Northley Middle School From Meetings to PLCs: Transforming a School

Presenters LJ Blair, Principal Dan Hill, Assistant Principal Nicole May, 6th Grade Science, Team Leader Gina Ragan, 7th Grade Math, Team Leader

Northley Middle School Penn-Delco School District is a suburb of Philadelphia 4 Elementary (K-5), 1 Middle (6-8), 1 High school (9-12) Demographic Information Caucasian -86%, AA -7%, Asian -3%, Hispanic -2%, Other -1% Male - 53%, Female - 47% Free & Reduced Lunch 24% IEP 19% ELL 1%

Professional Learning Communities ●Scheduled meeting times o 6 day cycle w/ common plan by grade o 7:30-8:00 am ●Each group sets norms and expectations ●Staff leadership (teacher driven)

Professional Learning Communities Monthly Meetings ●Team leader (brainstorming) ●Positive Behavior Support ●Department (subjects and special ed.) ●Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) ●Schools To Watch (STW) ●Technology (committee and full staff) ●New teacher (group and 1:1 with mentor)

Professional Learning Communities Team PLCs Thursday 7:30 am (core & art cycle members) PM with core team only Agendas Week One: Best Practices Week Two: PBS, guidance, individual students, parent meetings Week Three: Data/CIP Week Four: Team Activities, student concerns, parent meetings

PLC in Action - Goal Setting All students: ●PSSA ●MAP 3/year ●Reading Counts ●New Year’s Resolution Mentor students: ●Strategic selection ●Monthly meetings

DEVELOPMENTAL RESPONSIVENESS 5th to 6th Grade Transition ●Parent Orientation ●Student Orientation ●Transition meetings (guidance, sp. ed.) ●Summer camp ●Locker days

DEVELOPMENTAL RESPONSIVENESS 6th to 7th and 7th to 8th Transition ●Guidance - Students requiring additional supports o Groups- organization, new student, grief, social skills, boys, girls, living with a purpose ●Sp. Ed.- share files/information ●Team surprises Worksheet- passed to next grade level ●Leveling form for suggested placement changes ●Title One recommendations- math/reading workshop

DEVELOPMENTAL RESPONSIVENESS 8th to 9th Grade Transition ●Parent Orientation (spring) ●9th Grade counselor visits NMS ●Student visits o Elective Courses o Extra Curricular Activities o Sp. Ed. tour ●Transition meeting at SVHS (counselors, admin, sp. ed., parent)

DEVELOPMENTAL RESPONSIVENESS Positive Behavior Support ●Viking Vision - trainings, assignment book contract ●Viking 200 Tickets ●Green Slips (coding, referral, reteaching) ●Reward Parties ●PBS Store - Behavior charts/point sheets ●Teacher Empowerment (T-chart)

Viking Ticket

DEVELOPMENTAL RESPONSIVENESS Child Study Team ●Administration, counselors, screening coordinator ●Pre-meeting to filter through recommendations ●Meets weekly ●Leads to: 504, behavior plan, point chart, iep, SAP, or smaller interventions, class changes, parent meeting, etc. ●Entire student record, family changes Student Assistance Program ●Administration, counselors, teachers (trained), outside consultant

On-going Initiatives Year One: ●Daily Learning Objective schoolwide (Thinking Skill + Content + Product) ●Cornell Notes pilot ●Daily schedule change (focus group) Year Two: ●Quality Questioning (presented by second year teachers) ●Increase Academic Rigor (Webb’s Depth of Knowledge) o Challenge honors & close achievement gap for all subgroups ●Common Assessments aligned to Common Core (school wide) ●Cornell Notes schoolwide