school that most students are hand-scheduled, rather than driven by a master schedule.

How does the school incorporate applied and integrated courses to help students see the relationships between subjects and relevance to their future?

Although the school does not offer formal "applied" or "integrated" courses, faculty endeavor to link classroom content to real-world applications.

How does the school incorporate students’ academic and career planning, as well as promote student course selections, so that students’ course of study is personally meaningful?

All PDLH students declare a major area of interest in the 8th grade, and develop their elective and core selections accordingly. Students who desire a major not offered at the school have access to Florida Virtual School.

DO

Direct the Instructional Focus

How are lesson plans and instructional delivery aligned across grade levels and subject areas?

The school has, in the past, relied on the textbook series to do this alignment from grade to grade, and on teacher informal communication to align lessons across subject areas. However, in 2009-2010, the school anticipates that the use of the FLDOE-developed instructional calendars will be extremely helpful and result in better alignment.

How are instructional focus lessons developed and delivered?

Instructional focus lessons are developed based on student need as evidenced by school assessment data. The lessons housed on the Differentiated Accountablility website will be used. Lessons are delivered primarily in content area classrooms with other content area teachers, including teachers of electives, providing focus on benchmarks overlapping their instructional content.

How will instructional focus lessons be revised and monitored?

Teachers will revise focus lessons based on student response and mastery. Focus lessons are monitored through ongoing progress monitoring tools, including mini-assessments.

CHECK

Assessment

Describe the types of ongoing formative assessments to be used during the school year to measure student progress in core, supplemental, and intensive instruction/intervention.

This year, the school is using FAIR in reading, and the FLDOE-developed tests in math and science, as well as district-developed writing prompts (WOWs).

How are assessments used to identify students reaching mastery and those not reaching mastery?

PDLH uses the FCAT levels as a year-long monitoring metric. At each benchmark assessment period, students who do not score 3 or higher are identified for more intensive instruction and monitoring. Additionally, at the beginning of each school year, teachers are provided information on all of their students in terms of who scored at, below and above proficiency on FCAT, as well as their developmental scale scores so that teachers can see which students need to be monitored.

Maintenance

How is ongoing assessment and maintenance of Benchmark mastery for each grade level and content area built into the Instructional Focus Calendar?

Use of the FLDOE-developed calendar has added in ongoing assessment and maintenance of benchmark mastery for each grade/content area.

Describe the process and schedule for teams to review progress monitoring data (summative and mini assessments) to identify the required instructional modifications that are needed to increase student achievement.

Progress monitoring data are reviewed by a school improvement consultant with the school leadership team. The school leaders then meet individually with teachers to discuss instructional interventions for individual students who are not at proficiency.

Monitoring

Describe the Principal’s and Leadership Team’s roles as instructional leaders and how they will be continuously involved in the teaching and learning process.

Holmes County has developed an instructional walk-through instrument. Each principal is expected to conduct regular (daily) walk throughs of all classrooms. A district team conducts walk throughs every 2 weeks.

ACT

Supplemental and Intensive Instruction/Interventions

Identify the core, supplemental, and intensive instruction and interventions.

Core - textbooks in each content area
Supplemental - Study Island, Read 180
Intensive - tutoring (WINGS program), supplemental educational services

How are supplemental and intensive instruction/interventions and tutorials structured to re-teach non-mastered target areas?

Students are assigned specific skill areas on Study Island to re-teach non-mastered target areas. The WINGS teachers and SES providers communicate with individual teachers, who notify them of areas students need to be re-taught.

How does the school identify staff’s professional development needs to improve their instructional strategies?

The reading coach and school improvement specialist play key roles in identifying staff's professional development needs. However, Holmes County works hard to keep professional development that would disrupt student instructional time by taking teachers out of the classroom, to a minimum.

Which students will be targeted for supplemental and intensive instruction/interventions?

Any students scoring L1 or L2 on any progress monitoring instrument will be targeted for supplemental instruction. Students who score L1 or L2 more than twice will be targeted for intensive instruction and/or interventions. As the school implements RtI with support from the district office, we anticipate that this process will become streamlined.

How will the effectiveness of the interventions be measured throughout the year?

Progress monitoring tools include FAIR and the DOE-developed math and science tests, as well as district-developed writing prompts.

Enrichment

Describe alternative instructional delivery methods to support acceleration and enrichment activities.

Primarily, technology is used to support acceleration/enrichment, particularly Florida Virtual School.

Describe how students are identified for enrichment strategies.

Counselors meet individually with high-achieving students or students who express particular interest in a course of study.

Professional Learning Communities

NCLB Public School Choice

Note: For Title I schools only

• Notification of (School in Need of Improvement) SINI Status
  No Attached Notification of (School in Need of Improvement) SINI Status
  
  
• Public School Choice with Transportation (CWT) Notification
  No Attached Public School Choice with Transportation (CWT) Notification
  
  
• Notification of (School in Need of Improvement) SINI Status
  No Attached Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Notification
  
  

Pre-School Transition

Not applicable to this school.

Postsecondary Transition

Note: Required for High School- Sec. 1008.37(4), F.S.

Many students who attend PDLH do not pursue secondary education; instead, they work on family farms or in family-run businesses. Those students who do pursue secondary education generally begin at one of the local community colleges, and then attend FSU, UF or one of the schools in Alabama.


Our focus on upgrading the academic press of the entire school should have the desired effect of improving student readiness for the public postsecondary level.

PART II: EXPECTED IMPROVEMENTS

Other Goals

No Other Goals were submitted for this school

FINAL BUDGET

Evidence-based Program(s)/Material(s)
Goal	Description of Resources	Funding Source	Available Amount
Reading	McDougall-Littell, Elements of Literature	Textbook Allocation	$37,000.00
Total: $37,000.00
Technology
Goal	Description of Resources	Funding Source	Available Amount
No Data	No Data	No Data	$0.00
Total: $0.00
Professional Development
Goal	Description of Resources	Funding Source	Available Amount
Reading	Substitutes for professional development in small group instruction and data analysis	Title II	$500.00
Reading	Instructional implications of the FAIR assessment	Title II	$200.00
Mathematics	substitutes for data meetings	Title I and Title II	$500.00
Total: $1,200.00
Other
Goal	Description of Resources	Funding Source	Available Amount
No Data	No Data	No Data	$0.00
Total: $0.00
Final Total: $38,200.00

Differentiated Accountability

School-level Differentiated Accountability Compliance

No Attached school’s Differentiated Accountability Checklist of Compliance

School Advisory Council

School Advisory Council (SAC) Membership Compliance

The majority of the SAC members are not employed by the school district. The SAC is composed of the principal and an appropriately balanced number of teachers, education support employees, students (for middle and high school only), parents, and other business and community citizens who are representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school.

Yes. Agree with the above statement.

Describe the Activities of the School Advisory Council for the Upcoming Year

SAC Members

AYP DATA

SCHOOL GRADE DATA