Memphis Merit Academy Charter School Amended Charter Application Respectfully submitted to Shelby County Schools on behalf of the founding team of Memphis Merit Academy Charter School by Lead Founder and Proposed Head of School Lakenna Booker July 26, 2018 Table of Contents GENERAL INFORMATION ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1 ASSURANCES ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Signature ......................................................................................................................................... 3 SECTION 1: ACADEMIC PLAN DESIGN AND CAPACITY ........................................................................ 4 1.1 School Mission and Goals ........................................................................................................... 4 (a) School Mission ............................................................................................................................................... 4 (b) Vision and Goals ............................................................................................................................................. 4 (c) Prescribed Purposes of Memphis Merit Academy ....................................................................................... 12 (d) Alignment with Authorizer Priorities ........................................................................................................... 13 (e) Specific Barriers/School Need ...................................................................................................................... 14 (f) What Success Will Look Like.......................................................................................................................... 14 1.2 Enrollment Summary .................................................................................................................... 15 (a) Community Profile ....................................................................................................................................... 15 (b) Rationale for Proposed Community ............................................................................................................. 18 (c) Academic Performance of Schools in Target Communities.......................................................................... 19 (d) Target Population......................................................................................................................................... 20 (e) The Memphis Merit Academy Advantage .................................................................................................... 21 (f) Existing Operator (Not applicable) … ............................................................................................................ 23 (g) Enrollment Summary and Anticipated Demographics ................................................................................. 23 1.3 Academic Focus and Plan ......................................................................................................... 23 (a) Academic Focus ........................................................................................................................................... 23 (b) Academic Plan .............................................................................................................................................. 24 (c) Key Characteristics of Academic Plan and Philosophy ................................................................................. 35 (d) Description of Research Supporting Academic Plan .................................................................................... 38 (e) Curriculum and Basic Learning Environment ............................................................................................... 39 (f) Propose Instructional Goals, Methods, and Academic Benchmarks ............................................................. 39 (g) Alignment with Target Population ............................................................................................................... 40 (h) Alignment of Academic Plan with Tennessee Academic Standards(TAS) ..................................................... 40 (i) Blended Learning ........................................................................................................................................... 41 1.4 Academic Performance Standards ............................................................................................ 43 (a) Annual and Long-Term Academic Achievement Goals ................................................................................ 43 (b) Process for Setting, Monitoring, and Revising Academic Achievement Goals ............................................. 46 (c) Plan for Corrective Action ............................................................................................................................ 47 (d) Description of Student Attendance Goals .................................................................................................... 47 (e) Student Matriculation Through Memphis Merit Academy .......................................................................... 50 (f) Memphis Merit Academy’s Exit Standards ................................................................................................... 52 (g) Approach to Remediation and RTI2 Model .................................................................................................. 64 1.5 Phase-In/Turnaround Planning: Not Applicable ......................................................................... 66 1.6 High School Graduation and Postsecondary Readiness: Not Applicable ...................................... 66 1.7 Assessments ............................................................................................................................ 66 (a) Primary Interim Assessments ....................................................................................................................... 66 (b) Measuring and Evaluating Academic Progress ............................................................................................ 69 (c) Testing Coordination .................................................................................................................................... 71 (d) Collection and Analysis of Student Academic Data ...................................................................................... 71 (e) Responsibilities for Collection and Analysis of Assessment Data ................................................................. 72 Memphis Merit Academy Charter School i (f) Process for Collecting and Interpreting Data ............................................................................................... 73 (g) Training and Support for Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 73 1.8 School Calendar and Schedule .................................................................................................. 73 (a) Academic Calendar ....................................................................................................................................... 73 (b) Academic Calendar Rationale ....................................................................................................................... 73 (c) Daily Schedule ............................................................................................................................................... 75 (d) Schedule Rationale ....................................................................................................................................... 81 (e) Typical Day in the Life of a Memphis Merit Teacher and Student – Year 1 .................................................. 82 (f) Extra-Curricular Activities .............................................................................................................................. 87 (g) Saturday School and Summer School ........................................................................................................... 87 1.9 Special Populations and At-Risk Students.................................................................................. 87 (a) Comprehensive Plan to Serve All Students ................................................................................................... 87 (b) Capacity to Serve All Students ...................................................................................................................... 90 (c) Anticipated Need and Staffing Plan .............................................................................................................. 91 (d) Data-Informed Decision-Making .................................................................................................................. 94 (e) Special Education .......................................................................................................................................... 96 (f) English Learners ............................................................................................................................................. 98 (g) Students at Risk 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