T4S Instructional Practice

The PSA Sweeps results showed growth in almost every area during the 2015-2016 school year.  One of the areas of focus for our staff this year was Academic Discussions.  There was an overall increase in the number of Academic Discussions that were observed.  The staff has chosen to continue working on this instructional practice, with the plan of increasing the DOK level of conversations.  An action step is funding/release time for additional professional development, as well as release time for teachers to observe other classes on site and at other schools.

Writing Rubrics

PSA teachers are submitting samples of rubrics used to teach various forms of writing.  Several samples have been uploaded to the shared folder.  We will continue to add samples.

Military Month at PSA

April was Military Month at PSA, and each week, we hosted visitors from different branches of the military.  The representatives held Q & A sessions in the College and Career Center during lunch, visited the Public Safety classes and put the cadets through PT drills (physical training), and coordinated a variety of lunchtime activities, such as push-up, rowing, and pull-up contests, obstacle courses, etc.  The men from Travis Air Force Base (pictured here) were invited to assist with our weekly uniform inspections.  They were so impressed that they stayed an extra hour to tour the campus and visit classrooms.  Kudos to our College and Career Tech, Markie Gilmore, for coordinating a fantastic Military Month and bringing in many visitors.

Attendance "Game Plan" for 2016-2017

Our liaison, Yesenia Pantoja, met with our attendance clerk, Elizabeth Gore, and administration to develop a plan for improving attendance for the 2016-2017 school year.  We all agreed that meeting individually with students who had been "chronically absent" made a difference in their overall attendance, so that is one thing that will be done again when we return to school in August and throughout the school year.  Our current incentives focus mainly on perfect attendance, so the incentive program will be expanded to include improved attendance, as well.  Administration will continue to communicate the importance of good attendance and the impact of absenteeism through the weekly blog and social media.

PBIS Next Steps for PSA

The original PBIS plan was for PSA to be in a cohort for the 2016-2017 school year.  However, we are in a "holding pattern," as the availability of resources and support are determined.  J.P. and I met April 6th to determine possible "next steps."  We have developed a plan for steps that can be taken with the staff to "lay the groundwork" in preparation for implementing PBIS, if and when the resources are available.  The PSA team will begin the foundational work prior to the end of the school year.

Outstanding Customer Service

Congratulations to the PSA staff for earning high marks on the Customer Service survey. The Secretary, Monika Garay, and Attendance Clerk, Elizabeth Gore, are on the "front line" when it comes to serving staff, cadets, and family and community members.  No matter how busy the office may be, they greet everyone promptly with smiles and are always friendly and helpful.  Our Campus Monitor, Jennifer Ochoa, and Noon Duty Supervisors, Noel Reilly, Fatima Saavedra, and Elise Banks, also assist with answering questions, directing guests, and helping cadets on campus.  To express appreciation and to celebrate their great customer service, they were recently treated to a pizza lunch!

We've Been Illuminated

My soon-to-be Assistant Principal, Katie Hawkins, joined me at the Illuminate Training April 7, 2016.  We can't wait to get the staff trained!  This will especially be useful as we move forward in creating our school-wide formative assessment plan.  

We're also ready for this year's CAASPP.  We will be testing school-wide, so all teachers have signed the affidavit and TOMS accounts have been created.  Our site coordinator, Alison Ankerstar, provided CAASPP Administration Training at our April staff meeting, and we are ready to go!

Parent Engagement

We have three cadets who are listed as "foster" in the system.  All three are doing well academically and socially at PSA.  When we reached out to families, we learned that two of the three cadets have now actually been adopted!

The Write Stuff

At PSA, the writing's on the wall.   Well, some of it, anyway.  In my travels through classrooms, I have found that 37.6% of classrooms have current student writing samples displayed.  However, we are 1:1 with student devices, and many teachers are choosing to go paperless.  Students store their writing digitally in Google Classroom and e-portfolios.  In 33.3% of the classes, students write digitally.  Our P.E. classes write daily, and they comprise 12.5% of our classes.  Due to the lack of classroom space, their writing is stored in notebooks.  Check out this example of digital writing from one of the English classes by clicking  here.

CAASPP Training

All PSA teachers have had the introductory CAASPP training and have signed their affidavits.  The information has been forwarded to Shelley so TOMS accounts can be created.  We will be working on creating our school-wide testing schedule at the meeting scheduled for 2/26/16.

T4S Data

On February 2nd, our T4S data from fall sweeps was shared at a full staff meeting.  In addition, we hosted a professional development session on the new observation protocol, presented by Patricia Dienz from West Ed. February 4, 2016.

Technology and SAMR

The PSA staff reviewed the SAMR model earlier this year, as we began our discussion of Digital Citizenship with our Educational Technology Technician, Josh Harris.  At that time, we discussed where we felt we were as a school.   We watched the "SAMR in 120 Seconds" video clip and talked about ways to increase the implementation of technology in instruction.  Now that we have gone 1:1 with student devices school-wide, there is a definite increase in the implementation of technology in instruction on campus.

Focus on Attendance

We've been maintaining a focus on improving attendance all year.  Throughout Attendance Awareness Month, I posted information about the importance of regular school attendance from AttendanceWorks.org each week in the family newsletter.  At PSA, we've implemented monthly incentives, as well as recognition for improved attendance.  Conferences with individual students, who are identified as "chronically absent" is helping us identify barriers to attendance and provide supports.  Additionally, reminders regarding attendance are put in the family blog bimonthly.  Here is an example from a recent blog post:

Attendance Matters

As we move into 2016, we continue to focus on improved attendance.  Absences (even excused absences) add up and can negatively impact student success.  Check out the research on the impact of absenteeism at attendanceworks.org in the "research" section.  The site also has parent resources and ideas for supporting students in maintaining good school attendance.

PBIS Coming to PSA

I am excited that PSA will be part of PBIS Cohort 3, beginning next year.  My secretary, Monika Garay, and I met with J. P. Grelet 1/20/15 to discuss "next steps" toward implementation of PBIS at Public Safety Academy.  J. P. will be presenting an overview of PBIS to the entire staff on February 24, 2016, and then we'll begin getting our team together.  We can't wait to get started!!

Laurie Halcomb - PBIS Task Force

My name is Laurie Halcomb, and I am Principal of Public Safety Academy.  Blogging is a new endeavor for me this year, so I'm excited to be able to participate in this blog as a contributing editor. My task force will focus on the steps that are being taken at each school site to implement PBIS.  For more information about PBIS, click here.