CCISD OKs campus, district plans | Around Town | portlavacawave … – Port Lavaca Wave

High points, low points and methods for growth districtwide were presented to the Calhoun County ISD Board of Trustees during a recent meeting.

The district, as well as each campus, presented 2023-24 improvement plans for approval of the board.

DISTRICT WIDE

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Maggie Hernandez noted that the “STAAR 2.0” is a better test that fits with instruction better. However, it has more writing in it than before so the district is instituting “Write a Little, Write a Lot” in all content areas to reinforce learning, she said.

Also, the test is being offered online and will be online at all levels in two years. Hernandez said the district is being proactive and preparing all students for an online test.

She went over the district’s 2023 STAAR results for reading and math.

CHS Principal Dana Dworaczyk noted that an issue with the high school’s English portion was the students did not realize they needed to write more because of the space provided and didn’t realize it would allow them to write more.

“We saw notable improvement,” she said.

In reading, CCISD stayed at the same rate of 23% not meeting requirements, compared to 24% for the state; approaches grade level or above improved by 1% to 77, compared to 76 for the state; meets grade level or above improved 2% to 50%, compared to 52% for the state; and master grade level dropped 3% to 17%, compared to 20% for the state.

In reading, did not meet remained at 23% compared to 27% for the state; approaches grade level or above stayed at 77% compared to 73% for the state; meets grade level or above went up 2% to 46% compared to 43% for the state; and masters grade level dropped 4% to 16% compared to 18% for the state.

Board President Bill Harvey asked if they were still seeing a holdover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hernandez said the teachers were seeing some apathy from the students, a holdover from not coming to school during that period.

“We’re doing the best we can to increase the rigor and engage with the students,” she said.

As celebrations and initiatives for the district, Hernandez listed:

New Teacher Academy with 26 teachers and interns.

Grant-funded programs such as Camp Calhoun After-School Program and Coastal Explorers, LASO grants for math and a literacy framework development.

Implementation of an aligned math curriculum across all campuses for Kindergarten through Algebra 2. This aligns the language used in math across the grade levels to increase understanding, she said.

Teacher Incentive Allotment with 16 teachers submitting for new or higher designations.

Hernandez went over growth opportunities for the district including:

District-wide alignment of classroom instruction and resources.

Stakeholder buy-in for needed change.

Data analysis to determine effectiveness of interventions/acceleration programs.

Creating engaging learning environments for all students.

Better parental involvement and communication for improved student performance.

CALHOUN HIGH SCHOOL

“What I’m most proud of is the level of pride the kids have,” said Dworaczyk.

She noted most of the students did not know the words to the Alma mater but are now learning them.

One of Dworaczyk’s celebrations as well as a strategy for improvement is the CTE program.

The program is robust, she said, noting a computer networking and maintenance program was added to respond to industry needs.

But, one problem, she noted, is that they are at a point where if a class is added, one might need to be taken away.

“We’re about maxed out responding to community requests,” she said.

Other celebrations Dworaczyk noted include:

Achievements of the students in academic, athletic, CTE and other extracurricular programs.

Excellent community partnerships and stakeholder support.

A student earning a perfect score on the PSAT in October, which puts her in the running for a National Merit Scholarship.

Among the opportunities and needs, Dworaczyk noted:

Complete re-keying and card access process for interior and exterior doors and gates.

Scheduling and staffing constraints for accelerated instruction.

Additional resources to support student and staff wellness and mental health.

Included among her strategies for improvement:

Additional professional development.

Various resources for struggling learners including an interventional teacher and tutorials inside the bus route.

Enhanced safety protocols and procedures aligned with district and state objectives.

Continuing the daylong Adulting 101 event that was developed in conjunction with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and other community partners.

HOPE HS/DAEP

Principal Dwana Finster noted the school received an A-plus on its safety audit.

Hope High School is a non-traditional campus to assist students in completing graduation requirements to receive a diploma.

“Our main job is to build positive relationships and help meet their concerns,” she said.

Goals include:

Continuing to build positive relationships.

Increasing academic scores.

Helping students to recover credits.

The students toured various job and education opportunities that included visiting manufacturing plants, Texas State Technical College, the Texas State Aquarium, local businesses, Victoria College, University of Houston and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In addition, the students listened to speakers from the military, businesses, colleges, first responders, Texas Workforce and Mid-Coast Counseling.

The students also participated in several community projects, said Finster. These included beach cleanups, highway cleanups, a food drive, blood drive, Halloween Carnival for Life Skills and a Spring Fling for secondary Life Skills.

On the DAEP side, Finster said they had 57 hearings, mostly about vaping. She noted they had good parental involvement in the anti-vaping program the students attend.

The objectives of the school include:

Working closely with home campus to develop a transition plan.

Maintain a safe and orderly campus.

Monitor student academic progress.

Build on positive relationships while continuing the Behavior Point System.

TRAVIS MIDDLE SCHOOL

Helping students to make the right choice is part of a campus-wide behavior management program that encourages students to choose wisely, according to Principal Ryan Abraham.

This includes programs such as the Travis Bank System that recognizes and rewards a student’s success over a nine-week period, the use of Fiddle Bucks to award to students, Fiddle Pride Cards to recognize students’ outstanding behavior.

“We want to encourage them to make the right choice and develop that habit that can continue into high school,” said Abraham.

He said the students had earned snow cones and the coldest day of the year came on the same day. “They didn’t mind,” he said.

The program also includes grade-level meetings to discuss academic and behavioral success and needs.

Abraham also noted the school saw improvement in 18 of 27 grading categories in the 2022-23 STAAR test for approaches, meets and masters a grade level.

Other success and initiatives he noted include:

Instructional specialists to support and train teachers including providing professional development opportunities; improve instructional practices through implementation of a training in Teach Like A Champion techniques; and bi-weekly grade-level planning meetings with core content teachers.

Continuous community outreach through campus updates and information through the marquee, Facebook, campus website, monthly newsletter and School Messenger.

Abraham noted several areas for improvement:

Community outreach to increase more participation of parents and the community. He noted that parental involvement tends to drop off around middle school and that parents are “being pulled every way” as reasons why they want to improve communication.

Improve student motivation and lesson engagement to increase STAAR performance.

Create additional planning and preparation time for teachers.

Design effective interventions to target individual student deficits in reading and math through Fiddle Time.

Implement STAR Center practices to support special needs students with emotional or behavioral challenges.

SEADRIFT SCHOOL

The band program has expanded to two days a week at the school, said Assistant Principal Fjola Reger, who was filling in for Principal Lynda Bermea.

“It’s a wonderful program and we are happy to have him (band director Jaime Lopez),” she said. “We had an amazing program for veterans day.”

Other celebrations Reger noted were:

All Algebra I students were a master on EOC testing; two district placers in cross country; the school participated in baseball, softball and soccer; Content Mastery added at eighth period to meet student needs; Coastal Explorers added to after-school programs; and earned Healthy South Texas School banner.

Reger noted that staff absenteeism and substitutes were a challenge.

“We had six out today (Nov. 13) and we had zero subs but we all came together,” she said.

Other challenges include:

Fostering growth in emergent literacy.

Increasing academic achievement of all students at the meets or masters grade levels in STAAR.

Increasing opportunities for students to participate in the community or volunteer.

Increasing parental involvement and volunteering.

Meeting the needs of students in special programs as the school has a high special programs population.

Strategies include:

Continue to provide advanced math for sixth through eighth grade in honors or Algebra I.

Have an active Positive Behavior Intervention Team made up of a variety of staff.

Use Pirate Pride incentives to promote positive behavior.

Weekly professional learning community meetings for grades Kindergarten through fifth.

Pirate Time and content mastery built into the master schedule for student intervention.

Mentors and outreach programs.

Professional development provided to the teachers.

Established a hospitality committee to boost campus morale.

PORT O’CONNOR SCHOOL

“‘Every student matters, every moment counts’ is the motto for the school,” said POC Principal Kelly Wehmeyer, adding the school’s STAAR master’s category exceeded the state, region and district scores.

She noted the school has dropped in number significantly and that the teachers are concentrating on writing in all content areas.

In addition, she noted that POC teacher Erin Gayler was named Region 3 Elementary School teacher of the year and the intern April Price has become a certified teacher.

“She’s going to do amazing things,” said Wehmeyer.

Also, two out of three eligible teachers received Teacher Incentive Allotments and three out of three eligible in 2023 have been put forth for the designation.

Wehmeyer said challenges the school faces include:

Safety concerns due to the openness of the campus.

Enrollment is declining due to lack of affordable housing in the town.

Phonics program with explicit and systematic practice is needed for Kindergarten to third grade students.

Implementing technology for classroom assignments on a more consistent basis.

Instructional opportunities Wehmeyer noted include:

Dolphin Time, an intervention program, was implemented in first through fifth grades.

A 11:1 student to teacher ratio supports academic needs toward TEKS mastery.

HJM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Principal Tiffany O’Donnell said the students had a rough time last year with the loss of a teacher and they worked hard to find a replacement to make sure the students got what they needed.

She also pointed out the new STAAR test will be a challenge due to participation requirements as well as teachers and administration are not sure what the test will look like.

O’Donnell also pointed out that the elementary school has had an increase in student population, many of them under the special education umbrella.

“We have to get to know the kids quickly and target what these kids need,” she said.

Other positives included:

Leadership opportunities including Young Astronauts, Robotics, Choir, Student Council, Jaws 25 and Sharktown.

Other challenges include hiring ESL certified teachers and challenging student behaviors.

O’Donnell mentioned several instructional initiatives including;

Embedded tutorials or interventions.

Afterschool programs such as Camp Calhoun X-Treme.

Writing across the grade levels.

Mathletics during morning announcements.

J-R ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

“Our enrollment is growing every day,” said J-R Principal Julie Duckett-Casey. “I made some moves because I thought we were getting complacent. We have to do the best for our kids.”

One challenge was to fill the gaps left by the pandemic and Hurricane Harvey.

Even with online classrooms, the kids still missed a lot of instruction, she said.

Other challenges she noted include:

Helping special education students who are struggling to meet grade level requirements set by the Texas Education Agency.

Overcoming the struggles created by the new math curriculum.

Handling challenging behaviors due to unsupervised access to social media outside of school.

The PTO is growing and it is encouraging to see the parental involvement, she said.

“The last two were packed,” she said

Other positives she mentioned included:

The school is 100% fully staffed with certified bilingual teachers.

The ratio of children using Chromebook is 1:1.

Almost 90 students attended Camp X-Treme.

Mentors, tutors and Watch Dogs are back on campus.