NEW PARENT ORIENTATION
Beacon Charter High School for the Arts
2015-2016
OBJECTIVES FOR THIS ORIENTATION
Meet members of the school’s administration
and their roles
 Learn about the school’s parents’ group
 Become acquainted with the school’s history
 Learn about the school’s organizational
structure
 Learn about the school’s academics and
testing
 Have opportunities to ask questions and have
concerns addressed (mainly student support
issues)
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ADMINISTRATION
Michael Skeldon, Ed.D. – Chief Executive Officer
Overall school leadership, strategic planning and vision, fiscal
management, Department of Education and Board relations,
employee oversight, lobbying and public voice, and ultimate
compliance responsibility. Has previously served as social
studies, film, and capstone teacher as well as Academic Dean
and Principal. Twelfth year at Beacon.
Tina Go – Admissions and Family Engagement
Oversee recruitment and admissions process, liaison with
parents and outside agencies regarding student life
(transportation, Federal lunch program, crisis management,
neighborhood partnerships) and works in close conjunction
with the Dean of Students and main office staff. Mrs. Go is a
founder of the school.
ADMINISTRATION, CONT.
Robin Murphy – Dean of Students
College planning, scheduling, report cards, transcript
analysis and generation, data reporting, student
discipline. Thirteenth year at Beacon.
Amanda Turcotte, M.Ed. – Academic Dean
Faculty leadership and professional development,
curriculum oversight, academic calendar
development, testing administration, test data
analysis, and portfolio implementation. First year
with the school.
ADMINISTRATION, CONT.
Brian Hickey, M.Ed. – Dean of the Arts
Oversees the three arts programs as well as the senior
capstone project at Beacon, creates linkages between arts
and academics for students, plans professional
development for teachers, and workshops/classes for adults
including parents; serves as curator, archivist and chief
exhibitor. First year at Beacon.
Karen Rameaka, M.Ed. – Special Education
Director
Supervises the Special Education Department.
Coordinates services, facilitates IEP meetings with Special
Education teachers. Ensures compliance. First year at
Beacon.
PARENT ENGAGEMENT
Flo Stevens – Chair of the Parent-TeacherStudent Association (PTSA)
There are many ways parents can be involved in
the school:
 Join the PTSA
 Committee work: SIT, LAC, Board of Trustees
 Attend workshops
 Volunteer at the school (traditional activities
such as field trip and dance chaperones,
spaghetti dinner type events, or supporting an
after school club)
 Attend the parent-teacher conferences, Arts
Nights, plays, gallery nights, and film festival
A LITTLE SCHOOL HISTORY …
Started in 2003 by the late Jack Lawhead to
Bring
Educational
Alternatives to the
Community through
Occupational
Nurturing.
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Tenth charter school to open in Rhode Island in 2003
Moved to 320 Main Street in 2006
Have grown from 114 students in 2005 to 231 students in 2015.
Have grown from 13 employees in 2005 to 38 employees in 2015
Became the first “district” in Northern RI to obtain a Regent’s
approved PBGR diploma, 2008
US News and World Report “Best High Schools” list in 2008,
2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
OUR FACULTY
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100% Highly Qualified, passionate educators
Beacon fully participates in Rhode Island
Teacher Evaluation Program
Beacon has had three finalists (and one
winner!) in last four years for RI Teacher of
the Year
Founders and Beacon faculty plan and work
together to ensure seamless transition from
middle to high school
CURRENT STATUS
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Just finished the ninth fiscal year in a row with a
surplus
Purchased this facility in 2011
Charter renewed in 2012 by the Board of Regents
through 2018
Single greatest improvement in state
testing results of any school at any level,
2007-2012
Received “Commended” status in 2014 and
2012, the highest rating possible by the RI
Department of Education
Approved to expand in February 2015, resulting
in Founders Academy, starting with 6th grade
this fall
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Governance – Board of Trustees with higher
education officials, parents, nonprofit and for
profit business representatives and arts
organization representatives
Administration, faculty and staff – very similar to a
traditional district or public school (certified, in
state pension fund, pay prevailing wage but nonunion)
School Improvement Team (SIT) – the most
important “committee” of all. SIT action
determines new policies, initiatives and programs
and makes recommendations to the Board for
adoption of those policies and programs
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
Board of
Trustees
Chief
Executive
Officer
Dean of
Students
Beacon
Academic
Dean
Director of
Admissions
& Fam. Eng.
Dean of the
Arts
Director of
Special
Education
Founders
Academic
Dean
Business
Manager
Counselors
Academic
Faculty
Office Staff
Arts Faculty
Special
Education
Faculty
Founders
Faculty
Business
Office Staff
COURSEWORK
34 courses needed to graduate …
8 Art
4 Math (year-long)
4 English (year-long)
4 Science
3 History/Humanities
2 Foreign Language
2 Senior Research/Capstone
2 Health/Physical Education
2 Computers/Business
3 Additional Courses from:
-English, History, Math, Health,
Foreign Language, Art, or
Science
This program of study meets or exceeds state guidelines and has the proper
courses in the proper sequence to allow any student to attend any postsecondary institution. See beaconart.org for a complete list of
postsecondary schools that have accepted Beacon graduates.
All teachers have aligned their courses to the Common Core Standards
and/or content-specific standards.
All teachers provide a syllabus and use the same grading formula
(percentages) and base grades on basis of 100 points.
ASSESSMENTS
STAR and PARCC
STAR Assessments (Renaissance Learning) – given
three times per year to track the longitudinal
growth of each student. Online test aligned with
Common Core standards, externally scored and
with instant feedback. The tests are in reading
and mathematics.
ASSESSMENTS, CONT.
New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP)
Given once in the 11th grade year in Science.
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College
and Careers (PARCC)
At Beacon, students are taught using Common Core
Standards. Students in grades 9 and 10 are
assessed using the PARCC assessment each spring.
INTERVENTION BLOCK
Starting in 2015-2016, the school has a new schedule
that includes a 30-minute daily intervention block.
 The IDEA Block (Intervention, Discussion,
Enrichment, Achievement) is the sixth block of the
day and includes time for remediation and
enrichment activities.
 Students are scheduled in activities for six weeks,
then reassessed (based on attainment of skill, change
of interest, etc.) prior to being scheduled for the next
six-week period.
 Students are in class from 8am to 2:45pm daily.
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COURSEWORK AND GRADES
At Beacon there are two semesters with five courses each.
Math and English are year-round courses, but all other
courses are completed within the semester.
Additionally, there is an advisory period and a Drop
Everything and Read (DEAR) program in place.
Grades are issued on a quarterly basis. Grades are
updated regularly on PowerSchool. Report cards are
only mailed upon request to the guidance office.
PERFORMANCE BASED GRADUATION
REQUIREMENTS (PBGRS)
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Our portfolio requirement is managed by a Digication
website customized for Beacon. The link to the
Beacon portal can be found at www.beaconart.org.
Student artists present their portfolio at the end of
each school year and are required to earn a
passing score in order to be promoted to the
next grade.
Our senior project is done through a yearlong course
in Film studies and filmmaking. Each student writes,
produces, directs, shoots, edits and presents a short
film. Some films are very literal and others are very
metaphorical.
BEACONART.ORG
Please, become acquainted with …
www.beaconart.org
&
www.facebook.com/beaconart
Primary tools for communication and distribution of resources
needed to succeed at Beacon.
By September, the site will be updated with new information,
handbooks and calendars for the 2015-2016 school year. The
site contains information on curriculum, faculty and board
biographies, colleges that have accepted our students, a
calendar of events updated constantly, links to our calendar,
Facebook, Digication, and PowerSchool resources.
Q AND A
What needs to be clarified?
What other questions do you have?
Mrs. Go: Transportation, Application Issues, Lunches
Mrs. Murphy: Transcripts, Student Behavior, Guidance
Mrs. Turcotte/Mr. Hickey: Academics/Arts
Dr. Skeldon: Other Issues