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North Hills MSA 2015 Excellence by Design Self-Study 4-8-15.Pdf Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools EXCELLENCE BY DESIGN A Self-Study for Accreditation by the Middle States Association NORTH HILLS HIGH SCHOOL PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA April 27-30, 2015 HEAD OF SCHOOL JOHN W. KREIDER PRINCIPAL, NORTH HILLS HIGH SCHOOL INTERNAL COORDINATORS MR. WILLIAM MCGAHEE DR. DAVID BARKOVICH 3624 Market Street 2 West Philadelphia, PA 19104 Telephone: (267) 284-5000 FAX: (215) 662-0957 www.msa-cess.org TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction 1 Organization for Growth and Improvement 2 Introduction 2 The Internal Coordinators 2 The School's Planning Team 3 The Role of the School's Leadership and Governance 8 The Plan for Institutionalizing a Planning Ethic 9 The Plan for Communication and Awareness 10 The Plan for Periodic Reviews of the Plan for Growth and Improvement 11 Profile of the School 12 Profile of the School 15 Profile of Student Performance 30 The School's Mission, Beliefs, and Profile of Graduates 56 Mission 56 Beliefs 57 Profile of Graduates 61 Profile of Organizational Capacity Introduction 63 Philosophy/Mission Standard 66 Governance and Leadership Standard 71 School Improvement Planning Standard 79 Finances Standard 85 Facilities Standard 91 School Climate and Organization Standard 101 Page Health and Safety Standard 110 Educational Program Standard 122 Assessment and Evidence of Student Learning Standard 131 Student Services Standard 142 Student Life and Student Activities Standard 151 Information Resources and Technology Standard 160 Self-Assessment of Adherence to the Indicators of Quality for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Introduction 169 Keystone Algebra 1 173 Keystone Biology 175 Keystone Literature 176 The Plan for Growth and Improvement 185 Introduction North Hills High School is extremely proud to apply for Middle States Association of Colleges and School Commission on Elementary and Secondary School’s “Excellence By Design” accreditation. While we believe that our students are provided with a superior education, we also remain resolved to pursue continuous improvement as we strive to achieve the highest levels of excellence. The process of undergoing the “Excellence By Design” self-study has benefitted our students, faculty, and community by allowing our school and associated stakeholders to holistically examine our efforts and accomplishments to date. This process was undertaken in the hope of discovering new innovative and effective ways to accomplish growth. We strongly believe that the volunteer stakeholders who have donated their time to assist with this self-study have made impressive efforts in regards to their charge of objectively examining the entire education experience at North Hills High School for areas of possible improvement. This is possible because each stakeholder understands the difference that an education makes in each student’s life. Our district’s students, parents, staff, administration, and our community truly embrace our school’s efforts and give our students a tremendous amount of support by providing opportunities to them both inside and outside of the classroom. These opportunities allow our students to become lifelong learners, gain lifelong memories, showcase the talents they work extremely hard to gain, and pursue a wide variety of post- secondary endeavors. Achieving the Excellence By Design accreditation will be an amazing validation of our efforts and the achievements of our students. North Hills High School is changing lives through education. While our school has many remarkable achievements in its long history, it is our unified and continued commitment to excellence that makes North Hills High School unique and relevant. Through motivated students, empowered community members, and a highly skilled faculty, the North Hills High School continues to flourish in times of shrinking district enrollments and limited funding. Several years ago, the entire school adopted North Hills High School marching band’s motto of “Pride, Tradition and Excellence.” This was a deliberate decision based on a long history of student success and achievement. Through the cooperation and support with all of our stakeholders, North Hills High School will continue to grow as a positive environment where students achieve excellence. For us at North Hills High School, there is no other option. Our students, and our school, are truly exceptional and deserve no less. Excellence by Design (2012) Page 1 Self-Study Document ©2012, Middle States Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools A. Internal Coordinators The Internal Coordinators for the self-study and accreditation process are: Name Role in the Institution Mr. William McGahee Assistant Principal Dr. David Barkovich Dean of Students A.1 How and why were the Internal Coordinators selected? Mr. William McGahee and Dr. David Barkovich were selected based upon their extensive education, secondary school expertise, capacity for leadership, and for their skills at program coordination involving a variety of different stakeholders in the district. Mr. McGahee has been employed in the North Hills School district since 2001. Bill taught as an English teacher at North Hills School for eight years, successfully made the transition from contractual employee to administrator when he appointed as an assistant principal at North Hills Junior High for one year, and has been the assistant principal at North Hills High School for the last five years. As part of his responsibilities, Bill oversees the 11th and 12th grade students as well as a number of programs that relate to the Middle States process, including the AP exams, attendance concerns, coordination with our career and technical center, and our in-house alternative school. Dr. Barkovich has been a contractual faculty member since 2002. He has been a school counselor at both the junior high and high schools and currently has a leadership role in the school counseling department. David is a certified as an elementary school counselor, secondary school counselor, supervisor of curriculum and instruction, and k-12 principal. He is one of only ten National Board Certified Teachers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in his content area (School Counseling). David has recently earned his doctorate degree in Educational Leadership. A.2 How did the Internal Coordinators fulfill their role and responsibilities? Both Mr. McGahee and Dr. Barkovich worked diligently during this process. Mr. McGahee’s expertise in school policy, governance, and as a classroom teacher enabled him to lead our staff in reflective practice. Dr. Barkovich used his experience and previously established partnerships with the teachers to rally the faculty and involve them in the process. Using their previously established reputations and connections with students and parents, their approach was to facilitate and empower all of the stakeholders in making this process their own and openly discuss how to make positive changes for the school at large. The Internal Coordinators attempted to utilize technology whenever possible to not only minimize printing costs, but in order to manage the large amount of data involved with the process. A.3 What kinds of support and assistance were provided to the Internal Coordinators to enable them to fulfill their responsibilities? Both of these coordinators are fortunate to have strong relationships with the high school faculty, are known to the parents and community and high school student body as strong advocates for young people and their education, with building administration, with district administration, and with school board. Both had previously worked with the superintendent and other administrators over the past decade in different capacities (superintendent once held Bill’s position). The benefit Excellence by Design (2012) Page 2 Self-Study Document ©2012, Middle States Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools of being able to simply pick up the phone and get assistance from any senior member of the central office administration cannot be understated. The top down commitment to the EBD process is perhaps best illustrated in the following email that was sent by the district superintendent, Dr. Patrick Mannarino, to the administrators last fall: From: Pat Mannarino Date: Friday, October 31, 2014 12:58 PM Subject: Middle States Folks, The Middle States Accreditation process is a very important, yet time consuming, process. It is a monumental task in itself, let alone while you are attempting to manage a school. SO, please work with the internal coordinators to provide any needed information and return them to Bill and Dave so they can appropriately process them for the Middle States Planning Team. If you have any questions or concerns, see me! Pat B. The Planning Team B.1 The members of the Planning Team are: Name Role in the Institution Andrew Cook Student, grade 11 Danielle Galbraith Student, grade 11 Maria Melchiorre Student, grade 12 Brett Sopher Student, grade 12 Lauren Tucci Student, grade 11 Kelly Reith Parent Kathleen Sopher Parent Kathleen Tucci Parent Jennifer Swab Parent Alice Kilroy Parent Crystal Barr Community Member Daria White Community Member Chris Cummings NH Faculty (Math) Jennifer DiPasquale NH Faculty (Science: biology) Regina Moorby NH Faculty (GATE and art) Joseph Warnock NH Faculty (Math) Missi Marangoni NH faculty (World language: French) Laura Clark NH faculty (Science) Sue Batson NH faculty (Science Curriculum Leader) Jaime DeWeese NH faculty (Social Studies)
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