May 2016 Page 1

Holy Family Elementary Junior High School

Plan for Continuous Growth

2016-2019

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion,

kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Colossians 3:12)

May 2016 Page 2

Edmonton Catholic School District Foundation Statements

District Mission Statement

Inspired by

• Love of the Father

• Faith in Jesus Christ

• Hope from the Holy Spirit

We believe in God and we believe

• that each person is created in the image and likeness of God

• that each child is a precious gift and sacred responsibility

• in the goodness, dignity and worth of each person

• that Christ is our model and our teacher

• in celebrating and witnessing our faith

• in transforming the world through Catholic education

• that Catholic education includes spiritual growth and

fulfillment

• that learning is a lifelong journey

• that all can learn and develop their gifts

• in building inclusive Christ-centred communities for service to

one another

• that all have rights, roles and responsibilities for which they are

accountable

• that Catholic education is a shared responsibility in which

parents have a primary role

The mission of Edmonton Catholic Schools is to provide a Catholic

education that inspires students to learn and that prepares them to live

fully and to serve God in one another.

District Vision

Our students will learn together, work together and pray together in

answering the call to a faith-filled life of service.

May 2016 Page 3

A Statement of 21st Century Learning in Edmonton Catholic Schools

Preparing our students for a world not yet realized

In keeping with our Foundation Statement, the students and staff of

Edmonton Catholic Schools commit to 21st century learning. In support

of hopeful Christ-centred living, in a society transformed by globalization,

technological innovation and human ingenuity, 21st century learning

complements our commitment as a Catholic community of learners,

leaders and educators.

Edmonton Catholic Schools fosters faith-based learning that deeply

engages all staff and students in 21st century learning opportunities. All

facets of the learning system—curriculum, instruction, assessment,

professional learning, accountability and resource allocation—are in

support of 21st century learning. Students will be creative, digitally

aware, critical-thinking global citizens, analysts, communicators and

producers engaged in learning that is conceptual and authentic within a

faith-based environment.

Guided by our moral compass and focused on the common good,

students and staff will be self-directed, adaptable, discerning and

curious, as they engage individually and collaboratively in 21st century

learning.

Defining Statement of Inclusive Education for ECSD: Katholos-Education

for Life for All

In accordance with our District Foundation Statement, all resident*

students and their parents/caregivers are welcomed into our schools.

The Learning Team is committed to collaborating, identifying, applying

and monitoring practices enabling all students to reach their potential,

spiritually, socially, emotionally, physically and academically within the

Programs of Study alongside their peers. (*as defined by the School Act).

May 2016 Page 4

Holy Family Elementary Junior High School Vision –

Holy Family will provide a learning environment that maximizes the opportunity for each person to be recognized as a unique and worthwhile human being.

Holy Family Elementary Junior High School

Mission Statement:

We, at Holy Family School, provide a learning environment that maximizes the

opportunity for each person to be recognized as a unique and worthwhile human

being. Students will have the opportunity to learn and develop in a positive and

creative family environment, allowing them to discover their own gifts and

uniqueness and to show an appreciation of others. The dignity of self-worth of

each individual will be manifested during curricular and extracurricular activities,

thus enhancing the student’s self-esteem. Our model in daily living will continue to be our savior, Jesus Christ.

May 2016 Page 5

Holy Family School Details and Demographics 2016-2017

Total Population:

Total # of students: 608

100 Voices & Kindergarten: 76

Elementary: 284

Junior High: 248

English Language Learners

Total 179 29% of total population is ESL

100 Voices & Kindergarten: 34 19% of ESL pop

Elementary: 91 50% of ESL pop

Junior High 54 30% of ESL pop

FNMI statistics

Total 30 5% of total population

Kindergarten: 3

Elementary: 13

Junior High 14

Number and severity of special needs students

Total

Elementary: 7 (Code 42)

4 (Code 44)

Junior High 3 (Code 42)

3 (Code 44)

May 2016 Page 6

Review of School Goals for 2015-2016

Goal Achieved/continue modify

Evidence/data used

Goal 1 To improve our standing in Mark 3, Standard 3 of Catholic Education by assisting our teachers in creating an academic curriculum that integrates a vision of faith within the learner outcomes and teaching strategies.

Not yet met

It is evident that our teachers are still working on integrating the Catholic vision of faith into our curriculum.

Goal 2 Focus on meeting the needs of our diverse population. We will work to improve the reading and writing and numeracy competencies of all students paying particular attention to our English Language Learners.

Not yet met Our Grade 6 PAT results have improved in all subjects except Science; we believe that our commitment to Daily 5, Daily 3 and Empowered Writing over the past years has assisted in this improvement. Our Grade 9 results show that we are still below the Province and the district in the areas of Language Arts and Grade 6 Science.

Goal 3 Continue our commitment to our LIFT initiative: Thursday morning Project Based Learning. This will be accomplished by involving our students in meaningful projects that connect to the curriculum and target competencies set out in the Ministerial Order on Learning.

Not yet met Our strategy to develop a rubric to assess the competencies has not been met. Some work has been done, but we do not have a way of reporting student achievement on the competencies. We want to get better at developing our projects so that they are more in line with the program of studies.

May 2016 Page 7

Data Analysis:

Areas to celebrate

Accountability Pillar Excellent: Safe and Caring; Program of Studies; Education Quality; Drop out Rate; Work Preparation; Citizenship; Parental Involvement; School Improvement

Achievement Measure evaluation that is very high is the PAT Acceptable standard

Improved: Program of Studies; Work preparation; Parental involvement

Overall Measure evaluation that is excellent: Safe and Caring Schools; Parental Involvement; Continuous Improvement

District Satisfaction Survey

5 scores that are highest above the District average: #27 - 2.7 Our community is the team of the school, home, and parish working together. #8 - 2.2 Our school provides differentiated learning experiences for all students #25 - 2.1 In our school technology, is meaningfully integrated into instruction #26 - 1.9 Our school is a safe environment for children to learn #21 - 1.8 Formative and summative assessment practices are improving student learning at our school.

Regression Analysis Regression Table = Areas on Provincial Achievement Tests: Grade 6: Language Arts; Mathematics; Science Grade 9: Mathematics; Science + Areas on Provincial Achievement Tests: Grade 9 Social Studies

PAT/Diploma analysis Regression Table Five Year Multi Year Report Above the provincial average 2015-2016

Grade 6 LA Acceptable Standard and Standard of Excellence

Grade 6 Math Acceptable Standard and Standard of Excellence

Tell Them From Me Above the District: (Elementary and Junior High) 3% and 6% - Students have a Positive Sense of Belonging: Junior High and Elementary feel this way. 3% and 11% Students do homework for their classes with a positive attitude and in a timely manner. 3% and 2% Students with positive Behavior at School 5% and Equal to: Feel Safe Attending this school – Students feel safe at school as well as going to and from school. 3% Students agreed that attending a Catholic school helped them to explore their love of God and service to the community. Elementary reported lower percentage of students who feel bullied or excluded.

May 2016 Page 8

5 Marks of Catholic School Identity Assessment

Mark Two: An excellent Catholic School has a visible and tangible Catholic vision evident in its physical space, liturgical celebrations and prayer life. Mark Four: An excellent Catholic School hires and nurtures teachers that are living witnesses to the Gospel, and intentional disciples of Jesus Christ and his Church. Some examples of this are:

Our morning broadcast; we have a morning prayer with the gospel reading and reflection for the day. Our broadcast team selects pictures that connect with the reading to help our students understand its meaning. We reflect on one aspect of the gospel each day.

Monthly liturgical celebrations that are prepared by staff and involve our students to a high degree.

Our physical space has many Christian symbols and sayings that help to reflect who we are.

Our staff and students interact each day with care and consideration for each other.

Our school has three Chalice foster children that are supported by our staff and students. Various fundraising activities are completed to support these students. In addition, the biography of each of these students is compiled and placed in classroom so that students can get to know them, pray for them and help support them.

Students are involved in many social justice projects; this was particularly evident during several of our LIFT projects where students were involved in activities to help them understand the importance of social justice and developed social justice actions that raised money for a variety of charities.

May 2016 Page 9

Areas to target for growth Data Source Process Goals in response to data

Accountability Pillar

Measure Category that is an Issue: Provincial Achievement Test Acceptable Standard and Standard of Excellence

English Language Arts: Acceptable Standard - Low English Language Arts: Standard of Excellence - Very Low

Goal 2: Focus on meeting the needs of our diverse population. We will work to improve the reading and writing and numeracy competencies of all students paying attention to our English Language Learners.

District Satisfaction Survey

5 Scores below District Average- Parents: -1.7 #6 My child has the opportunity to participate in Social Justice activities at school Students: -1.2 #8 I am satisfied with the variety of extra-curricular activities available. Staff: -13.6 #10 I am satisfied with the way student discipline is handled at our school. -10.7 #32 Our staff works as a team in our school/department. -6.6 #41 Overall our school/department is a good place to work.

Parents; #6 Parents feel that their children do not have enough opportunities to work on social justice issues. This was discussed at our parent council meeting and the parents there felt that we involve our students in a number of social justice projects, but perhaps we need to educate parents about what social justice projects are and identify better when our students are participating in them.

Staff 13.6 is significantly below the district. This item will not be addressed in our growth plan, but was addressed by surveying the staff to see what it was about the way discipline is handled at our school. The issue appears to be that some staff feel that they are not informed about the actions taken with students. It was discussed with staff that at times, issues are kept low key to save the character of the student. Staff 10.7 is below the district, this too was addressed through a survey of staff; it was found that even though team work and collaboration are high as a result of our teachers creating joint projects for our LIFT mornings, they would appreciate more time to work with their grade partner on other items. This will be addressed by allowing more time for our grade partners to work as communities of practices.

May 2016 Page 10

Regression Analysis

Below the District and Provincial Standards:

Grade 9 English Language Arts

Grade 6 Science

Areas to Address: Grade 9 Language Arts: This will be addressed in Goal 2 Strategy 2 We will create a Community of Practice in our Junior High that will develop reading skills of our students in the content areas.

PAT/Diploma analysis

Regression Table Five Year Multi Year Report

Grade 6 Social Studies Acceptable Standard below the Province and our predicted score

Grade 6 Social Studies Standard of Excellence below the province.

Grade 9 English Language Arts Acceptable Standard below the province and our predicted score

Grade 9 Math Below the Province but equal to our predicted score.

Grade 9 Science Below the Province but equal to our predicted score.

Grade 9 Social Studies below the Province but above our predicted score.

Tell Them From Me

Below the District: Elementary: 10% below - Student Participation in School Sports: Students play sports with an instructor at school other than in a gym class. 40% below – Student Participation in School Clubs- Students take part in art, drama, or music groups, school clubs; or a school committee. 6% below – Students agreed that religious celebrations and prayer are important at their school. 3% above (not good) - Students with moderate or High Levels of Anxiety

This is true for the Elementary students but not true for our JH. Our elementary students have had the opportunity to be involved in running club and our Glee club. A dance club was offered but no one signed up. This is an interesting area considering the quality of our morning prayer/broadcast, our liturgical celebrations held at school, our attendance at Mass each year. The prayer actions in each classroom; and the regular visits from our parish priests. We will look at how we can further involve our students in prayer. We will consult with our FSLW regarding literature that can be provided to our students and parents on how to manage anxiety.

May 2016 Page 11

4% above the district Students report being subjected bullying and exclusion.

Although not significant; we will continue to work with our STAY officer to help with these issues in our school; through education and counseling

5 Marks of Catholic School Identity Assessment

Mark Three: An excellent Catholic school has an academic curriculum that integrates a vision of faith within the learner outcomes and teaching strategies.

Refer to Goal 1 for strategies and actions to improve.

May 2016 Page 12

2016-2017 Goals:

Goal One: To improve our standing in Mark 3, Standard 3 of Catholic Education by assisting our teachers in creating an academic curriculum that integrates a vision of faith within the learner outcomes and teaching strategies.

District Correlation: District Goal One: Live and enhance the distinctiveness of Catholic education. 1.3 Demonstrate commitment to and excellence in Catholic education.

Strategy One: To improve our teachers’ ability to develop lessons that meet benchmark 1; “When relevant the curriculum reflects the social teachings of the Catholic Church.”

Actions: To be completed by June of 2017:

1. Teachers will be supported through time with consultants, chaplain, parish priest, and Archdiocese staff to link curriculum with today’s Catholic social teachings of the Catholic Church.

2. On the Week at a Glance we

will provide teachers with information on the Catholic Social Teachings.

Measures/ Evidence of effectiveness: 1. Teachers will feel more

comfortable in their role as Religion teachers.

2. Teachers will have collaborated with other teachers and will have created one lesson that reflects the social teaching of the Catholic Church in the curriculum.

Strategy Two: To improve teachers understanding of and ability to create lessons that meet Benchmark 3 and 8 3)The school offers a Catholic faith infused curriculum (the lessons of which) that could not be duplicated in a non-Catholic school. 8) Teachers meet on a regular basis to discuss methods of infusing faith in their subject areas.

Actions: To be completed by June of 2017: 1. Teachers will be provided

exemplars of what a Catholic faith – infused curriculum looks like through work with consultants.

2. PD from consultants to show literature connections to new curriculum.

3. Teachers of same grade

and cross-curricular where

Measures/evidence of effectiveness 1. Teachers will have

developed lessons that are faith infused and enhance the curriculum in subject areas other than Religion.

2. Teachers will have

chosen literature that will enhance the Religion curriculum.

3. Teachers will have

concrete examples of how they have infused

May 2016 Page 13

plausible/relevant, will be supported to have collaborative time and/or with resource persons to develop relevant lessons around the Catholic Faith to enhance their current units.

the Catholic faith in their subject areas.

Strategy Three To improve our standing on benchmark 5 “Teachers are knowledgeable on Church teaching as it applies to the subject areas in which they teach.” This will be done by supporting our teachers with professional development opportunities.

Actions, to be completed by June of 2017: 1. The Chaplain will support

teachers on Church teachings and teachers will be encouraged to attend PD to help them grow in their understandings of Church teachings.

2. The Religion consultant will conduct a professional development session on church teachings and how it can apply to different subject areas.

Measure/Evidence of success: 1. Staff who have attended

PD will share their learnings with the rest of the staff.

2. Teachers will be more knowledgeable on church teaching this will be evident in the lessons they create.

Review Date 1: Review Date 2:

May 2016 Page 14

Goal Two: Focus on meeting the needs of our diverse population. We will work to improve the reading; writing and numeracy competencies of all students paying particular attention to our English Language Learners.

District Correlation: District Goal Two: Every student is successful.

2.2 Ensure the educational experiences meet the diverse needs of our learners and are available to all students.

Strategy One To continue to identify and support our English Language Learners and our struggling students.

Actions: To be completed by June of 2017: 1. Our Level 1 and Level 2 English

Language Learners will be supported by our Learning Coach in the Junior High with one on one support. Once their language skills improve, they will be integrated back into the classrooms, and receive support by adapting their programs to meet their needs.

2. Our Division 2 ELL Level 1 & 2 students will be supported by their classroom teacher with targeted support offered during their French block. They will use the strategy of independent conferencing in reading and writing to support their needs. Once they have reached a level 3 on the ELL Benchmark scale, they will be supported in the regular classroom with adaptations made to their program.

3. Level 1 and 2 ELL students from all grades will be supported with Imagine Learn.

4. Junior High and Elementary struggling students will be supported by adapting their program to the level of their ability. They will be placed on PLPs and IPPs where appropriate.

Measures/ Evidence of effectiveness 1. Our ELL students’

progression will be measured by the ELL benchmarks.

Teachers will be able to show improvement in students’ English Language ability as measured by the benchmarks. They will have recorded evidence of student’s progression by ELL benchmarks.

Struggling learners will meet their goals set out on the IPPs and PLPs.

May 2016 Page 15

Strategy Two Change our teaching pedagogy to better meet the needs of our students and improve our Provincial Achievement Test scores, by improving the reading, writing and numeracy ability of all students.

Actions: To be completed by June of 2017: 1. Use of Read Write Gold to

support struggling students. 2. Improve teachers understanding

and use of CAFÉ method of teaching through professional development and grade level collaboration.

3. Improve teachers’ understanding; Empowered writing strategies ensure these are being used in the classrooms.

4. A Junior High Community of

Practice will be developed, with the Language Arts; Science and Social Studies teachers, to improve content literacy in these areas.

5. These teachers will work with

the inclusive consultant for 3 PD

sessions on before, during and

after reading strategies.

Measures/ Evidence of effectiveness The elementary teachers will have improved their understanding and use of the Daily 5 strategy in their classrooms. Our PAT scores in English Language Arts at both the Grade 6 and Grade 9 levels will have improved to meet District and provincial standards. Our achievement rates for acceptable standard and standard of excellence will be improved over the 2015 -2016 levels.

Strategy Three: To support all students in gaining a higher level of proficiency in numeracy skills.

Actions to be completed by June of 2017: 1. We will develop a Numeracy

Community of Practice involving all Elementary teachers and Junior High Math teachers, to identify areas that our students are weak in and then to develop strategies to help them improve.

2. Our teachers will identify student

deficiencies in Math by administering the MIPI to all students. The data will be interpreted and recorded to help us understand where we need to focus our attention.

Measures/ Evidence of effectiveness

1. To re-administer the MIPI at the end of this school year to see if our students’ math ability has improved.

2. Our success on the

Provincial Achievement tests, specifically in the area of Acceptable standard and standard of Excellence.

May 2016 Page 16

3. Teachers will continue to develop understanding of Daily 3 and will implement it in their classrooms.

4. Teachers will continue to

develop their understanding of Mathletics and will use it more extensively in their classrooms.

5. Continue professional

development/ sharing in school activities, time for collaboration with grade partners/division.

6. Student basic facts will be

improved using differentiated self-directed fact sheets.

3. Teachers will have implemented Daily 3 in their classrooms, their students will be knowledgeable about how to manage themselves in this setting.

4. Student progress in

Mathletics will be recorded and monitored, we will share this information with students; parents; and administration. This will provide information for all stakeholders to understand and determine the next steps that are necessary to improve students’ achievement rates.

5. Students’ basic fact progress will be recorded and monitored by their teachers. These records will be available to parents and administration to show their success.

May 2016 Page 17

Goal Three: Continue our commitment to our L.I.F.T (Learning Indepth For Tomorrow) initiative; Thursday morning Project Based Learning. This will be accomplished by involving our students in meaningful projects that connect to the curriculum and target competencies set out in the Ministerial Order on Learning.

District Correlation: District Goal Four: Quality teaching and school leadership

4.1 Provide professional learning opportunities that build the capacity and leadership of all staff to improve learner success.

4.2 Ensure that flexible learning spaces and technologies for learning and innovation are embedded into the instructional design, with guidance from Alberta Infrastructure and Alberta Education’s Learning and Technology Framework.

Strategy One: To develop projects that meet the curricular outcomes for each grade; and ensure that they are teaching the 21st century competencies; of critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, communication and creativity and innovation.

Actions: to be completed by June of 2017:

1. To work to provide our students with a variety of projects. Continue to develop projects that allow students more voice and choice.

Measures/ Evidence of effectiveness 1. Students will be

surveyed in the Tell Them From Me Survey to determine if the projects that were created throughout the year allowed them voice and choice.

Strategy Two To begin to develop and use rubrics that will assess our students’ understanding of the 21st century competencies; of critical thinking/problem solving; collaboration, communication, and creativity and innovation.

Actions: To be completed by June of 2017 Teachers will continue the work that was started last year, to develop a rubric that will assess the competency of collaboration. The rubrics will be used to assess and report on students’ understanding of the competency of collaboration.

Measures/ Evidence of effectiveness A rubric will have been developed and used, that will assess the competency of collaboration.

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Find a common way to show and assess for report cards. Make LIFT more academically rigorous by improving the marking and accountability of each project. This work will have been accomplished with the help of our assessment consultant; and our CTF consultant.

The projects will have become more academically rigorous. This will be measured by the way in which we can assess projects on the March and June report cards.

Strategy three: To continue to ensure that students have the technology they need to be actively engaged in the projects on Thursday morning.

Actions to be completed by June of 2017: 1. Upgrade technology to

include more robust laptops for the Junior High projects.

2. Increase the number of devices to a ratio of one student to one device.

Measures/ Evidence of effectiveness 1. The appropriate devices

will have been purchased. 2. An inventory of all devices

will have been completed, and documented.