Woodley Hills Elementary and
West Potomac High School
Building high performing
schools of character
Presented by
Rima Vesilind, Principal
Locked out of Success
•Woodley Hills Elementary
School
(transition 1998-2001)
•West Potomac High School
(transition 2004-present)
Where Are We?
• Northern Virginia, just south of Alexandria in
Fairfax County.
•Located between Route 1 and the Potomac
River – between the Pentagon and Mt. Vernon.
•South of the beltway that circles Washington,
D.C.
•Our neighboring school is T.C.Williams, made
famous by the movie Remember the Titans.
Two schools in crisis -This is what we saw in each
•Angry staff/community members
•Disrespectful school climate
•Many discipline problems
•Apathy/Tardiness/Truancy
•Low test scores
•Staff/administration turnover
•Lack of trust
•Lack of community involvement
Steps of change
•
•
•
Assess the instructional program – Pull from
the top and push from the bottom to raise
the achievement bar.
Staff the most difficult children – No child
wants to be a failure. What can you do to
give each child success and a sense of
responsibility?
Build trust in the nay-sayers – Every
building has resistant staff and parents.
Don’t take it personally – Work to help them
make change – Highlight successes
Working with Staff
•
•
•
Focus on the children – Continually remind
teachers they’re teaching children, not just
the way to read and add, but the way to live
and be successful.
Help staff understand the Kohlberg steps to
an ethical foundation and work with their
students as complete people.
Roll up your sleeves and work with them –
Get to know them – Develop understanding
of the school and the community – Keep
your door and your mind open for good
ideas….
Woodley Hills Elementary
Math
and Science
Focus School
Rima Vesilind, Principal 1998-2003
Sharon Aldredge, Principal 2003-present
50
40
30
20
10
white
black
Hispanic
Asian
Other
0
• 77% of Woodley Hills students come from
minority backgrounds.
• We have a 20% mobility rate.
• Students come from more than 40 different
countries and speak more than 20 languages.
•61% qualify for free/reduced meals
•41% are LEP (language minority) students.
Community town meetings
empowered our community to
get involved.
Woodley Hills – A National
School of Character
High School or Elementary?
• High Schools need more than character
education alone
– Achievement
– Appreciation as young adults
– Responsibility
• High school students have to have
meaningful involvement.
• High School teachers have to realize that
they are teaching students, not subjects
• Citizenship training
West Potomac High School
Who Are We?
• Approximately 3,000 students and 250
staff members who come to West
Potomac daily. 2100 local students.
•We have two magnet programs in our
school – the Academy (500 students)
and Pulley (90 students).
•More than 300 courses are offered,
including 23 AP courses.
•90% Graduation rate – 92% of those
students pursue postsecondary
education.
We are Diverse in every way.
•Culture
•Religion
•Language
•Ability
•Special Needs
•Socio-economic status
•Urban/suburban
50
40
30
20
10
white
black
Hispanic
Asian
Multiracial
Am Indian
0
• 56% of West Potomac students come from
minority backgrounds.
• We have a 31% mobility rate.
• Our students come from more than 60 different
countries and speak more than 40 languages.
•35% qualify for free/reduced meals
•196 students are full-time participants in the
program for English Speakers of Other Languages
(ESOL)
What do we want our School
to be like?
•
•
•
•
•
Responsible, Respectful, Caring
High academic achievement
Appreciative of differences.
Few discipline problems
Cohesive, supportive learning
community
• Community welcomed and involved
• Attractive facilities
West Potomac High School
Responsibility
On-Time
Achievement
Respect
We have a responsibility to be on time and
prepared, to achieve at a high level and to be
respectful of all.
How could we change the climate?
• Empower teachers and staff –
FAC/LT/ROAR/PELCs
• Establish ROAR/Character Education
Committee - Responsibility, On-Time,
Achievement and Respect.
• Building meaningful relationships
between students and faculty.
• Implement Professional Ethical
Learning Communities
• Develop school service learning
CONTINUUM OF
SCHOOL-WIDE
INSTRUCTIONAL &
POSITIVE BEHAVIOR
SUPPORT
~5%
~15%
Primary Prevention:
School-/ClassroomWide Systems for
All Students,
Staff, & Settings
~80% of Students
Tertiary Prevention:
Specialized
Individualized
Systems for Students
with High-Risk Behavior
Secondary Prevention:
Specialized Group
Systems for Students
with At-Risk Behavior
A Comparison (PBS Data)…
2500
2386
2172
2000
1651
1500
1136
987
1000
500
541
275 296
183 141
0
Suspensions
Official Referrals
2003-2004
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
West Potomac’s
Service Learning Project:
A change of culture and
opportunities for growth
Community Service vs Service Learning
Community Service is:
• Unpaid labor benefiting organizations in the
community.
• A variety of work and services that target a
need.
Service-learning is a teaching and learning
strategy that integrates :
• Meaningful community service with
instruction in civic responsibility
• Reflection to enrich the learning
experience
• Students growing personally and as leaders
Both strengthen communities
Service Learning and Community Service
Differences
•
Service Learning differs from
community service in so many ways:
1. Service learning maintains education as
its primary focus and is integrated into a
curriculum.
2. Students individually research and choose
on what they wish to actively work.
3. Service learning facilitates higher-ordered
thinking – “How am I making an impact in
my community?”
The Senior Project: Overview
• Our service learning project is a yearlong service learning experience.
• Students engage in meaningful school
and community-based problem-solving
activities.
• It is integrated into government classes
and makes that curriculum more real
and relevant by linking learning in the
classroom and activity in the
community.
Goals of the Senior Project
•
•
•
•
To help students identify and study a
social, political or governmental issue
that interests them.
To develop students’ individual
research and communication skills.
To integrate classroom and real-world
experiences for students, forming
democratic citizenship and the habits
of civic engagement.
To contribute to the well-being of the
West Potomac community at large.
Components of the project
• Researching a social/political/government
issue.
• Writing a research paper on the topic.
• Performing 30 hours of service in relation
to the students chosen topic.
• Reflecting on student experience through
three journal entries and a culminating
presentation of research and experience.
Essential Elements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Planning
Collaboration
Communication
Community Involvement
Vertical Articulation
Horizontal Articulation
Site Level Opportunities
Examples of essential elements in
our service learning project
• Planning during our PELCs and
assessing progress of the project.
• Working within our curriculum team
to create all the components of the
project.
• Working with other departments to
collaborate on assignments and get
professional feedback.
More examples of essential elements in
our service learning project
• Keeping all members of the WPHS staff
informed on what the project is about and
what is currently going on.
• Working with local organizations to develop
codependent relationships.
• Developing programs with middle and
elementary schools in our area.
• Providing opportunities for students at WPHS
to work with various student groups.
West Potomac Mentoring Initiatives
• The Bucknell-West Potomac Mentoring
Partnership
• BAM (Brothers Achieving More)
• MESOL (Mentoring ESOL Students)
• SPC (Students for a Positive
Community)
• Best Buddies (Pulley Center)
• Peer Mediation
Spotlight: Bucknell-West Potomac
Mentoring Partnership
Mission: To develop positive, caring
relationships between high school and
elementary students.
Goal: To promote academic success and instill
a greater sense of responsibility, compassion,
and self-confidence in all students.
Results: 34 high school students served as
mentors.
Mentoring Survey Results
• Being a mentor helped
me:
A lot
Some
A
Little
None
Complete Service Hours
90%
5%
5%
Feel Better About Myself
76%
14%
10%
See the Positive Impact I Can Have
on the Community
76%
19%
5%
Change Some of My
Attitudes/Behaviors
50%
21%
8%
21%
Come to School Regularly
50%
17%
6%
27%
Improve My Grades
44%
22%
12%
22%
Have More Hope For the Future
63%
11%
22%
4%
What benefits!!!!
Analysis of the Senior Project goals
• The students were introduced to numerous
lessons and resources to investigate various
social, political or government issues.
• Tasks and activities were integrated into each
quarter’s curriculum.
• 95% of the 460 Seniors completed all
components of the project.
• Through this project West Potomac
developed a stronger relationship with its
surrounding community of individuals and
organizations.
Academic skills developed by
students
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Researching
Source analysis
Paraphrasing
Deciphering fact from opinion
Networking with organizations
Research-based writing
Presenting
Paradigm Shifts
We saw a gradual change in focus from:
• Aggressive disrespect to an appreciation of manners,
respect and excellence
• “Us against them” to shared, thoughtful collaborative
relationships.
• An emphasis on teaching to an emphasis on
learning.
• “Do what I say” to “Understand why it is important to
do this.”
• “It’s always someone else’s fault” to assumption of
responsibility.
Fairfax County School Board
Goals: adopted in 2006.
• Academics: All students will obtain, understand,
analyze, communicate, and apply knowledge and
skills to achieve success in school and in life.
• Essential Life Skills: All students will demonstrate the
aptitude, attitude, and skills to lead responsible,
fulfilling, and respectful lives.
• Responsibility to the Community: All students will
understand and model the important attributes that
people must have to contribute to an effective and
productive community and the common good of all.
Principal skills necessary
to making change
•
•
•
•
•
•
Vision
Good Character
Put the students first
People Skills
Diagnostic capability
Strong work ethic
You need to work tirelessly and get to know
everybody!
“Change will not come if we
wait for some other person or
some other time. We are the
ones we’ve been waiting for.”
….Barack Obama
Thank you for
your attention!!