Washington School Improvement Plan (2019-20)

• Washington Middle School Staff Climate Survey
• Washington Middle School Student Connected Survey
• Washington Middle School Student Bullying Survey
• Washington Middle School discipline referrals
• Washington Middle School attendance data
• Olympia School District Student Climate Survey
• Restorative Justice data 

Using the Washington Middle School Connection Survey data, the students NOT feeling connected will decrease by 50% from October 25, 2019 to May 29, 2020. 

• Blend Restorative practices into our school discipline philosophy
• Offered building-wide professional development (6 hour training) on Restorative Justice with the following objectives:
  • To learn skills to strengthen relationships and respond to conflict in classrooms and in our school
  • Practice how to provide direct feedback and how to ask questions that foster accountability
  • To learn how to facilitate restorative circles
• Offered a building-wide Equity PLC (Action Research) with the following objectives:
  • Evaluate personal prejudices and biases
  • Reflect on personal practices inside and outside the classroom
  • Engage in collaborative work to challenge and dismantle systemic inequities in our school
• Staff book study using the book, Is Everyone Really Equal?
• During both lunches we have developed a "Lunch Bunch" which provides an inclusive alternative lunch setting for students struggling with friendships and social/emotional challenges. These lunches are hosted by our LAP/Sped teacher.
• Through our Peer Mentor program, students are trained to appreciate one's similarities and differences. This model, which trains over 120 students, focuses on compassion and inclusion.
• All 6th grade students have one semester of health/technolgy. In this class students study the health pyramid which focuses on body image, advertising biases, and character development.
• WMS counselors attended the Hazelden Lifelines Intervention training which focused on working with students and families struggling with suicide, depression, and anxiety.
• WMS counselors continue to support and reinforce social-emotional learning and building ? through conflict resolution, peer mediation, teaching of coping mechanisms and self management, and resiliency.
• This year we have started a weekly advisory class with guided lessons on safety, social-emotional learning, and respect and awareness of others.
• Administration met with all 6th grade classes to discuss expectations including behavior and kindness.
• Initiate a positive referral recognition plan which encourages staff to acknowledge positive student actions.
• Administration and office staff will monitor and facilitate interventions based on individual attendance and behavior data.
• All incoming students are pretaught positive behavior expectations, manners, and respectful interactions with others through student-made videos and pre-teaching exercises.
• Leadership Class has adopted Houson Kraft and John Norlin 's Character Strong Curriculum which integrates specific skills toward building relationships, practicing kindness, and cultivating positive school culture. 

• MAP data for math and ELA
• SBA data for math and ELA
• WCAS for science (8th)

Using data from the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test, 100% of all WMS will achieve their growth goals in math and ELA  from spring 2019 to spring 2020.
All students will increase 1 level on a standards based scale by the end of April, 2020, on the CER (Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning) rubric. 

Students will practice growth mindset when encountering setbacks or difficult new material, and will develop a bank of strategies for processing & utilizing setbacks to initiate future growth.

Social Studies- 

• Allow alternative forms of assessment. Students can explore their passions while demonstrating learning.  
• Classroom discussions and activities promoting student curiosity and opportunities for action.
• Assessments and assignments that may be redone to allow more time to demonstrate learning.
• View CNN weekly to broaden perspectives on global/local community service issues.

Math-

• Metacognitive practices
• Facilitate conversations around real-world situations to encourage deep thinking that will empower students to make a change in their world. 
• Problem-solve using both creative and critical thinking skills.
• Connecting mathematics with writing
• Articulating how seemly different strategies have the same underlying structure

Music-

• Students will have opportunities to participate in music at a variety of levels and in a variety of settings via rehearsal, evening concerts, school assemblies, and performance for adjudicators.
• Students will share their musical skills with peers,family, and community members, and demonstrate leadership via service inside and outside their ensemble.
• Students are encouraged to seek out musicians of varied skill and age levels through live concerts by local high school ensembles, amateur and professional community ensembles, as well as online performances.  Taking in these performances enriches the students’ own performances and informs them of future possibilities.

Science-

• We will work extensively with the NGSS crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices that address 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, 2.7.
• We will start the year off emphasizing the classroom community and strategies for working effectively in groups.
• We will train students with turn and talk and think-pair-share to take on both roles as listeners and talkers.
• We will create an independent workspace in the classroom for students that need behavior check ins.
• We will do an "About me" concept map activity for students to share their interests and identities.
• We offer an engineering unit in which students use scientific and creative thinking to solve a design problem. 
• Students frequently work in lab groups to solve STEM problems in our classes.
• We offer field trips that teach students about science careers, conservation and sustainability issues in our community.

ELA -

•  Regular, frequent, individual student feedback conferences (peer-peer and teacher-peer)
• Small-group instruction and pre-teaching on areas identified as needing improvement (incorporating evidence, understanding theme, using appropriate grammar, and analyzing connotation/denotation) 
• Goal setting with students
• Student autonomy and responsibility of tracking their individual progress
• Pre assessment, teach, reteach, post assessments
• Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
• Make an inference or draw a conclusion about a text OR make inferences or draw conclusions in order to compare texts (e.g., dialogue, plot, character development, points of view, themes) and use supporting evidence as justification/explanation.  

• WMS student bullying survey
• WMS student connectedness survey
• Athletic/Intramural participation rate
• Healthy Youth Survey (Hope Scale) 

Using data from the Healthy Youth Survey, a higher percentage of eighth grade students will report feeling "Moderately or Highly Hopeful", moving from 85% to 90%. (Spring of 2019 to 2020.) 

• 6th grade ELA teachers (special education and general education) will use Sarah Ahmed's Being the Change as a resource to discuss and develop lessons and formative assessments to guide instruction. Students will learn what identity is and why it is important. They will also learn bias, microaggressions , and how to move beyond initial thinking and broaden ideas about responsibility as well as study intent versus impact.
• Initiate the following strategies in 6th grade math:
  • Creating a “take care of me” list to build community
  • Helping students to respect partner preferences for working together or personal think time
  • Building protocols for listening thoughtfully to what makes sense to someone else without judgement
  • Communication strategies for listen to understand instead of listening to respond
• Students and staff will be encouraged to create a broad spectrum of clubs to increase a sense of community and belonging with our students. We currently offer the following clubs: 
  • Magic the Gathering Club
  • Dungeon and Dragon's Club
  • Ukulele Club
  • Robotics Club
  • CTE Club
  • WHAM Book Club - (Winners, Honorables , And Mentionables )
  • Empower Book Club - (For students of color)
  • Spectrum Club - (LGBTQ +)
  • Math Club
  • Math Olympiad
• Increase purposeful connection between after-school coaching staff and students.
• All students are required to participate in PE and health unless otherwise waived through an approval process.
• Through our video-production class, student create videos showcasing students' strengths and interests.
• Access Emergency Principal's Checkbook Fund to support families and students.
• All students will receive training on cyberbullying and sexting.
• Students have the opportunity to participate in open gym every day at lunch and before school.
• Unified basketball and soccer games that welcome and celebrate all students.
• Weekly advisory classes allow teachers and students, many who they do not have in class, an opportunity to connect and build relationships
• Teacher-Librarian will work to integrate technology throughout the curriculum, and teach Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety lessons to all students including:
  • Finding a healthy media balance
  • Being safe online
  • The power of digital footprints
  • Protecting your privacy and security
  • Taking action against cyberbullying
  • Being digital creators and consumers of the Internet 

• Rate of student participation in athletics
• Rate of student participation in clubs and other non-academic after school opportunities
• Rate of student participation in music
• Rate of student participation in CTE classes 

By June 2020, 85% of WMS students will have participated in at least one extracurricular activity during the academic year as measured by a student survey. This will include music, athletics, clubs, theater, CTE (robotics competition, STEAM Night), ASB, etc. 

Math:

• Use reflections from students and read one aloud every day to help make an environment where mistakes are expected, accepted, and celebrated.
• Examine our Math grading practices to focus on teacher feedback to improve learning. 
• Use real-world math related to civic responsibility (climate change, plastic use) to establish responsive citizens. 
• Connect mathematical understandings to the work done in ELA classes that highlight the actions we feel compelled to take based on what we learn. 

7th/8th Wellness-

• Students have many opportunities for choice project topics within our units, many of which are new to them, or touch on "taboo" or less-talked about topics. Mental health is an example of this. Students are at peak engagement when they are researching about mental health and sharing their learning, building empathy with their peers. 
• Growth mindset and goal setting

8th ELA -

• Students are exposed to an emphasis on growth and feedback and "everyone has something they can improve on." They experience a rigorous editing and reflection feedback cycle which involves their own feedback reflection, peer feedback, and teacher feedback.
• As part of the argument unit this year, students will focus on a local (WA) issue. They will form an opinion backed by evidence and then interview a community partner on that issue. They will share their findings and interviews (ultimately, their final argument paper) with their peers in the form of a podcast. 
• Digital and traditional art are welcome and encouraged when appropriate to enhance ELA  work (example: students could create a graphic novel of their Hero's Journey narrative instead of writing it all in the traditional manner).
• Students will broaden their perspectives and seek out various opportunities to explore new ideas, particularly those areas that are unfamiliar or uncomfortable to find their interests.

Also -

• WHAM Digital Book Club beneficially serves students in ways that mirror the adult world.  Discussing elements of literature broadens students’ interpretative skills, causing them to defend their own beliefs, incorporate others’, and find acceptance within the differing of perspectives.  Ideally, the book club can bridge the gap between group responsibility and shared pleasurable pursuits, giving students a sense that neither are mutually exclusive. 
• CTE  Club affords students opportunities to develop technology skills outside the confines of the traditional classroom.  Because of the collaborative nature of the club, advanced students work as peer mentors while developing their leadership skills.  New members are able to connect with current members to collaborate, sharing creative ideas even if they aren’t up to speed on the technology.  This allows them to make connections with like-minded students while accelerating their learning.  Eventually, they are able to take on leadership and peer mentorship roles.
• WHAM Digital Book Club provides a platform for discussion which allows students to develop the empathy and sense of awareness they need to have the ability to consider different ideas and perspectives. A central goal of WHAM is to create an environment in which students gather to interpret literature as it relates to their lives and intellectual development, helping them to achieve 
• Athletics allow students to try a sport that may be new to them.  Students also gain new friendships and the opportunity to connect with additional adults at the school.  Athletics can motivate students and engage them in their academics, as coaches check in with their athletes to ensure that  students are getting the job done in the classroom.
• As a science department we expose the students to outside science experiences such as experiential field trips to the Wet Science Center and LOTT, Puget Sound Estuarium , Pacific Shellfish Institute, and C.L.A.M.S.S. We also present enrichment opportunities such as Expanding Your Horizons, summer science camps, and regional science fairs.  These offer students the opportunity to discover new careers and interests. 
• Students will learn how to give and use feedback  to increase subsequent learning.  Students will use self, peer, and teacher feedback to revise and strengthen writing.
• Students can expect teachers to give consistent feedback on assessments, both formal and informal, and they will play a pivotal role in their learning through participating in self-evaluation, correction, and reflection.
• Students are encouraged to reflect on their setbacks and disappointments and be able to move forward to challenge themselves 
• (CTE Club) Students can constructively critique others projects in a safe environment to support technology skills development.  Failure can be an important component to product development.
• As a science department we offer the students the opportunity to retake assessments in order to meet standard.  This allows for them to experience this important part of learning while giving them the ability to show their improvement.  
• Students will have the opportunity to engage in a quarterly social studies homework experiences in which they provide community service of their choosing and reflect upon it. Post experience classroom discussion will focus on what it means to contribute to society and strengthen and broaden our understanding of civics.
• Students in technology classes develop communication skills working with adults in designer/client relationships in development of media.  They provide a valuable service to community members by producing desired products on demand.Students gain a sense of accomplishment in tangible ways that mirror real world product development.  They develop skills that support creative methods of presentation in other classes.  Additionally, they expand their technology skills, opening them to areas of future learning, career pursuit, and self-fulfilling creative outlets.
• Pursue creative and artistic opportunities as a vocation and/or a form of lifelong enrichment.
• Students show their creativity through engineering projects, building sustainable Tiny Home models and designing a drainage solution to our WMS  “soggy” soccer field, in science classes. 
• Ukulele club allows students to learn to play the ukulele and read and play song chords. This gives students confidence in their ability to learn new skills and gives them a lifelong creative outlet. 
• Students will have the opportunity to choose a recipe of their choice and create it in health class.