Turning Around. Moving Ahead. A Progress Report on DMPS and SIG Schools.

7/28/2019 Turning Around. Moving Ahead. A Progress Report on DMPS and SIG Schools.

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TURNING AROUND.MOVING AHEAD.A Progress Report on Des Moines Public Schools and the

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT

www.dmschools.org | facebook.com/dmschools

March 2013

Think. Learn. Grow.


2/20

4 Overview

6 North High School

8 Hoyt Middle School

11 Weeks Middle School

14 Edmunds Elementary School

16 Findley Elementary School

18 Harding Middle School

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S


3/20

When the conversation turns to education, it usually revolves around numbers.Test scores. Funding. Graduation rates. Demographics.

And yet, walk into any school and you see people, not numbers. Dedicated educatorsand sta throughout the building. Students eager to learn. Parents and volunteersproviding support.

Tis report provides a look at both numbers and people. Specically, student prociencyresults at our schools receiving School Improvement Grants (SIG) and stories on the

work underway within those schools.

Te SIG program was begun by the ederal government to provide extra help topersistently lowest-achieving schools and to advance our eorts at education reorm.

In Des Moines, six o our schools are receiving support thanks to this program.

As the U.S. Department o Education provides inormation on SIG schools across thenation, we want to give you a closer look at our schools here at home.

As you will see, many o these schools saw student prociency numbers go up since

receiving SIG unding. And in a ew cases, the numbers went down.

But, in every case, great work is underway to support our students and provide themwith great educational opportunities.

Sincerely,

Tomas AhartSuperintendent

Walk intoany school

and you see

people, notnumbers. Thomas Ahart

SIG PROGRESS REPORT | 3


4/20

The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program was approved by Congressand signed into law by the President in 2009. Administered by the U.S.Department of Education, it provides additional support and focus to helpturn around schools identied as persistently lowest achieving.

When a school receives SIG unding, it must then implement one o the ollowingour ederal intervention models:

TurnaroundModel: Replace the principal, screen existing school sta,and rehire no more than hal the teachers; adopt a new governancestructure; and improve the school through curriculum reorm, proessionaldevelopment, extended learning time, and other strategies.

RestartModel:Convert a school or close it and re-open it as a charterschool or under an education management organization.

SchoolClosure:Close the school and send the students to higher-achieving schools in the district.

TransformationModel:Replace the principal and improve the schoolthrough comprehensive curriculum reorm, proessional development,extended learning time, and other strategies.

SIG Schools in Des Moines and Iowa

Since 2010, the Iowa Department o Education has awarded SIG unding to nineschools in Iowa: six in Des Moines and three in Waterloo.

Des Moines Public Schools will receive approximately $18.5 million in ederalunds to support SIG-related work at two cohorts o schools. Te rst beganreceiving SIG unds in the 2010-11 school year and includes:

North High School ($3,750,000) Hoyt Middle School ($3,395,000) Weeks Middle School ($3,395,000) Edmunds Elementary School ($2,792,033)

Te second cohort was awarded SIG unds starting in the 2011-12 school yearand includes:

Findley Elementary School ($2,860,496) Harding Middle School ($2,344,716)

Te total estimated three-year amount o SIG unds is noted in parentheses.

All o the DMPS schools receiving SIG unds are using the ransormation Model,as described above, with the exception o Harding Middle School which is using theurnaround Model.

A N O V E R V I E W O F

The School

Improvement

Grant Program

4 | SIG PROGRESS REPORT


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School Activities Supported by SIG

SIG grants support a range o special initiatives at schools to help raise studentachievement. Some examples include:

Ongoing, high-quality proessional development Using data to identiy and implement an instructional program that is

research-based Using student data to dierentiate instruction to meet the academic needs

o individual students Establishing schedules and strategies that provide increased learning time Providing ongoing mechanisms or amily and community engagement

About this Report

For the rst cohort o SIG schools North, Hoyt, Weeks and Edmunds thisreport compares student prociency ater their rst year o participation (2010-11)to the previous two school years. Tese gures are based on the results o the

IBS/IED tests. Starting with the 2011-12 school year, the State o Iowa beganusing a new test to measure prociency: the Iowa Assessments. An apples toapples comparison o the Iowa Assessments to IBS/IED results rom previousyears is not possible. When Iowa Assessments results are available or the 2012-13school year this report will be updated to include data on Findley and Harding as

well as additional inormation on the rst cohort o SIG schools.



6/20


The North High School Academic Decathlon team often dominates thecompetition. For example, at Drake University recently, they beat out allcompetitors for the third year in a row.

Te Polar Bears broke several records and came away with 23 total awards.

Tats just the latest example o the storm brewing at the new North, a perect oneo rising student achievement, campus renovation, dynamic new leadership, andtechnological innovation.

Right on the heels o the schools impressive gains in the 2010-11 Iowa est oEducational Development [IED], North High became the largest school in Iowato implement a 1:1 laptop program in 2011-12. Te program was made possibleby the School Improvement Grant. Its just the latest in a series o energizingdevelopments and represents a tting capstone or the extreme makeover there,the bricks-and-mortar aspect o which was already completed when the studentsreturned to their remodeled campus in August, 2011.

Overseeing the turnaround at North is Principal Matt Smith. He says that since the

remodeling work was nished, the campus looks the way we eel. Norths IEDscores were up 8.2 percent in math in 2010-11. As impressive as those results were,they were doubled by 18.39 percent gains in both science and reading. And theschools 98.5 percent participation rate was an all-time high.

Smith and Mike Vukovich, Vice Principal at North and the coordinator o thelaptop initiative, emphasize that the computers are a means to sustain improvementthat was already underway, not devices brought in to spur improvements in

NORTHHIGH SCHOOL

Total Enrollment

Matthew Smith, Principal

501 Holcomb AvenueDes Moines, IA 50313

515-242-7200

north.dmschools.org

1,182

84%

65%

11%

24%

Free/Reduced Lunch

Minority

ELL

Special Education

SIG Intervention Model:

TRANSFORMATION

North High became the largest

school in Iowa to implement a

1:1 laptop program in 2011.

NORTH STARS POINTING THE WAY


7/20

student achievement rom scratch. And besides the new technology theres been asubstantial expansion o the Advanced Placement program at North, in terms oboth availability and enrollment.

We had a pep assembly right beore IEDs, said Vukovich, and a celebrationassembly when the scores came back.

Smith and Vukovich have made low expectations Norths arch rival and use themto motivate their kids the way coaches have been known to use disparaging remarksabout their team as bulletin board material in the locker room.

We let them know right rom the start that our expectations or them were high,said Smith. And the students have risen to meet them. Te way things are going atNorth the Polar Bears may become better known as the Scholar Bears!

Free &ReducedPriceLunch


SpecialEducation

SpecialEducation

ELL

ELL

AfricanAmerican

AfricanAmerican

Asian

Asian

Latino

Latino

White

White

Multi-Racial

Multi-Racial

All

All

10-11 % Procient

Math Reading

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

02008-09 2009-10 2010-11

55.61 44.96 21.21 5.88 27.59 52.17 51.52 64.44 72.73

66.31 58.91 33.33 0.00 44.83 43.48 66.67 77.78 72.73

47.40 41.84 18.97 21.43 30.61 58.33 43.18 58.23 57.14

47.92 42.55 17.24 21.43 32.65 58.33 40.91 58.23 71.43

46.15 42.86 25.45 21.43 33.33 50.00 31.43 54.63

57.83 44.44 23.08 7.69 27.69 57.14 59.09 72.06

10-11 % Procient

09-10 % Procient

09-10 % Procient

08-09 % Procient

08-09 % Procient

Math Prociency Data

Reading Prociency Data


rom the academic

ecathlon team to athletics,

xtracurricular activities

re also an important

art of the turnaround atNorth High.


8/20


You dont have to convince Laura Kacer that Response to Intervention, orRtI, is the way to go for screening student performance. She knows it works.

Consider: In the time since this principal at Hoyt Middle School in Des Moinesrolled out RtI building-wide in 2012, prociencies have soared. Whereas only 33percent o the sixth-through-eighth graders were considered procient last all, this

winters testing revealed that a ull 49 percent are procient. And they expect thosepercentages will continue to rise.

Teres no question it was a labor o love and necessity. Prociency scores at thisschool in which nearly 9 out o 10 students qualiy or ree or reduced-price lunches

were abysmally low and unacceptable to Kacer.

We needed to be diagnostic and break down the complex reading skills, she said.We needed to determine what components were missing rom each individualchild. Enter RtI, which ocuses on individuals.

Tis year is dierent than beore because our work has been specically targeted

at individual needs o students, Laura said. We care very little about the age, butocus on their needs. It made or a messy schedule or adults but its great or kids.

Liz Griesel, the academic achievement coach, said the requency o progressmonitoring depends upon the individual student. Some receive it weekly or more,

while others are monitored every other week.

Heartland Area Education Agencys Sue Severson, who has worked closely with theschool on implementation with delity, says it has been interesting watching theschool transorm.

HOYTMIDDLE SCHOOL

Total Enrollment

Laura Kacer, Principal

2700 E. 42nd StreetDes Moines, IA 50317

515-242-8446

hoyt.dmschools.org

518

87%

42%

11%

22%

Free/Reduced Lunch

Minority

ELL

Special Education


TRANSFORMATION

It is not an option for it not to

work. Each student will succeed.

Laura Kacer

INTERVENTION A KEY TO SUCCESS AT HOYT


9/20


Everybody is looking at each kid and asking what is happening here? and whatdo we need to do dierently? Tese students are lucky.

Whats going on here is not so much about materials, its about routine, Seversonsaid. How do we develop routine to ensure the eort becomes sel-sustaining? It isvery explicit in nature.

eachers are really talking about whats happening, she added. I have seenteachers become truly eective.

Its no longer guesswork, according to Kacer. No time is wasted. We take intoconsideration each student. I the intervention isnt working, we adjust. It is not anoption or it not to work. Each student will succeed.

When a student is determined to need interventions, the inormation is sharedwith student and parent alike, outlining the students decit and the trajectory oimprovement that is expected.

eachers are eeling more empowered, Kacer said.

With the elaborate screening underway, students deciencies are readily spotted.Especially in middle school, i you cant read by then, the student has developedcoping skills to get by, Griesel said. With diagnostics, they can no longer ool us.

oday, the students at Hoyt are much more engaged particularly noteworthy atthe middle school level.

Students are looking at their (trajectory) graphs and watching their progress,Giesel said. We also share with the parents and make suggestions on what they cando at home to help reinorce classroom work.

For Kacer, this approach is about dignity.

I talk with the students, saying this is where you are, and this is where we aregoing with you. Students know you have a plan or them.

Teres no question in Giesels mind that other schools will soon be scramblingto launch RtI. When other schools see the incredible growth, they will to dothis, too.

Giesel previously taught social studies, and remembers well the challengingbehaviors o some o her middle school students.

But I understand that when there are behavior issues, otentimes its because the

student eels rustrated when you ask him to do something he cannot do.

Severson says that without Kacers leadership, the plan would have never taken o.

Lauras leadership makes a huge dierence, she said.

Kacer hastened to add, Youre only as strong as the teachers who are around you.

Teachers are really

talking about whatshappening. I have

seen teachers become

truly effective.

Sue Severson

Hoyts Health Chef

Academy was a summer

rogram where students

eamed up with local chefs

o learn more about food

nd nutrition.


10/20

When eacher Kristi Brown came to Hoyt, she was concerned.

I have a special education background, and Im used to using data, Brown said.But when I started, I didnt eel like everyone knew the children. Tere were a loto assumptions.

Te implementation o RtI makes all the dierence, she noted. But does RtI takeup more time?

At rst, yes, while you are setting up the routine, according to Brown. Now thatthe kids know the routine, it just ows.

NOE: Tis article frst appeared in the February 2013 edition o the Each and EveryChild newsletter published by the Iowa Department o Education, and is reprinted herewith their permission.



SpecialEducation

SpecialEducation

ELL

ELL

AfricanAmerican

AfricanAmerican

Asian

Asian

Latino

Latino

White

White

Multi-Racial

Multi-Racial

All

All

10-11 % Procient

Math Reading

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

02008-09 2009-10 2010-11

66.60 64.40 47.19 45.31 62.75 76.19 61.67 69.44 62.96

58.35 54.71 32.58 31.25 49.02 71.43 53.33 62.30 51.85

65.84 62.44 29.79 41.10 59.38 78.26 59.06 68.55 73.68

54.12 51.02 34.04 28.77 43.75 52.17 44.88 60.07 47.37

52.43 48.79 25.0 41.67 38.00 50.00 48.61 57.01

53.37 49.76 35.19 40.15 48.98 37.50 44.44 59.01

10-11 % Procient

09-10 % Procient

09-10 % Procient

08-09 % Procient

08-09 % Procient

Math Prociency Data




11/20

When youre chronically sick and the right medicine is prescribed, recoverydoesnt happen all at once, overnight. Symptoms of illness disappear one at atime and are replaced by signs of wellness. So it is with schools.

Weeks Middle School is a case in point.

Some o the vital signs are measureable. For instance, days lost to studentsuspension have been slashed by two-thirds during the grant years. Ofce reerralsor behavior are down by hal. Daily attendance rates are rising.

According to Principal Audrey Rieken, climate change, something with a negativeconnotation in the context o global weather patterns, has been a key agent o theturnaround underway at Weeks. Tat can be a tricky thing to measure but its easyto see in dierent ways.

Tree years ago interventions had a stigma with both students and parents, shesays. Now theyre part o the culture here. Students even ask or them to get extrahelp and parents are supportive when we suggest them as a means o helping their

children be successul.

A deliberate point has been made to display more student work throughoutthe building and Rieken sees kids taking more pride in their achievements as aconsequence. Failing grades have been drastically reduced which in turn makesit easier to emphasize achievement rather than ailure. Students earn rewardsor everything rom attendance to behavior to academics. Whole classes as wellas individual students are provided with incentives or school-wide recognition,encouraging a were-all-in-this-together mindset that makes students and sta eellike teammates instead o adversaries.

WEEKSMIDDLE SCHOOL

Total Enrollment

Aubrey Rieken, Principal

901 SE Park AvenueDes Moines, IA 50315

515-242-8449

weeks.dmschools.org

689

85%

66%

22%

18%

Free/Reduced Lunch

Minority

ELL

Special Education


TRANSFORMATION

The pallor of negativity has given way

to a ush of pride thats contagious.

THE RIGHT DIAGNOSIS AT WEEKS



12/20

PROGRESS REPORT | 8

Rieken cites several specic strategies that have been catalysts or positivechange at Weeks:

Writing is emphasized in all classes, regardless o subject matter. School Improvement Leaders, one or each grade level, unction as liaisons

between students and their teachers. Tey are seen as allies and resourcesby both groups.

Weeks teachers have trained in a process called eacher to eacherReections whereby peer observations lead to improved pedagogy and astronger sense o collaboration.

Tere is a constant drumbeat o new perspectives redening the school anddriving home the point that things are dierent now. Te phrase on thebus is Weeks shorthand or moving ahead. What started as aculty-speakhas become part o the students jargon too and, more importantly, isreected in their attitudes towards school.

Increased emphases on technology, including the support o a techeducator, and data-driven decisions.

Proessional development ocused on student learning. Te teachers toolbox includes new strategies or engagement and behavior managementalong with new insights about struggling learners and adolescent brain

unction.

Teres also an annual student talent show. A Boy Scout troop is headquarteredthere and so is a Police Explorer program. In March o 2013 Weeks joined Hoyt asthe only DMPS middle schools with active chapters o the National Junior HonorSociety. More than a hundred students across grades 6-8 were inducted. Teseare all additions that would have seemed out o place pre-SIG. Project Wisdomis a daily message read over the intercom by a student or sta member selectedby Rieken. It is always a positive message in the spirit o the school motto:

Weeks Means Success.

There is a constant drumbeat of new

perspectives redening the school and

driving home the point that things are

different now. The phrase on the bus

is Weeks shorthand for moving ahead.


Weeks Middle School held its

rst National Junior Honorociety induction ceremony,

ecoming the second middle

chool in Des Moines with a

NJHS chapter.


13/20




SpecialEducation

SpecialEducation

ELL

ELL

AfricanAmerican

AfricanAmerican

Asian

Asian

Latino

Latino

White

White

Multi-Racial

Multi-Racial

All

All

10-11 % Procient

Math Reading

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

02008-09 2009-10 2010-11

60.91 58.48 20.73 47.01 38.46 64.91 56.98 69.27 69.77

50.19 46.21 13.25 24.63 32.31 52.63 41.67 60.89 65.12

58.17 52.94 15.74 35.20 41.77 76.60 53.03 62.81 63.64

52.69 47.18 13.89 32.00 34.18 70.21 44.95 60.49 56.82

55.52 50.93 16.81 41.18 31.58 67.31 52.27 60.82

58.05 52.31 35.40 39.42 38.16 76.92 49.15 64.38

10-11 % Procient

09-10 % Procient

09-10 % Procient

08-09 % Procient

08-09 % Procient

Math Prociency Data


Sta members love starting the day this way and students love to read them overthe intercom, says Rieken about the rst thirty seconds that set the tone or the resto the day.

Its one small dose o the good medicine thats got Weeks eeling and looking somuch better these days. Te pallor o negativity has given way to a ush o pridethats contagious and just the kind o ever that schools want to catch.


14/20


If youve driven on I-235 near downtown Des Moines recently, you probablynoticed the new Edmunds Elementary School beginning to take shape. Onclear mornings, when the sun peeks above the red- bricked skeleton, themetaphor for fresh beginnings is especially powerful. No wonder optimismabounds as students and staff prepare for new headquarters.

In concert with the symbolic construction o their new school, the students atEdmunds are also working to improve their academic prociency.

Many trends at the school reect the adoption o the Responsive Classroom approach,a research and evidence-based model or elementary education that increases academicachievement, decreases problem behaviors, improves social skills, and leads to morehigh-quality instruction. Where there used to be 20 or more behavior ofce reerralsper day at Edmunds, now the average is less than hal as many.

Beginning with the 2012-13 school year Edmunds is one o three DMPSelementary schools using an alternate calendar that starts in advance o most otherdistrict schools. Students have a six-week break in the summer and week-long

breaks in October, February and May.

Te Presidents Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH) conducted arecent study that demonstrates the positive eect o arts education on studentacademic achievement. Schools in even the most depressed areas are improving testscores by investing in arts education.

EDMUNDSELEME NTARY SCHO OL

Total Enrollment

Raul De Anda, Interim Principal

1601 Crocker StreetDes Moines, IA 50314

515-243-1174

edmunds.dmschools.org

287

94%

92%

52%

7%

Free/Reduced Lunch

Minority

ELL

Special Education


TRANSFORMATION

In concert with the symbolic construction

of their new school, the students at

Edmunds are also working to improve

their academic prociency.

A NEW EDMUNDS IS RISING


15/20




SpecialEducation

SpecialEducation

ELL

ELL

AfricanAmerican

AfricanAmerican

Asian

Asian

Latino

Latino

White

White

Multi-Racial

Multi-Racial

All

All

10-11 % Procient

Math Reading

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

02008-09 2009-10 2010-11

41.67 41.67 18.75 31.58 32.50 75.00 100.00 44.44 -

51.67 51.67 25.00 31.58 42.50 - 66.67 77.78 -

48.08 48.08 28.57 30.00 42.42 - 100.00 37.50 -

55.77 55.77 35.71 70.00 54.55 - 100.00 50.00 -

63.27 61.70 0.00 - 45.83 - - 78.95

46.94 44.68 33.33 - 45.83 - - 42.11

10-11 % Procient

09-10 % Procient

09-10 % Procient

08-09 % Procient

08-09 % Procient

Math Prociency Data


Accordingly, Edmunds is employing an assortment o strategies to capitalize on thatresearch. Anecdotal examples include:

Fourth and th graders took part in a contest to create a piece o publicart or the new school. Te students were challenged to develop ideasor an artistic and cultural statement to act as an artistic conduit to thenew Edmunds.

Fith grade students took a eld trip to help unveil Dangos, a sculptureproject along the Principal Riverwalk in downtown Des Moines.

Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds visited Edmunds Elementary the same day she andGovernor erry Branstad ormally issued a call to service challenging allIowans to volunteer at least 50 hours per year. She helped students in artteacher David Borzos class create posters or the campaign.

Te Edmunds Ater School Players, is an ater-school drama class thatproduces and stages productions under the direction o music teacherVanessa Brady and ELL instructor Kim Evans.

t. Governor Kim Reynolds

works with an Edmunds

tudent to make a poster

bout the importance of

olunteering.


16/20

There are nearly 100,000 public schools throughout the United States.Findley Elementary School is one of eight to get the attention of theWhite House for a new arts-based education initiative.

urnaround Arts is a public-private partnership that designated eight schools

nationwide or participation. Its designed to narrow the achievement gap andimprove student engagement through the arts at SIG schools. It was developed incooperation with the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, theU.S. Department o Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council.

For Findley, it also means an Oscar-winning actor will serve as their mentor. ForestWhitaker has held Skype sessions and made a personal visit to work with Findleystudents and teachers on how the arts support great education.

Findley is incorporating the arts into a range o its teaching and learning. Fithgraders went to the Civic Center or a behind-the scenes look at how Joey, the titlecharacter in the touring production oWar Horse, played his part under the spell o

master puppeteers. It was like having a magician explain how the tricks are done.Tey then went to see the live show as a group.

It was phenomenal, according to student Veronika Jones, and besides that wehad a eld trip yesterday to John Deere (the schools community business partner)

where we perormed our ne arts concert!

FINDLEYELEME NTARY SCHO OL

Total Enrollment

Tara Owen, Principal

3000 Cambridge StreetDes Moines, IA 50313

515-242-8407

ndley.dmschools.org

315

96%

62%

9%

15%

Free/Reduced Lunch

Minority

ELL

Special Education


TRANSFORMATION

Learning at Findley is becoming

a world-widening art form.

FINDLEY GETS ATTENTION FROM

WHITE HOUSE AND OSCAR WINNER



17/20

Veronika wore a tiara and grinned as she delivered her wide-eyed account atFindleys Royal Breakast, an event marking the culmination o the schools joint,month-long eort with Lovejoy Elementary called wo Schools, One Book. Teproject was designed to engage whole amilies and create communities o readersaround Roald Dahls Te BFG (Te Big Friendly Giant), the whimsical tale o a

girl named Sophie and the big-eared behemoth with a long, special trumpet thatblows dreams called phizzwizards into childrens bedrooms.

I think its been successul in getting amilies engaged in reading together,Principal ara Owen commented while dispensing scones and snozzcumbers androbscottles to a steady stream o kids in crowns. Hopeully, the classrooms didntbreak out in whizpoppers later. Next spring were going to use the same approach

with Charlottes Web. And as ar as War Horsegoes, yes, that whole experiencewas abulous or the kids.

Another example o Findleys ourishing arts scene was perormed onstage by theschools drama club, one o the districts ew at the elementary level.

Learning at Findley is becoming a world-widening art orm.

Findley is incorporating

the arts into a range ofits teaching and learning


Oscar-winning actor

orest Whitaker is the

rtist assigned to Findleys part of the Turnaround

Arts program.


18/20

Not long ago, about all you heard coming from Harding Middle School wasbad news. Now you hear Brave New Voices.

And at one point Harding seemed to be a holding pen or hundreds o lone wolves.Now its the home o the Wol Pack, a growing group o student leaders with pridein themselves and their school.

Not long ater the school instituted a uniorm dress code policy a ew years ago,a program called the Wol Pack was launched, playing o o the school mascot,the imberwolves. Students were given the opportunity to join once theyagreed to a pledge requiring them to be positive role models and perorm somecommunity service. Last year over hal o the student body took the pledge and, notcoincidentally, Harding led all DMPS middle schools with the lowest number odays lost to suspension.

Last summer Vice Principal Jake roja decided to build on the Wol Packoundation with an invitational leadership academy.

roja explains that the whole idea behind the Wol Pack and the leadership academyis to exploit the natural social dynamics o adolescents and use peer pressure inpositive ways. We are just taking principles rom business that are well-researchedand documented in changing behavior within groups and applying them to amiddle school environment, he says. We are redening what it means to be coolat school.

HARDINGMIDDLE SCHOOL

Total Enrollment

Maureen Taylor, Principal

203 E. Euclid AvenueDes Moines, IA 50313

515-242-8445

harding.dmschools.org

619

96%

72%

17%

25%

Free/Reduced Lunch

Minority

ELL

Special Education


TURNAROUND

Harding is the home of the

Wolf Pack, a growing group ofstudent leaders with pride in

themselves and their school.

BRAVE NEW VOICES SHOUT SUCCESS AT HARDING



19/20

Wol Pack members prepared 5,000 meals at the annual Meals rom theHeartland event at Wells Fargo Arena last year, just one big example o Hardingsnew direction.

And as or those Brave New Voices, thats the annual youth poetry estival that six

Harding and North High School students attended in San Francisco thanks toMinorities on the Move and Movement 515, the creative writing programs startedby Harding teachers Kristopher Rollins and Emily Lang. Kids are welcome romschools all over the district, but most o them are Harding students who move on toNorth. Tey meet weekly ater school throughout the year and over the summer.

eachers dont come any more dedicated than Rollins and Lang. Teir poeticprotgs now hold a series o Share the Mic spoken word perormances during theyear at public venues, proceeds rom which have already benetted communitynon-prot organizations. Te students have also developed and maintain their own

website. Te schools poets have been taught to preach and practice the twin gospelso energetic reciprocity, and respect the pack. What do they mean? At the new andimproving Harding they mean that everyone has everyones back.

We are redening

what it means to

be cool at school.

Jake Troja



20/20

The Des Moines Independent Community School District does not discriminate on the basis of

race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, age (for employment), marital status

(for programs), sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status (for programs)

in its educational programs and its employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for

processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this

policy, please contact the districts Equity Coordinator Patricia Lantz, General Counsel, 901

Walnut Street, Des Moines, IA 50309; phone: 515.242.7837; email: [email protected].

The design, copy and photography for this special report was produced by the

C it R l ti Of f D M i P bli S h l

Des Moines Public Schools

901 Walnut Street

Des Moines, IA 50309(515) 242-7911

www.dmschools.org

2012-2013 Board of Directors

Dick Murphy, Chair

Cindy Elsbernd, Vice Chair

Connie Boesen

Teree Caldwell-Johnson

Bill Howard

Joe Jongewaard

Pat Sweeney

Thomas Ahart, Superintendent

Holly Crandell, Executive Director Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

Wilma Gajdel, Director of Federal Programs

Turning Around. Moving Ahead. A Progress Report on DMPS and SIG Schools.

Documents

Transcript of Turning Around. Moving Ahead. A Progress Report on DMPS and SIG Schools.