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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRes 05-01 WA Accepting the PYP Consultation Report TOWN OF WESTLAKE RESOLUTION NO. 05-01 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WESTLAKE ACADEMY ACCEPTING THE PYP CONSULTATION VISIT REPORT AND REPLY: WHEREAS, the Town of Westlake Board of Aldermen accepts the report from the PYP Consultation Visit and the reply from Westlake Academy. WHEREAS, the Board of Aldermen finds that the passage of this Resolution is in the best interest of the Academy. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WESTLAKE ACADEMY: SECTION 1. That the Board of Directors of Westlake Academy hereby accepts the PYP Consultation Visit Report and Westlake Academy's reply. SECTION 2. That this Resolution shall become effective upon the date of its passage. PASSED AND APPROVED ON THIS 14TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2005. Scott Brad ey, Chainnan ATTEST: ion Dwinnell, Secretary Trent Petty, Chie xecutive Officer APPROVED-AS T RM: Canton o Atto W, s a5-d1 Consultation Visit Report Westlake Academy Visit Date: November 22-23 2004 Visitor: Annie Tiziou Head of School: Barbara Brizuela PYP Coordinator: Barbara Brizuela Introduction The Westlake Academy is an open--enrollment Charter School which opened September 1,2003. It is a public school and it operates under the rules of the Texas Education Agency. Whilst the Academy is required to administer state required tests such as the Texas Assessments of Knowledge and Skills (TASKS) it has embraced the IBO philosophy. Once the school's charter was approved, its founders,the Mayor and the Aldermen of the Town of Westlake, visited IB schools in the USA and in Europe to seek information before the architects would start the design. The school opened its doors in the fall of 2003 with classes from grades I to 6. Classes in Kindergarten and grade 7 were added in 2004-05 and the school plans to add one grade per year until it serves all grades K-12 with the MYP (starting in grade 7) and Diploma programme. All children from the Primary Geographic Boundary of the Westlake district are given priority for admission. Children from neighboring districts are given admission through a lottery system. The Academy is presently offering the PYP to 235 students. It has applied for Candidate status in February 2004. The school is located on beautiful grounds in a mostly residential area North West of Dallas. It comprises a main building organized in 3 "wings" with most classes and a lunch room, and an adjacent building that houses a full size gym,Art classes and a small theatre_ The classrooms are large and functional,with movable partitions to allow team teaching. The main building is designed to allow direct access to the outdoors and each class can"move"outdoors in an enclosed area with semi-circle seating. The Town Hall which is housed in a third building and the 3 buildings form a campus with more than an architectural unity since the school shares services such as security, support for technology and some administration with the Town Hall. The school conducted a search for a Head through ECIS and Ms. Brizuela, a PYP trainer, was appointed in February 2003. She went on to hire a team of teachers who received a 3-day on site introductory workshop,just before the school's opening. Some teachers were not asked to renew their contract and all the teachers new to the programme or to the school for the current school year were trained together in Austin in July 2004. The school appears to demonstrate a commitment to the development of international perspectives and understanding and has utilized the PYP profile to assist with this endeavor. It is obvious that the administrator and the staff are committed to the PYP philosophy and are dedicated to implementing it successfully. They have selected topics for the Programme of Inquiry and have begun to develop some central ideas and inquiries into for the units. Weekly meetings are scheduled to allow some collaborative planning and reflecting. The visitor conducted a two-day consultation visit; she interviewed the administrator, who is presently acting as PYP coordinator,the teachers and specialists,the part-time special education teacher, the part-time counselor,a group of parents. She also met briefly with the board members. She gave the administrator/PYP coordinator and the teachers some guidance to review the Programme of Inquiry as well as some guidance to implement further the PYP. Budget and resources The Westlake Academy receives all its maintenance and operation funds from the State of Texas. It received start-up grant monies from the Federal government for 3 years (pre- opening) years and school years 20 03-04 and 2004-05)the last year being the present one. As the town of Westlake holds the charter,town bonds were used for the building (over$17.5 millions for the first phase which the school now occupies). The school cannot exist on state funds alone and a Foundation is actively raising additional funds. The library is still in its infant stage. A group of parents has received training to assist a part-time librarian and the school has a plan for development of human resources and collection. The school has chosen not to have a computer lab and each class is fitted with 2 computers. In addition,teachers can sign up for a set of"Computers On Wheels", small portable and wireless units in a cart,thus allowing access for their class to information technologies when necessary. PYP Philosophy The school is evidently supportive of the philosophy of the PYP and it has a mission statement compatible with the philosophy and the objectives of the IBC}. The pedagogical team is fully supportive of the PYP and aware that more time is needed fully implement the programme. The team wrote an initial Programme of Inquiry,based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS),when the school opened. This programme has since been revised and some planners are still at the initial stage at the present time. More time to develop and refine planners will be needed and future staff development regarding this area was suggested. The school plans to have a part-time PYP coordinator as of September 2005. The visitor has been able to get some evidence of some children being reflective and linking the learning happening at school with home life, also of some parents knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the finalities of the programme. Commendations • The school for the close alignment between its educational beliefs and values reflected in its mission statement and published documents with the beliefs and values that drive the PYP. • The school for its commitment to developing in its students the traits reflected in the student profile (early stages). • The board of the school for making a formal decision to adopt the PYP, implement it and support it in its various aspects. The parents for their commitment to seek additional funds to ensure the implementation of the programme after the expiration of the start-up grant from the Federal government. • -The school administration for its dynamism and commitment to lead a community of learners and for providing a structure that will allow effective implementation. • The school administration for providing all staff with PYP training. • The teachers for their continued acceptance of the heavy demands placed upon their time, for their collaboration and for their dedication to making learning meaningful and significant to the students. • The teachers for their practice of assessment according to the IBO principles of assessment(some evidence observed). Recommendations • That the school insures that all documents requested by IBNA have been received (re. letter from IBNA dated 10 august 2004). • That the school continues to inform the school community about the finalities of the programme through publications, its web site and throughout the school building itself. • That the school continues to develop its library collection with the resources necessary for teachers and students in order to support inquiry. • That the school continues to revise its Program of Inquiry with attention to vertical coherence, central ideas age appropriate to children's development, and inquiry into written as statements instead of objectives. • That the school goes beyond the TEKS Texas Essential knowledge and skills and teach for conceptual understanding. • That the PYP coordinator visits authorized PYP schools upon IBNA recommendations and that teachers attend PYP regional workshops. + That the school snakes sure that all teachers have a copy of the PYP programme and other relevant documents and use them as reference for their planning, also encourage them to use the OCC and to engage in discussion forums. • That the school continues to address the role of inquiry throughout the school community, not only through unit planners, but also through stand-alone subject areas • That the school makes provisions for active participation of specialists in elaboration and teaching of the transdisciplinary units of inquiry. Action As a Candidate School in the early stages of implementation, Westlake Academy will send its first progress report to the consultant by the end of February 2005. The report will include a narrative on the progress made and the difficulties encountered an updated action plan, copies of at least one completed planner per grade level and a response to the recommendations made by the consultant. Within 3 0 days the consultant will respond to the report. Westlake Academy will submit its 2nd progress report to the consultant by the end of April 2005 and an authorization visit could be planned in the Fall of 2005. WESTLAKE A C A D E M Y I"PYP Progress Report as result of Consultancy Visit Narrative: Westlake Academy was grateful for the feedback from our consultant,Annie Tiziou, at the end of the Consultation visit. We learned valuable lessons from having an expert give us advice from a new perspective. We received the Consultation Report and have addressed the recommendations, when applicable, and will continue to do so. We must point out that the first recommendation that the Academy"insures that all documents requested by IBNA have been received" is Not Applicable since IBNA has all necessary documents on file and has had since August 2004. The Consultant had not checked with IBNA offices before writing her report. During the last two and a half months since the Consultation Visit, the PYP team of teachers at Westlake Academy has worked diligently on the Programme of Inquiry and the planners. Intense discussion and sharing of ideas have proved to be very fruitful and the revised Programme of Inquiry and sampling of completed Planners give testimony of the hard work and study. We have taken advantage of our regularly scheduled staff meetings as well as two early release days for students and a full day in-service day to work intensively on this aspect. Specialist teachers (Art,Music, Spanish and PE)have provided invaluable input in checking for horizontal and vertical alignment and for increasing the transdisciplinary aspect of the planners,becoming more involved in the planning and carrying out of the units of inquiry. As in any major undertaking,we also have realized that the more you know,the more you still have to do. Although that can be a fiustrating realization, it is also a healthy one and teachers continue to find Central Ideas and ways of looking at their development that will result in further refining. We have also put a good deal of work into developing specific criteria for measuring growth in Transdisciplinary Skills which are part of our Report Card. A team of teachers has developed a first working draft for a Portfolio Policy(enclosed herewith) and this has helped to ensure common practice. At each Staff Meeting we have included an opening session when teachers share— through written narratives, videos or photos--examples of inquiry that have taken place in their classrooms. This has been of great help to all,providing exemplars to increase understanding of inquiry and to model. When the Consultant visited Westlake Academy we were in the midst of our first major fundraising campaign which ended at the end of November. This campaign was aimed at parent participation for raising additional annual funds for operating costs to cover the difference between what we receive from the State of Texas and what we know we need to operate a successful IB programme. We are pleased to report that there was 100% participation and that we are now assured of funds that will increase our ability to provide necessary resources and additional staff training. At the moment we are finalizing a list of books, CDs, etc. for an additional $20,000 for our library. A successful Book Fair in December has provided another$5,000 worth of books to support our Programme of Inquiry. The Westlake Academy Foundation had granted monies to send teachers on unscheduled 2005 staff development courses in Science and Differentiation. Plans are underway for naming a PYP Coordinator who is not the Head of School. That teacher, Elizabeth Bowie, has been sharing the coordination with the Head of School during the present school year and has been assuming many of the responsibilities for staff development. Ms Bowie came to Westlake Academy with prior PYP experience at the International School of Monte Carlo where she was took part in the authorization process but has been a full time Grade 4 classroom teacher to date. As of the 2005-06 school year she will have a half-time teaching load and will dedicate the other half of the day to PYP Coordination. This will provide invaluable assistance to teachers. Ms Bowie will be attending a Coordinator's workshop in Vancouver at the end of February. We have also had training sessions for all teachers on the use of the OCC. Although all teachers have had their passwords since August 2004, experience tells us that unless there is .ands-on practice with resources, in this case the OCC,teachers are apt to not use the .resources to the maximum. We have also subscribed to a video-streaming site (available from our local Educational.Resource Center) and thus increased exponentially the number of media resources to be used in the classroom. In response to our Consultant's verbal report at the end of her visit,we have also taken strides in making PYP principles and practices more evident throughout the school. Central Ideas,Planners and student questions are much more readily visible and highlighted. Planners are up in every classroom and the Units of Inquiry together with their Central Ideas are much more readily visible as one enters the rooms. This has provided a greater focus for students, staff and parents. We have also taken the suggestion to deal with some of the more content specific TEKS during school Assemblies or pod assemblies. A parent information evening is planned for February 10th and it will include testimonials from students,teachers and parents, a question and answer session, as well as outlining the programme for new parents and providing additional information and updates for parents who have been at school since the opening in September 2003. We have planned workshops for parents who have additional questions and queries. Enclosures: Updated Action Plan Planners Programme of Inquiry Response to the recommendations made by the consultant Digital photos as evidence of work on the recommendations