Brooklyn+2017+Vision+Project+Group+1

Group 1: Lisette Ramos, Mauricia Cassanova-Spencer, Sean Pawelec Anthony (Tony) Hudson As you approach Perfect High School you are not stunned by its’ beauty or its’ size. Perfect High School is a unassuming building that blends in perfectly with its’ surroundings. Perfect is located on the edges of New York City and sits next to a public park where its’ walls appear to be growing from the trees that stand in the park. As you walk toward the entrance of the school you notice the intricate stonework, the solar panels that provide power, and the large reclaimed wood doors that are always propped open. Once through the doors you enter the atrium that feels more like a city green space than a school lobby with gardens, benches, and picnic tables. There are students collaborating with each other and staff members, other community members are working in the vegetable garden, and a english class is sitting on the benches analyzing student work. There is an area where each content area including electives can display student work and all of the furnishings have been created in trades class. Also music softly plays in the atrium, all of these songs were created in music production class. You look up and realize all of the classrooms and offices are positioned above the atrium and each room uniquely looks down on the atrium. A exposed staircase climbs one of the atrium walls and leads to the classrooms and offices. There are 6 floors one for each grade 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grades, one for electives music/music production, trades, business, culinary and athletics, and one for collaboration. The first floor is where the 9th grade is located, each classroom has a large window overlooking the atrium and the walkway that serves as the 9th grade hallway. The 9th grade classrooms are separated traditionally into content areas. There is a science, english, history, math, software engineering, and college and career readiness class. There is also a collaboration space where all classes, staff members, and students can come together. The 2nd floor is where the 10th grade is located, the 3rd floor is where the 11th grade is located, and the 4th floor is where the 12 grade is located. These floors are replicas of the 9th grade floor the only difference is the content area level in the developed sequence and the collaboration space is uniquely designed for each grade. Collaboration is a hallmark of the school and these spaces allow students, parents, and, staff members to work together seamlessly. All content classrooms are designed to facilitate student centered learning. Each classroom is broken into three sections, gathering, processing, and application. The gathering section is where the introduction of a lesson may occur and direct instruction may be seen. The processing section is where students may practice what was taught to them and engage with other students to identify common misconceptions. The application section of the classroom is where the students can put what they have learned into action. Each section of each classroom throughout the school has seating options in order to cater to all learning styles. Students have the option to stand at a podium like desk, or sit at a table, or sit on a comfortable place on the floor. There is even a place in each processing section for students to walk back and forth while thinking to help the students absorb, process, and retain the lesson. Our responsive high school utilizes a team teaching approach to implement the core curriculum. A typical team might include four core subject teachers and 100 students. The teachers have a common planning time and are given sufficient time to collaborate, share insights on how best to meet the academic needs of their students. This approach is effective because teachers are able to plan collaboratively, using an interdisciplinary approach creating integrated activities that cross content barriers. It utilizes their common planning time to discuss as a team how to make students experience in the school setting most meaningful to their students lives, what specific responsibilities each teacher has on a daily basis, which students need special attention and how students will be grouped for instruction. The cluster concept is perhaps the most important way to create an environment which represents a comfortable transition into college. Clusters create small communities of learning, breaking down the school into supportive units. Effective high schools utilize a variety of instructional formats that are developmentally appropriate for young adolescents. The teachers working in interdisciplinary teams collaborate across subject areas and implement lessons that employ a variety of strategies, including school inquiry, theme based, group work, hands on and multiple modes of instruction within a class period. They pay particular attention to learning modalities (visual, auditory, Kinesthetic, tactile) the input channels through which students prefer to receive sensory input or the preferred way of learning. Effective high school teachers are aware that modality integration, using several modalities at once or in turns contributes to greater student achievement rather than reliance on one modality. The school’s team of teachers are also aware that generally students prefer and learn best by touching objects, by interacting with each other rather than by listening which can be quite difficult for many students. We provide learning experiences that engage their students creating exploratory opportunities that expose students to a variety of experiences that aid in their discovery of areas of interest for further investigation. When students are given opportunities to discover and explore topics of their own choosing it can lead to increased interest in life and school. The school exposes students to a range of academic, vocational and recreational activities and possible career options for investigation. The team would provide opportunities for students to engage in civic activities to develop citizenship skill and to become engaged in their communities. All of these activities are constructively designed to respond and build on the inherent curiosity of young adolescents.
 * Perfect High School **
 * __Physical Structure__ **
 * __Instruction/ Curriculum__ **

Merely having a desire to support the academic, career and personal development of students is not enough to help students to succeed. These desires and intentions must be implemented into actions plans that will reach each student in order to ensure their success.The teachers and support staff work collaboratively to enhance and improve the learning of our students for full success. Each week teams of teachers meet to plan and discuss student performance. When we recognize that an area is not being grasped base on the data from classes, then there is a plan directed by the teachers counteract the issues. Data focuses and gives direction based on identified student needs as determined through the review of school data gathered from multiple sources such as (academic and behavior profiles, survey of teachers, and parents. Without the presents of these data the goals and activities may not address the needs of the students for their academic success. Our school counselor works with parents, teachers, administrators and other stakeholders to promote equity and access for all students. These are done through professional development, referral, consultation, collaboration or teaming. Our school makes use of an advisory council as representatives of the stakeholder group (parents, teachers, students, pupil personnel, administrators, school district and community agencies) with the purpose of reviewing and to give advice on the Perfect High School in relation to the program goals, competencies, results, and improvements. It also provides critical support in advocating and engaging in public relations for funding and resources for our school. As you can see our parents play a major role in our school community. Being that one of our academic area is business school we have forged a close relationship with the businesses of the community. One requirement of the program is for students to complete some form of internship prior to graduation, thus improving the college-career readiness. Important to note is the wide variety of options students have to be involved extra curricular activities, some academic, social and Service-learning oriented.
 * __Stakeholder Involvement__ **

As you have a dialogue with anyone of our stakeholders they would express that one of our greatest assets is the diversity that is celebrated and embraced within our school community. Each year, during the month of October, parents and staff organize our Potluck event. All parents participate by bringing in a cultural dish and some parents dress in their cultural outfits. All stakeholders’ participation and attendance at this event has built a strong sense of a family oriented community. The parent coordinator and administration hold monthly meetings with parents to plan monthly calendar and review data to assure that the the staff and students are on track with fulfilling the school’s vision. Our iMentor and College Bound Initiative partners organize monthly meetings between our students and their mentors to discuss where they are in the college application process and assist in any personal challenges they may be experiencing with meeting the school’s vision at the time. The school’s recruitment team hold open houses and present powerpoint presentations that describe the school’s vision and mission to prospective students and families. All incoming freshman are given backpacks with the school’s name and vision printed on it. The vision and mission statement is posted up in every classroom. The internship coordinator sends out pamphlets with the school’s vision to local businesses that are possible sites for our students to perform their internships.
 * __Getting Vision Out:__ **