Clarksville Academy

Clarksville Academy’s last Quality Assurance Review (QAR) was conducted during the 2000-2001 school year under a previous administrative team. The goals and recommendations from that visit are documented in the school’s accreditation archives. The school leaders in 2001-2003 and 2002-2003 did not address the goals and recommendations made by the visiting team during their tenure. Their departure was abrupt and no transition or transfer of information occurred with the new administration.

The current administrative team (Head of School, Head of Lower School, and Head of Upper School) was named for the 2003-2004 academic year. The new administrative team revisited the goals and recommendations from the visit. By the end of 2004-2005, measures had been taken to address both the goals and recommendations outlined in the report. These efforts are listed in Appendix I. The new administrative team directed additional improvements not identified or recommended by the 2000 QAR. Improvements were made and continue to be made in all areas of the school community. A listing of these improvements can be found in Appendix II.

The current administrative team selected an internal facilitator in the spring of 2005 and efforts toward developing a continuous process of school improvement began under the new SACS/CASI Next Generation Accreditation guidelines. The internal facilitator received training in the spring of 2005, and our efforts have been ongoing. As a school community we are excited about the new guidelines for a systematic and sustainable system of continuous improvement. We are anxious to document what has been done in recent years, and the efforts we are making to continually improve student learning at our school. As a result of the new administrative team placement and training, Clarksville Academy’s next QAR was postponed to allow the school time to implement the process of continuous school improvement under the new guidelines. Our External Quality Assurance Review Visit is scheduled for April of this year, 2006-2007.

Work under the new guidelines began in May of 2005. Initial surveys (NSSE) were conducted of parents, students, faculty, and staff covering virtually all aspects of our school culture. The results were analyzed and shared with the faculty, staff, and the Board of Trustees. The results of this first survey allowed us to prepare a second survey specifically addressing the mission statement and values of Clarksville Academy. The results of this survey were used to update our mission statement. Both the Board of Trustees and the faculty and staff of Clarksville Academy approved the new mission and values. The results of the initial surveys suggested several areas that we would like to improve. The faculty then voted on the areas that we should begin working on. These areas for improvement dictated our committees for the school improvement plan. All faculty members were allowed to choose a committee on which they would like to work. This work continues with 100% full-time faculty involvement. Additional surveys of parents, students, and faculty have been designed and conducted by the committees to gather information for their particular area of improvement. Since May of 2005 the faculty has continued to meet and work on our school improvement plan at every faculty meeting dedicated to professional development, and committee meetings have continued where and when needed to continue moving forward with the process.

It is important to note that because we are a small private school, many of our stakeholder groups overlap. Many of our faculty and staff are also parents and/or alumni, board members are sometimes alumni and/or parents, and our administrators also teach and have children at the school. The benefits of such a situation are obvious; it is entirely possible to involve our entire community in our school improvement efforts. Communication plays a key role in Clarksville Academy, and any and all stakeholders have access to the faculty and administration. In summary, it is an ideal situation where the needs and wants of the school community are observed, communicated, and addressed each day.

School Improvement Organization

Head of School: Kay D. Drew
Internal Facilitator: Colleen M. White
Statistical Analysis: Ginger Walker
Standardized Test Information: Jaye Johnson
Demographic/Profile Data: Linda Robinson
Committees Established (January 2006)

Writing T. Burkhart - Chair Clemments - ChairBriggs S. Smith Ponder Meek	Bullying Alsup - Chair Rufo B. Burkhart Shephard Rayca Rowlett Traughber	Survey/Data Committee Pitt Huggins
Math Walker - Chair Baggett K. Smith Alexander Hinson B. Smith Holt	Curriculum Alignment Winters - Chair J. Smith Angus Harms Crabtree Bellamy	Technology Committee Miller - Chair Truitt Hand
Drugs and Alcohol Petty - Chair K. Robinson - Chair Neitzke Bell Mazzei Baird Mayo	Library/Reading Improvement Procter	Visitation Committee Drew Hollis Goostree

All recommendations from the 2000-2001 visit were addressed and documented. Efforts were made in working towards the goals established in the 2000 School Improvement Plan. See Appendix I.

Internal Facilitator receives training in the SACS/CASI Next Generation Accreditation.

Training shared with the faculty. Faculty and staff surveys conducted (NSSE). Evidence collected from faculty ofmeeting instructional standards. Faculty input on questions they would like to ask that are not covered in the standard NSSE survey pertinent to our school and/or their subject areas.

Administrative team and staff collect evidence of meeting all other standards. Parent surveys (NSSE) sent out.

Faculty, staff, and administration compile list of school improvements made since 2003. Review of state standards for all classes and grade levels to ensure standards are being met and/or exceeded. Review of scope and sequence of topics taught by the local public school system to ensure we are offering a strong college preparatory education.

Student surveys conducted (NSSE). Additional data was collected and analyzed for the profile. Head of School and Board of Trustees develop Five-Year Strategic Plan.

Internal Facilitator Training on demonstrating compliance of standards, implementing a continuous process of school improvement, and demonstrating quality assurance.

Specific student survey conducted focusing on an area of the school environment (bullying).

Survey results from faculty, staff, parents, and students analyzed. Review of survey results. Value vote by all faculty to identify improvement areas.

Value vote results summarized. Committees established. Mission/Values survey conducted. A new Mission Statement is written and adopted by faculty and the Board of Directors. Survey results shared with the board. Areas for school improvement approved by board.

Requested extension on five-year visit due to recent training and implementation of the new accreditation guidelines. Committees met and begin the planning phase of school improvements.

Committee work continues; plans and reports documented. State criteria for Honors and AP classes reviewed. Compliance is documented.

Administrative team and staff review/update the evidence on hand of meeting all non-instructional standards. A second customized survey is sent out to parents targeting areas of our school improvement plan.

Second survey analyzed by committees. Committee work continues and is documented.

Internal Facilitator Training on upcoming changes in 2006-2007, Next Generation Accreditation, and the merger of SACS/CASI and NSSE.

Review/update the evidence on hand on meeting instructional standards. Committee work continues and is documented. Specific student survey conducted focusing on an area of the school environment (bullying).

Specific student survey conducted in school focusing on an area of school improvement (drugs/alcohol). Guided Self-Study written in preparation for the External Quality Assurance Visit in April.

Guided Self-Study shared with faculty, parents, community, and the Board of Trustees via web site and printed copies. Internal Facilitator Training on Modules I- IV and new 2007-2008 standards and SAR requirements.

Section 2

Faculty, staff, board members, and administrators began discussing, documenting, and collecting the types of evidence that show compliance with each standard and its many indicators in May of 2005. This was repeated again this past year, and will be reviewed yearly from now on. The process we have implemented to show compliance is a system of folders listing each of the indicators for each standard. In this manner we can continue to add and update the types of evidence used to support our efforts in meeting each standard. Annual review by the faculty of the instructional standards helps generate new and exciting ways to show compliance, and also helps teachers recognize how many of the classroom behaviors they exhibit tie directly to one or more of the standards. The entire faculty rotates through each folder to add to the evidence on hand. This has been especially helpful when new teachers with new, innovative teaching strategies join our faculty. We have found that this system lends itself best to the ongoing, dynamic nature of a continuous school improvement process. The material in each folder is easy to update, and we do not find ourselves attempting to recreate work/ideas already documented. The folders and their contents act as springboards to additional ideas. The pertinent stakeholders review non-instructional standards each year, which allows anyone to “pick up” where the last person left off. This also allows things to be removed from the file that are no longer valid.

Below you will find a summary of the types of evidence supporting each standard and its indicators. Complete documentation can be found in the school’s accreditation files under “Standards.”

Organizational Standards

A quality school establishes, implements, and monitors a continuous process of educational improvement clearly focused on student performance, organizational effectiveness, and capacity to support the learning process.

Clarksville Academy is just now returning to a process of continuous improvement following a change in leadership. Although newly involved in the cycle, great strides have been made in a relatively short period of time. An appointed internal facilitator received training in the process. Immediately following the training, work began on our SIP.

Surveys were collected from all stakeholders (parents, students, faculty, and staff) to begin our process. Information from those surveys, a faculty questionnaire, and input from our Board of Trustees was analyzed and used to help create the new vision (Clarksville Academy’s Mission Statement), an updated profile, and Clarksville Academy’s Five Year Strategic Plan.

Our entire faculty is involved in the ongoing process, with each full time teacher working on a particular committee for improvement. Each committee consists of faculty from all grade levels, ensuring effective collaboration. Our last Quality Assurance Review (QAR) was in 2000, with our next QAR scheduled for April of 2007. All previously identified areas of noncompliance with standards have been corrected and cleared. All recommendations from the 2000 QAR have been addressed.

A quality school collaboratively develops and communicates a vision, beliefs, and a mission statement that provides focus for the quality of the work of the students and the quality of the work of the school.

Clarksville Academy’s vision statement was recently revised based on new data and information. This new vision was the starting point for our school improvement plan. Since its adoption, it has been placed on our weekly electronic newsletter, our web site, and on public relations materials (packets, advertisement, etc.). A copy is also posted in every classroom, and larger versions of it are posted throughout the building. Our vision and mission statement will be reviewed every five years or sooner, if needed. Within the school, the mission statement guides our faculty and staff. They continue to research and implement strategies that will help us reach our vision. Although all our improvement efforts are directed towards accomplishing our mission, more work needs to be done to communicate to non-instructional stakeholders how vital the vision is and how all our actions as a school relate back to it.

A quality school provides and promotes stability in the leadership, governance, and organizational structure that include a focus on developing and maintaining a vision, an emphasis on improving student performance, and support for innovative efforts that produce desired results

The governing board for Clarksville Academy is the Board of Trustees. They act under a series of written by-laws that were adopted when the school was founded and amended over the years by majority vote. It is the Board chairman’s responsibility to conduct the orientation and training of new members.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for hiring the Head of School. As the only employee of the Board, all activities within the school itself fall under his/her authority. The smooth operation of the school is maintained by a series of written policies and procedures. Faculty and staff receive training on these policies and procedures yearly.

In recent years, much focus has been placed on the leadership and governance of the school. Clear lines of authority, expectations, and policies concerning the school’s organizational structure have been communicated and strengthened. Communication among and between all stakeholder groups is at an all-time high – significantly increasing the confidence in the school’s ability to accomplish its mission.

A quality school provides financial resources for the educational opportunities defined in the school’s mission and beliefs.

This has been an area of focus for the Head of School beginning with the 2003-2004 school year. Since then, sound budgeting and creative spending have allowed our financial resources to grow along with our enrollment. For the past two years, all requests for teaching resources have been funded, along with all textbook requests. Our existing spaces and equipment have been repaired, replaced, or improved. Extensive additions and remodeling efforts have allowed us to meet our student needs in terms of additional course offerings and more comfortable and secure spaces. New vehicles have been purchased to allow for additional routes and to accommodate our ever-growing athletic program. Having recently purchased land for our own athletic field, we are in the process of funding Phase I of the project. The school continues in its efforts to recruit and retain high quality teachers by offering more competitive salaries and benefits. These efforts to make salaries equitable will continue. The Board of Trustees has stated that the school’s finances are stronger now that at any time in the school’s history. Efforts will continue to fiscally improve and protect the school as we fulfill our mission.

A quality school provides competent and quality staff to support student performance and implement the administrative functions of the school, and is aligned with the beliefs, mission, and goals of the school.

All administrative, instructional, and support staff meet the qualification standards for their role within the school. Sufficient professional staff is hired to support our school’s mission. Our current student-professional staff ratio is 11:1.

New teacher orientation is conducted, at which time they are trained in the handbook and all applicable policies and procedures. In addition, new teachers are assigned a mentor teacher to assist them as needed.

Clarksville Academy encourages all of our teachers to continue their education, and currently over 55% hold master’s degrees or are in the process of completing a masters. Professional development is strongly encouraged and closely monitored, with most teachers far exceeding the 24 hour per year average requirement. Teachers receive notification of their professional development status each semester. The school provides at least half of the hours required through various faculty meetings and professional development days. The school also has other resources available (books, movies, etc.) for teachers to use if they so desire. The professional development opportunities are varied. Recently, the entire faculty attended the TAIS convention in Memphis. Each year the budget earmarks additional funds to be available for professional development by teacher request.

A quality school identifies and provides a network of services that promotes the health, safety, development, and well-being of each student.

The Head of School conducts an annual review of the existing support systems and services in place to ensure the well-being of each student. Adjustments are made to account for continued growth and on the evaluations and assessments of the previous school year. Input is sought from all stakeholders, particularly those directly involved with the school’s support functions. Meetings are held routinely to revisit and revise existing services and policies pertaining to those services.

As our school has grown, available counseling services have been increased to match the growth. Each year we continue to expand and upgrade the types of counseling which enhance a college preparatory school. We also provide counseling that is directed toward our students with military families.

As a result of our small size, we are able to routinely and directly intervene with “at risk” students. Teachers, administrators, coaches, and support personnel communicate regularly about students and their issues. All members of the school community are invested in helping each student. We are able to intervene on all levels, directing efforts and following up on progress. We routinely track each student’s academic and behavioral growth, as well as facilitate social structures and acceptance. Our administrators are cognizant of every student’s strengths and weaknesses from mastery of musical performances to poor vision.

The school has recently revised and implemented a comprehensive crisis plan covering all aspects of emergency and security actions. Drills are frequent and training is continuous. Our nursing and counseling staff has also continued to expand its programs and approach to facilitate overall health.

A quality school provides a comprehensive program of library/media services that is aligned with its beliefs, mission, and goals.

Clarksville Academy’s library has been recently renovated and is currently under new direction. Although our library has always been a focal point of our lower school program, our recent efforts are bringing in the older students as well. Renovations in the physical space allow for more access and varied use, while additions to both our printed materials and our on-line sources better meet the demands of our upper school program. The library staff is actively seeking ways to bring older students back to the library and a culture of reading for pleasure. Such efforts include, but are not limited to, our first Upper School Book Fair, the addition of a research center, and access to on-line sources of information.

Our lower school students attend regularly scheduled library classes one time period each week with age appropriate activities designed to complement what is being done in the classroom.

The school site, facility, and equipment are functional, safe and fully support the school’s mission.

Clarksville Academy’s facilities have undergone major renovations in recent years. Although the school has always maintained its facilities in compliance with local, state, and federal laws, our recent focus has been to upgrade the spaces available to promote academic, social, and physical growth. We needed better areas more conducive to work and improvements made to outdated facilities and equipment. For a complete listing of the improvements made in this area, see Appendix II (facilities).

A quality school has developed, implemented, and communicated an effective school-community interaction plan that fully supports the school’s mission and beliefs.

Communication is one of Clarksville Academy’s strongest assets. This communication plays a crucial role in maintaining the family type atmosphere that is a major draw for prospective families and an overwhelming strength as identified by existing stakeholders.

The administrative team and office staff has direct daily contact. Communication between administrators and their subordinates occurs almost daily with frequent memos, direct contact throughout the day, and an open-door policy. Teachers communicate directly to their head of school when needed.

The school communicates effectively the activities of the school via the Monday Messenger, our web site, and direct e-mail updates. Parents of children in grades 6-12 are kept informed of their child’s progress through an on-line grading system, mygradebook.com. This system can also be used to send text messages concerning the class schedule, reminders, etc. Several of our teachers have created their own web sites as well. Additionally, progress reports are mailed out at mid-term, and report cards are mailed out each quarter. Individual communication between teachers and parents is by telephone and/or e-mail.

Parents and students both can and do make use of our administrative open door policy. This policy has reinforced to all of our stakeholders the significance of their input in fulfilling our mission as a school. Parents are also given a handbook with the home telephone numbers of all administrators, faculty, and staff. They are encouraged to contact us at home if and when needed. Parents can also access the web site and e-mail members of our school community from there as well.

A quality school offers a curriculum based on research and employs instructional strategies and activities based on clearly defined expectations for student performance that is subject to review and revision at regular intervals.

We are a college preparatory school and our curriculum provides the basis for that by offering an expanse of classes to include a number of electives and AP classes. Our graduation requirements ensure that all students have met the requirements for the college of their choice. Curriculum alignment is continuous and ongoing. A weakness in this area was identified last year so committees have been established to better articulate our alignment efforts. Regular meetings are held to ensure grade-level alignment and content alignment. Our school is small enough that all content and grade-level teachers have regular, daily contact with one another. They use this opportunity to continually discuss expectations and alignment…who is doing what and when. Both our technology and library staffs work to continuously ensure their efforts reinforce those of the classroom teacher and curriculum. Although much progress has been made, efforts should continue in the area of curriculum alignment with the goal of producing a school-wide published alignment tool.

Teachers employ instructional strategies that have been shown through research and/or observation to work in their various content areas. Strategies are varied and include modeling, hands-on learning, cooperative learning, peer instruction, lecture, dialogue, discovery processes, and critical thinking.

Our curriculum promotes the active involvement of students in many ways. Projects, labs, performances, competitions, and journals are opportunities given that allow students to explore ideas and interests outside of the classroom instruction. These methods also allow for students to excel in ways that they might not on standard-type assessments. Critical thinking is included on virtually all standard evaluations in the classroom, forcing students to go beyond knowledge retention to application.

Our school provides for physical education for grades K-9. All students in these grades are engaged in some form of physical activity daily. Efforts are ongoing to improve the Physical Education curriculum to reflect the skills and knowledge we feel are needed to develop the whole child.

Our school curriculum offers opportunities to explore and excel in all major content areas. Despite our relatively small size, we have maintained an active and competitive athletic program, a comprehensive visual arts program that includes sculpture, computer design, ceramics, printmaking, and photography, performance choirs (all levels), and have this year begun an instrumental music program at Clarksville Academy. Our school offers advanced programs of study in science, math, English, and history for those that elect to take them. The school competes regularly in all academic areas with a high degree of success.

A quality school promotes the development of decision-making skills, ethical and lawful conduct, and responsible citizenship.

Clarksville Academy’s mission is to promote academic excellence, moral integrity, and physical and social growth. Three of our five core values are honor, character, and respect. We believe very strongly in these aspects of our mission and feel that recently the areas outside of academic excellence have grown in importance to our families. We prioritize participation in campus tours with prospective parents so that we can hear the spontaneous analysis of our school. This feedback has assisted us with identifying strengths and areas from improvement.

We offer many ways in which to educate students on character issues relating to personal growth. There are several extra curricular activities that promote leadership and character value (scouting groups, service groups, student body government, FCA). Students regularly travel outside of the school, offering opportunities for leadership, responsibility, and social growth. In addition, these positive character attributes are stressed every day in regular classroom instruction, are modeled by professional, ethical faculty, and are reinforced by a comprehensive system of accountability for each age group.

Student accomplishments are routinely recognized through the newsletter, web site, classroom letters, and in the morning announcements. Recognition may be for academic achievement, achievement in the fine arts (school, local, and national competitions and performances), leadership (participation on leadership/government conventions and programs), and service.

Expectations of student conduct are clearly communicated and consistently enforced at all grade levels. The students are held accountable for their actions, and consequences are tiered in order to reach our goal of improved behavior. Students not meeting the honorable expectations of the National Honor Societies are placed on probation or removed from said societies. Membership in such organizations is reviewed yearly.

We are very proud of the environment that exists at Clarksville Academy due to our ongoing efforts to improve citizenship and conduct. The administration adheres to a strict policy of not considering for admission any student that has been expelled or dismissed from another school. A year long wait is enforced, along with evidence supporting good conduct, before a student is considered for enrollment. Our demerit system is current and effective in placing students on behavioral probation possibly leading to dismissal, further strengthening our commitment to a quality environment where strength of character is as important, if not more so, than strength of intellect.

A quality school uses effective performance management systems for assessing, aligning, and improving student performance and school operation, including organizational and instructional effectiveness.

The school’s profile (updated in 2006) will be used more effectively as it is revised yearly and better reflects the aspects of our school that we wish to monitor. It currently reflects not only our demographics and tests results, but our stakeholder input as well. As the basis for each year’s school improvement efforts, its role in our performance management efforts is vital. We will continue to update and communicate our profile on a yearly basis via our web site beginning this summer.

Our students are routinely assessed here at Clarksville Academy. Along with classroom assessment by grade level or content area, there are several standardized tests in place to monitor student achievement. Yearly tests include the CTP4 (grades 2-8), the EXPLORE (grade 9), the PLAN (grade 10), the PSAT (grade 10 and 11), as well as the ACT and SAT.

Individual student performance is constantly communicated through teacher generated sources (progress reports, report cards, on-line grading system, telephone calls, and e-mails). The expectations for student learning are clearly defined and reinforced by each member of the faculty. Indicators for achievement begin with the teacher’s evaluation/assessment tool and are content and performance based, relying on state standards, college expectations, content mastery, transitional goals, and standardized test standards. In upper school (6-12) there exists a uniform system of grade assessment (50% tests, 30% quizzes, and 20% homework). Teachers routinely check for reliability and validity in their assessment tools and change them if/when needed.

Section 3

Clarksville Academy is and will continue to follow the continuous school improvement process as outlined by NSSE’s Breakthrough School Improvement. It is our goal to have all major components of the school’s improvement plan on-line as of the summer of 2007. Yearly updates will then be made to reflect the ongoing changes made as the process yields results.

I. Vision

The mission, vision, and values represent where we want to be; what we expect from student learning. These were revised in February of 2006 to better reflect our purpose as described by stakeholder surveys. Along with our Five Year Strategic Plan, these will be reviewed every five years (2011).

Our Mission: To promote academic excellence, moral integrity, and physical and social growth.

Our Vision: To assist students in achieving their potential. Identifying student strengths and interests, and ensuring student success in college and beyond.

The last comprehensive profile was completed in 2000. This was revised in the fall of 2005 and updated again in the fall of 2006. This will be updated on a yearly basis from this point. It is our hope to maintain this document as a living one. Next year it is our goal to reformat the document and utilize it as a marketing tool. The current SACS/CASI Next Generation Guidelines are more flexible for our use, allowing us to add information important to our school (i.e. at what grade level do we see the highest student enrollment) and to remove information that at one time was considered necessary to include in a school profile but did not pertain to our mission as a private college preparatory school (i.e. attendance data). This freedom to include information helpful to our school and its mission means that our profile will be in a constant state of flux for the next few years as we continue to add new types of information that will help us better meet the mission of our school.

In addition to the basic demographic data and standardized test data (CTP4, PLAN, EXPLORE, PSAT, etc.), our profile includes information from stakeholder surveys. These surveys were instrumental in helping us determine our improvement efforts. Although the majority of the questions had over a 95% approval response, anything less than 90% was considered “unfavorable.” A list was compiled of the highest unfavorable responses from all of the surveys combined (upper school parents, upper school students, lower school parents, lower school students, faculty, and staff). A total of ten areas were selected that either showed an unfavorable response of more than 10% or had been identified as needing improvement based on recent data available to us as a school. The faculty then met and voted on which five of these areas we would begin with. The results of the vote indicated the following areas/goals on which to focus our efforts: to better align the total school curriculum, to improve writing skills, to improve math skills, to improve the school environment as it pertains to drug and alcohol use/perception, and education, and to improve the school environment as it pertains to student social comfort (education, identification, and consequences for bullying behaviors). Committees were established in February of 2006 for each of these five areas. In addition, we also established specialized committees to address the ever-increasing needs of technology and media in schools. The complete profile is available in the school’s accreditation files under “Profile.” General surveys (NSSE) will be conducted on a three-year cycle. Other, specialized surveys will be written and conducted as needed to determine effectiveness of our efforts or to gather data needed to determine a course of action.

Clarksville Academy now has an ongoing school improvement plan that is well documented and easy to “step in and out” of. Each part of the school improvement plan (Vision, Profile, Plan, Results) has an accompanying folder that lists when and how each step has been completed and will be updated. Each individual area in the plan, as identified for improvement by the profile, also has its own folder documenting the ongoing work done by each committee. In this way the work remains dynamic, not fixed to the production of one document at one point in time. Each folder for each area has its own timeline, plans, and desired results. Each will obtain results in different ways and from different sources. Complete documentation for each area of improvement can be found in the school’s accreditation files filed by committee under “Plan.” The overall timeline for the school’s improvement plan is listed on the following page.

As a result of recently beginning a new school improvement cycle after being “out of cycle” for several years, our results are best categorized by dividing our efforts and results into three categories: 1) efforts and results from the 2000 Quality Assurance Review, 2) efforts and results undertaken outside of a formal review process, and 3) results from our current improvement plan.

Please refer to Appendixes I, II, and III and the “Results” portion of Section 4.

May-August 2007 Post the SIP on the school’s web site. Consider recommendations from the QAR. Begin planning to incorporate recommendations into the school improvement plan. Begin revising SIP to reflect new 2007-2008 standards.

September-October 2008 Major survey of all stakeholders. Update school improvement plan based on results.

November-December 2011 Review/update Five Year Strategic Plan. Review/update Mission, Goals, and Values.

An internal facilitator was selected and began training in the new process in the spring of 2005. Training has continued and our now highly qualified internal facilitator ensures that the school improvement process continues to move forward. Appropriate time and resources are allocated for school improvement. Overall timelines have been established to review, analyze, and update the major school improvement components identified in February of 2006. Periodic reports and projected time-lines are required from the various committees involved. All stakeholders involved in the process are accountable to the internal facilitator.

Communication efforts began in May of 2005 when we entered into our current school improvement cycle. Stakeholders were informed by letter as we began collecting data on surveys for use in focusing our efforts. Faculty and staff have been continually involved in the process and are actively working on an area of school improvement. Communication with them has been through memos and faculty meetings. As updates and changes have occurred (adoption of new mission, strategic plan, etc.) these have been communicated via electronic newsletter and the web site. This completed Guided Self Study will be posted on our web site and made available in hard copy to board members, faculty and staff, and by request of parents. The entire school improvement plan will be posted on our web site this summer, with yearly scheduled updates and revisions planned.

The Head of School, in conjunction with the Heads of School (Lower, Intermediate, and Upper), and the various directors (admissions, library, technology, and facilities) meet each summer and throughout the year when needed to address the issues of organization and allocation of resources. All aspects of the school’s operation and personnel are regularly discussed. Based on each individual’s area evaluations, changes are recommended and/or made by the Head of School.

School Improvement Organization

Bullying Alsup - Chair Rufo B. Burkhart Shephard Rayca Rowlett Traughber

Survey/Data Committee Pitt Huggins

Math Walker - Chair Baggett K. Smith Alexander Hinson B. Smith Holt

Curriculum Alignment Winters - Chair J. Smith Angus Harms Crabtree Bellamy

Technology Committee Miller - Chair Truitt Hand

Drugs and Alcohol Petty - Chair K. Robinson - Chair Neitzke Bell Mazzei Baird Mayo

Library/Reading Improvement Procter

Visitation Committee Drew Hollis Goostree

Section 2

Organizational Standards

Section 3

I. Vision

Bullying
Alsup - Chair
Rufo
B. Burkhart
Shephard
Rayca
Rowlett
Traughber

Survey/Data Committee
Pitt
Huggins

Math
Walker - Chair
Baggett
K. Smith
Alexander
Hinson
B. Smith
Holt

Curriculum Alignment
Winters - Chair
J. Smith
Angus
Harms
Crabtree
Bellamy

Technology Committee
Miller - Chair
Truitt
Hand

Drugs and Alcohol
Petty - Chair
K. Robinson - Chair
Neitzke
Bell
Mazzei
Baird
Mayo

Library/Reading Improvement
Procter

Visitation Committee
Drew
Hollis
Goostree