M. E. Foster Elementary School

Executive Summary

School Improvement Plan 2004-2005

School name:RedRed M.E. Foster Elementary School

Dr. Gail Hadnot, Principal

 South Central Administrative District

School Overview

Foster Elementary School is presently a school wide Title l school which has a predominantly African American population.  The ethnic distribution is 94.5% Africa American, 4.5% Hispanic, 1.0% Asian, 0.2% white.  Within the population, ninety-three and seven tenth percent (93.7%) are participating in the free and/or reduced lunch program.  Most of these students are from single parent households, extended families, or foster homes.

Goals and Objectives: 

      Goal 1:   To increase student achievement

Goal 3:   To improve public support and confidence in schools

        Goal 5:   To increase violence prevention and intervention

Major Strategies

·        Foster School will increase its reading, math, writing and science on TAKS and Stanford 1O.  All teachers will attend trainings that target our low performance areas.

·        Next, we will hold tutorial sessions for students that are performing below grade level.  Along with tutoring sessions, there will be after school and Saturday tutorials.  Additional assistance will be rendered by the primary and ancillary teachers by pulling out those students that have been identified as at risk for failure and work with them one on one.

·        Foster will provide intensive training for our parents.  The training will inform parents about the school’s programs and techniques to help their child(ren) at home to improve skills.

·        Poor attendance played a major role in the decrease of our test scores.  When the students did not attend school on a regular basis, they fell behind on skills that were taught.  Therefore, we will provide incentives to encourage them to be on time and attend school daily.

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School Improvement Plan

2004–2005

M.E. Foster Elementary

Dr. Gail Hadnot

School:  M. E. Foster Elementary School

Vertical Team:  Yates                                                  District:  South Central

Date presented to parents and community:  October 1, 2004

Date presented and approved by school:  October 1, 2004

The mission of M.E. Foster Elementary is to provide a strong academic program within a warm, supportive, environment that is conducive for students to develop to their fullest academic, social, physical, and emotional potential.

M.E. Foster offers our students an enriching, fun-filled educational environment.  We embrace our parents and community with love, thus fostering a sense of home.  Our teachers are dedicated to helping all students achieve a high level of self-esteem and academic success.  Their experiences range from one year to over forty years.

Foster School is located in the Southeast section in the city of Houston.

The majority (94.5%) of the student body at Foster Elementary School comes from an economically disadvantaged environment. 

M.E. Foster Elementary School offers a variety of programs to meet the needs of its students.  The LEP program services five and three tenths (5.3%) of the multicultural population.  The special education program offers two (2) resource classes, a generic class, and BAC class.

Foster School offers a number of instructional, discipline, and community services.  The programs offered are: Gifted and Talented, Success for All Reading, Move It Math, Consistency Management for Discipline, and Communities in Schools, which provides social services for students and parents.

Also, as part of the school wide initiative, students and parents are given the opportunity to participate in variety of enrichment programs such as Basketball, Cheerleading, Family Math, Second Cup of Coffee, and Raising Readers.

Organizational Structure

The six sub committees will help set goals and generate a positive school atmosphere on behalf of the students, parents, and teachers.  The six sub committees include planning, budgeting, curriculum, staffing patterns, staff development and school organizations.

Each of the sub committees must consist of at least one SDMC member.  All other Committee members will be filled by open invitation to represent the school community.  A representative from each grade level will serve as the remaining members of each sub committee.

The SDM Committee will meet the first and third Tuesday of each month at 3:15 p.m.  All sub committees will meet the second Tuesday of each month at 3:15.

Sub Committees

A SDMC member chairs each sub committee. Each of the sub committees are comprised of parents, teachers, and other professional staff members.

Planning Committee- (Chairperson) – Sharon Dockery-Hunter

The Planning Committee is responsible for overseeing the overall planning and developing of school programs and activities for the school year.  The committee will review trend data, evaluate program effectiveness, and determine campus needs to make recommendations.  A yearly calendar will be developed to outline the general structure for the school year.

Budget Committee- (Chairperson) – Gwen Rogers

The Budget Committee is responsible for the review of budgets, seek additional funding, allocate funds, and consider budget requests.  All recommendations will be reviewed and linked to impact instruction and the school improvement plan.

Curriculum Committee- (Chairperson) – Shanice Evans

The responsibility of the curriculum committee is to review and make decisions regarding curriculum and teaching methodologies.  All decisions are based on the evaluation of trend data and campus needs.  All recommendations will be analyzed to determine the impact on instruction.

Staffing Patterns Committee- (Chairperson) – Sylvia Smith

The responsibility of the staffing pattern committee is to determine annual staffing needs, establish an interview team to assist in the interviewing process and make recommendations to administration.  The committee will determine the make up and number of staff members based on the campus goals.

 Staff Development Committee-(Chairperson) – Richard Reynolds 

The staff development committee reviews the campus needs to improve instruction.  The committee carefully analyzes school data and makes recommendations for staff trainings based on areas of need.

School Organizations Committee- (Chairperson) – Raven McAllister

School Organizations are formed by open invitations to represent the school community.  They are responsible for communicating, reviewing, and making recommendations on potential proposals, and doing in-depth studies of issues. Recommendations are made within a specified time frame regarding the organizational structures and needs of the school to the SDMC

Decision-making Process

Committee members, parents, teachers, and other interested members of the school community may bring their concerns or suggestions to the SDM Committee by submitting a Shared Decision-Making Process Form.  These forms are available in a designated area on the SDMC bulletin board.  The completed form may be submitted to a SDMC member at least five days prior to the regularly scheduled SDM Committee for discussion until consensus is reached.  The SDMC agenda is comprised of parents, community, staff concerns or suggestions and other school related agenda items.  SDMC members will give each school employee and make available to the general public, upon request, a copy of the SDMC minutes.  A copy of the SDMC minutes will also be posted on the SDMC bulletin board.  All committee members will act in the best interest of the students and the school.  The SDM Committee will use a “one-member”, one-vote system in order to make decisions. 

In the event of a tie, further discussion of the issue at hand will take place and the SDMC will revote on the issue.

Method of Communication

The Foster Shared Decision-Making Committee memberships are in accordance with state and local district mandates.  The members of the council will have no substitutes and six members are needed for a quorum.  As of May 1995, SDMC members serve for two consecutive terms.  Should a vacancy occur prior to the end of the term, the SDMC will hold a special election to fill the position.  Otherwise, the annual election will be held in May to replace any vacant positions.

Membership

The Foster Shared Decision-Making Committee memberships are in accordance with state and local district mandates.  The members of the council will have no substitutes and six members are needed for quorum.  As of May, 1995, SDMC members serve for two consecutive terms.  Should a vacancy occur prior to the end of the term, the SDMC will hold a special election to fill the position.  Otherwise, the annual election will be held in May to replace any vacant positions.

Totals:

TAKS Reading

                  (All Students- regular, LEP, non-exempt Special Education)

(1SEM Percentages and Panel Recommendation Percentages Follow In Sequence)