Valley Park Middle School

1
Valley Park Middle School

• Growing in Character

2
Introductions

• Dr Tad Savage
• Valley Park Middle School
• School Leadership Team
• Additional Teachers

3
School Demographics

• Valley Park Middle School (VPMS) is home to 236
  students, thirty-three certified staff, and
  seventeen support personnel. The student
  population is 61 Caucasian, 28
  African-American, and 11 Asian and Hispanic. The
  special education population ranges from mild to
  severe disabilities and represents 17 of the
  total population. In addition, 22 of the
  population are St. Louis City residents
  participating in the state's school desegregation
  program. Valley Parks socio-economic status is
  low to middle class, with much of the community
  made up of starter homes contributing to a high
  transient population. Students qualifying for
  free or reduced lunch make up 51 of the school
  population.

4
Valley Park Middle School

• Will a fully implemented character education
  program make a difference in your school?
• Proof is in the data

5
Proof It Works

• Discipline Data
• Student, Parent, and Teacher Survey Data
• Average Daily Attendance
• Academic Achievement Data

6
Discipline Data

• Number of referrals
• In school suspensions
• Bus suspensions
• Out of school suspensions

7
Discipline Referrals

• 2003 to 2008 50 Decrease
• 785 Office Referrals Before the character
  education program was implemented.
• 389 Office Referrals Since our program had been
  implemented for five years.
• 2008/09 - 125 office referrals

8
Positive Intervention Center (ISS)

• 2003 to 2008 62 Decrease
• 843 Days in PIC - Before our character education
  program was implemented.
• 323 Days in PIC - Since our character education
  program was implemented.
• 2008/09 132 days in PIC

9
Bus Suspensions

• 2003 to 2008 79 Decrease
• 54 Bus suspension days - Before our character
  education program was implemented.
• 11 Bus suspension days - Since our character
  education program was implemented.
• 2008/09 11 days out of school

10
Out of School Suspensions

• 2003 to 2008 73 Decrease
• 356 Days lost to OSS - Before our character
  education program was implemented.
• 95 Days lost to OSS - Since our character
  education program was implemented.
• 2008/09 20 days out of school

11
Student, Parent, Teacher Survey
12
Student, Parent, Teacher Survey cont
13
Attendance

• 2003 to 2008 1.4 Increase
• Attendance in 2003 before we fully implemented
  our character education program was 93.7.
• Attendance in 2008 after five years of
  implementation was 95.1.
• 2008/09 95.38 (current rate)

14
Academic AchievementReading

• Before our character education program was
  implemented only 49.5 of students read at or
  above grade level.
• After five years of character education
  implementation, 74 of students read at or above
  grade level.

15
Academic AchievementGrades

• Before our character education program was
  implemented only 43 of students earned As and
  Bs.
• After our character education program was
  implemented 74 of students earned As and Bs.

16
VPMS MAP Scores

• 2002 Communication Arts 20
• 2008 Communication Arts 52State Goal in 2008
  was 51 Proficient and Advanced in Communication
  Arts
• 2002 Math 20
• 2008 Math 53.9State Goal in 2008 was 45
  Proficient and Advanced in Mathematics

17
Valley Park Middle School

• Our Character Education program was developed
  over a period of 5 years.
• Our story outlines the steps we took to develop
  our program as well as how we continue to grow.
• This is what worked for us results WILL vary!

18
Year One - 2004
P 3, 4, 8, 10
19
Year One - 2004

• CharacterPlus grant participant
• Looking for a new way of motivating students and
  staff
• Put together a School Leadership Team of the
  Principal, Counselor, 2 Teachers and a Parent

20
Year One - 2004

• First goal of the SLT was to look at and
  interpret data gathered from surveys (appendix
  pg. )
• SLT began working on an action plan to assess
  needs of the school
• Goals for the first year were Autonomy and
  Belonging
• Made a plan to come back to school and train
  staff

21
Year One - 2004

• Fall of 2004 began to introduce our plan and
  focus on training of the 11 Principles
• After explaining and introducing character
  education to our staff, we needed to identify and
  define the traits that would set VPMS apart
• Input came from faculty, students, parents and
  community members

22
Year One - 2004

• SLT created a school policy (appendix pg ) on
  Character Education to take back to our board of
  education
• The policy was adopted as a district policy and
  not just a school policy

23
Year One - 2004

• Big ideas for the first year
• Get people talking about character education
• Get more students, teachers and parents involved
  in the program

24
Year One - 2004

• Not everyone was on board
• Many saw character education as just another
  thing or something that will go away sooner or
  later
• SLT helped to initiate discussion on character
  education and the new climate of VPMS

25
Year One - 2004

• Some of our more skeptical teachers were mentored
  on specific ways to incorporate character
  education into their lessons
• All VPMS activities fit under our Character
  Education Umbrella

26
Year Two - 2005
P 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9
27
Year Two - 2005

• Reassessment Year
• Looked at new data
• Evaluated areas of gains and setbacks
• Time to step up training

28
Year Two - 2005

• Look at previous years data
• The survey data helped us determine if we needed
  to modify goals and objectives in our action plan
  to meet our schools needs

29
Year Two - 2005

• Caring Schools Community Class Meetings in the
  Content Area pilot program
• Initiated by the 8th grade team and a 6th grade
  science teacher
• Helped students with feelings of autonomy and
  belonging
• Other uses for Class Meetings at VPMS

30
Year Two - 2005

• Training included writing lesson plans for all
  subject areas
• VPMS teachers starred in the pilot video
• 2006 Promising Practice

31
Year Two - 2005

• Peer Mediation became our second initiative
• Students wanted more of a voice and choice on how
  to handle conflicts with their peers
• Program is run by the counselor and teacher as
  well as a well-trained group of students

32
Year Two - 2005

• Program was developed by looking at other
  programs in Missouri as well as around the
  country
• VPMS has developed a very successful Peer
  Mediation camp (overnight) for our students

33
Year Two - 2005

• Our students work together to solve the problem
• All VPMS students get the opportunity to learn
  conflict resolution techniques to use in real
  life
• 2007 Promising Practice

34
Year Two - 2005

• The Parent/Teacher Organization was our final
  initiative in this year
• Our SLT determined that in order for our students
  to be successful, parents need to be a part of
  the process

35
Year Two - 2005

• PTO was created to help our students and support
  our character education program

36
Year Three and Beyond
P 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11
37
Year Three and Beyond

• Past themes include
• Building Character
• Cooking With Character
• Growing in Character

38
Year Three and Beyond

• Adult role models became a focus for VPMS
• Our TAAG program helps to drive the message home
• Family Court judge volunteers her time to help
  mentor some of our students to help them be
  successful
• Not always an instant gratification process

39
Year Three and Beyond

• Principal walk-throughs (appendix pg ) to look
  for how we are using character education
• Curriculum Integration became a very large part
  of the process at this time
• Character Education does not always have to be
  planned
• Most meaningful are usually those teachable
  moments

40
Year Three and Beyond

• An area of concern for us as a faculty, was our
  advisory, or Hawk Time
• What can we do to make the time we spend with our
  students more meaningful?
• We revamped our Hawk Time to be able to have more
  character time

41
Year Three and Beyond

• Mondays Read For Character
• Character Books/Articles/Current Events that
  emphasize character education
• Tuesday Character Education Days
• Lessons in character that emphasize the word of
  the month or the previous days reading
• Wednesday Service Learning Day
• Each grade level community focuses on a
  project(s) of their choice

42
Year Three and Beyond

• Thursday Academic Advisory
• to get additional assistance from teachers
• Friday Team Time
• Activities for each grade level picked by the
  team

43
Year Three and Beyond

• Horizon Hawk Time
• Special activity days
• Multiple grade span
• Everyone gets a chance to do something different
  or unique
• Only done 4 times a year

44
Year Three and Beyond

• 2008 Promising Practice Winner for Positive
  Intervention Center (PIC)

45
Additional Information

• Questions, Comments, Concerns?
• If you want more information or to see more
  materials we use, please visit our website
• www.vp.k12.mo.us/ms/index.html
• or email at
• vpmsnsoc_at_vp.k12.mo.us

46
Year Three and Beyond

• Yes Pa by Fred Sarkis
• Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
• Books are read during advisory
• Students discuss the meanings and character
  values and how they apply to everyday life

47
CEP 11 Principles

• Principle 1 Defines Promotes core ethical values
  as the basis of good character. 
• Principle 2 Defines "character" comprehensively
  to include thinking, feeling, and behavior. 
• Principle 3 Uses a comprehensive, intentional,
  proactive, and effective approach to character
  development. 
• Principle 4 Creates a caring school community. 
• Principle 5 Provides students with opportunities
  for moral action.
• Principle 6 Includes a meaningful and
  challenging academic curriculum that respects
  all learners, develops their character, and
  helps them to succeed.

48
CEP 11 Principles Cont

• Principle 7 Strives to foster students self
  motivation. 
• Principle 8 Engages the school staff as a
  learning and moral community that shares
  responsibility for character education and
  attempts to adhere to the same core values that
  guide the education of students. 
• Principle 9 Fosters shared moral leadership and
  long range support of the character education
  initiative. 
• Principle 10 Engages families and community
  members as partners in the character-building
  effort. 
• Principle 11 Evaluates the character of the
  school, the school staff's functioning as
  character educators, and the extent to which
  students manifest good character.