Plan
The Unison Elementary School Improvement Plan will prioritize needs and introduce reforms within three timeframes: Near-term reforms will reverse negative student achievement within one to three years. Medium term reforms will engage the larger school community within two to five years. Long term reforms will gradually change the school culture over five to seven years.
Near-term: Instructional Effectiveness
Unison must reverse the trend of decreasing achievement scores. The school’s testing coordinator, along with the leadership team, will analyze the scores from the previous three years in order to identify specific weaknesses. A portion of this school year’s professional development will address these needs. Additionally, each faculty member’s personal growth plan will include a goal targeting individual efforts to improve increase achievement in the target areas.
The guidance department, faculty, and parent-teacher organization (PTO) will institute after-school mentorship hours, where struggling students can receive additional help on their schoolwork.
Medium-term: Communication and Community Involvement
Unison’s energized alumni provide an unheralded opportunity to develop a powerful home-school connection. The guidance department, in concert with the school leadership team, will collaborate with the PTO to welcome the families of each new student and invite parents and guardians to join the PTO.
Administration will work with the PTO leadership to forge new roles for the organization. Volunteers will work under the supervision of staff in the previously mentioned after-school program.
Long-term: School Climate
The administration will observe authentic teaching more frequently in order to provide more relevant feedback to teachers. Additionally, because of the surfeit of excellent teachers in the lower primary grades, administration will examine the redistribution of the grade levels. Likewise, administration will adjust the membership in the school leadership team to include more of these excellent teachers. Finally, Unison will institute a new teacher mentorship program.