Community Meeting
March 26, 2014
Agenda
• Vision
of the District
• Falcon
• STEM
Flyer Program Review
Academy
Vision Of the District
STEM Academy
• Grades 3 – 8
• 3 – 6 Bilingual
• Enrollment Expectations:
•  120 students (Gr. 3-5)
•  60 students (Gr. 6-8)
• Expand to Early College High
School for 9th grade beginning
Fall of 2015
• Add grades in successive
years
• Housed at the old Middle School
Building
Advanced Program
• All students not applying to
STEM
• Pre-AP, AP, and Dual Credit
classes will be offered
• Students will have access to
tutorials
• Will be on the students home
campus
Falcon Flyer Program
• All students not on grade level in
grades 1-12
• Mandatory placement
• Enrollment Expectations
• 50% of students
• Goal is to lower enrollment as
students begin to reach
grade-level
• Instruction targeted to specific
core subject content where the
student is not on grade-level
• Will be on the students home
campus
Falcon Flyer Review – Criteria
•
Students that are not on grade-level:
•
Failed one or more core subjects (end-of-year)
•
Failed any portion of the STAAR or End-of-Course test
•
Not on grade-level based on normed reference testing (i.e., AIMS-web) at end-of-year
•
Rated as “Still Developing” on TPRI scores (KG – 2) at end-of-year
•
Low performing on TEJAS-Lee scores at end-of-year
•
New Students/Move-in Students  based on grades from previous school and/or
test scores given by district
•
Special Education Students  Same criteria for Sp. Ed. Students who will take the
grade-level STAAR test
•
Students in Life Skills or who are taking the STAAR-Alternative test will be placed based on
ARD committee decisions
Falcon Flyer Review – Curriculum
•
•
Individual Education Plans (IEPs) will be developed for each student based
on where “gaps” in learning occur
•
Generally no grade-level content
•
Not “extra time” for homework
•
Not “tutoring”
Falcon Flyer Program is in addition to Response-to-Intervention (RTI)
program that is done throughout the year during school day.
Falcon Flyer Review – Program Day Structure
•
Students assigned to FFP will start school at
the same time as all other students
•
Students in the FFP will have an extended day
until 4:00 p.m.
Royal STEM Academy – Structure
•
Students in Grades 3-8; limit of 25 students per class
•
Housed in the old Middle School building
•
Extended Day
•
Students who attend must qualify and apply
•
There is an expectation that students in the STEM Academy participate in
competitive academic events
Robotics
• UIL
•
Royal STEM Academy – Student Expectations
•
Work Ethic: The student demonstrates commitment to his/her team, personal responsibilities and tasks.
•
Written Communication: The student effectively expresses and constructs ideas in writing clearly, concisely
and correctly to a variety of audiences.
•
Oral Communication: The student speaks correctly, eloquently and effectively before a variety of audiences
for multiple purposes.
•
Critical Thinking: The student gathers, analyzes, and synthesizes information in a variety of contexts.
•
Collaboration: The student actively and respectfully contributes to a team to solve problems while working
towards a common goal.
•
Numeracy: The student applies computation, measurement, estimation and data evaluation in various
settings.
•
Global and Community Engagement: The student explores different perspectives on global, cultural and
local issues and values, leading to action in his/her community.
•
Content: Student creates products through projects that examine, synthesize, and justify content of the state
student expectations, Texas Education Knowledge and Skills, acquired in the specific content area.
•
Technology Literacy: The student selects and utilizes appropriate technology to effectively perform a variety
of tasks.
Royal STEM Academy – Student Qualifications
•
Only students who are not mandated into the Falcon Flyer Program will be
eligible for STEM Academy
•
Rubric will be developed to determine students who qualify
•
•
Factors include state accountability (STAAR) scores, grades, attendance, and
universal screener (AIMSweb) score
Based on rubric score, students will be placed into 2 categories
•
Automatic Qualifying Students (AQS)
•
Non-AQS, eligible students
•
AQS students who apply to STEM Academy are automatically eligible to attend
•
Non-AQS, Eligible students will be placed into a lottery and randomly selected to
attend the Academy
Qualifications – Example
•
7th Grade: 25 total slots
•
16 AQS students apply and receive automatic admittance leaving 9 slots
available to non-AQS, eligible students
•
22 non-AQS, eligible students apply
9 of 22 non-AQS, eligible students will be randomly selected through lottery
• Remaining 13 non-AQS, eligible students will be placed on a waiting list
•
•
3rd Grade: 25 monolingual slots; 25 bilingual slots
•
If not all monolingual slots are filled, those slots may be filled by bilingual AQS or
bilingual non-AQS, eligible students if parents sign a “Parent Denial” form
through the Bilingual Department
•
•
Only 18 monolingual AQS & non-AQS eligible students apply for the STEM Academy and
30 bilingual students apply for STEM Academy, those extra slots can be filled by bilingual
students; however, the parents of the bilingual students must sign the “Parent Denial”
form
Monolingual students are not eligible for bilingual classroom
Royal STEM Academy – How to Apply
•
Applications will be available May 5th
•
Applications will be available online, in the RES and RJH offices, and at the
Central Administration building
•
Application deadline will be May 23rd
•
Applications will be reviewed & scored to determine AQS and non-AQS,
eligible students
•
•
Non-AQS, eligible student will be placed into a lottery and selected based on the
number of slots available in each class
Parents will be notified via letter on June 5, 2014 (included in the end-ofyear report card)
Royal STEM Academy – Curriculum
•
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Math
•
Generally, a STEM Academy/School will select one of those 4 areas for
emphasis
•
Examples:
•
Science  Life, Physical, Earth
•
Technology  Computer Programming, Hardware, Software development
•
Engineering  Robotics, Types of Engineering, Design/Build
•
Math  Quantitative Reasoning, Statistics, Applied Mathmatics
Royal STEM Academy – Curriculum
•
The Royal STEM Academy will focus on
Engineering
• Most inclusive of the pathways and allows for
flexibility
• Aligns with the goals for the Early College
High School
• Job-related skills
• Cost
Royal STEM Academy – Project Based Learning
•
Royal STEM Academy will emphasize Project Based Learning (PBL)
•
PBL is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by
working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex
question, problem, or challenge. Essential Elements of PBL include:
•
Significant Content - At its core, the project is focused on teaching students important
knowledge and skills, derived from standards and key concepts at the heart of
academic subjects.
•
21st century competencies - Students build competencies valuable for today’s world,
such as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and communication, and
creativity/ innovation, which are taught and assessed.
•
In-Depth Inquiry - Students are engaged in a rigorous, extended process of asking
questions, using resources, and developing answers.
•
Driving Question - Project work is focused by an open-ended question that students
understand and find intriguing, which captures their task or frames their exploration.
•
Need to Know - Students see the need to gain knowledge, understand concepts, and
apply skills in order to answer the Driving Question and create project products,
beginning with an Entry Event that generates interest and curiosity.
Royal STEM Academy – PBL Implementation
•
Ongoing training and support for staff.
•
Parent-School partnerships through various methods.
•
Stimulating student inquiry and applying it consistently across grade levels
and subjects to educate the whole child.
•
Creating an environment of honest feedback staff to staff, staff to student,
student to student and school to stakeholders.
•
Every project starts with the state standards (TEKS). What the students are
required to know.
•
Implementing engaging, rigorous inquiry and project based learning that
emphasizes high level of real world application and developing critical
thinkers in a teamwork based environment
Royal STEM Academy – Project Based Learning
Royal STEM Academy - Partnerships
•
RISD wants to create partnerships with local and national businesses
•
What might a partnership look like?
•
Human Resource- employees volunteering time, mentoring and offering
professional expertise.
•
In-Kind resource- are the things that partners donate other than cash such as gift
certificates, coupons, food, books, computers, software, school supplies,
backpacks, etc.
•
Financial Resources- direct monetary contributions.
Royal STEM Academy – Cost
•
Personnel
•
Principal
•
Computer Teacher*
•
4 Core MS Teachers (Gr. 5-8)
•
PE Teacher*
•
2 Core Monolingual Teachers (Gr.
3-4)
•
Office Staff (2)*
•
4 Core Bilingual Teachers (Gr. 3-6)
•
Utilities
•
Infrastructure/Facilities Upgrades
•
Curriculum Costs
•
Supplies & Materials
* New Positions to the District
Royal STEM Academy – Model Schools
Comments & Concerns