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Abbotsford Traditional

Secondary School

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School Plan

Abbotsford Traditional Secondary School 2012-2013

1. Mission Statement Abbotsford Traditional Secondary School is a school of choice, who along with a strong partnership with parents, is committed to the overall development of our students, through a traditional learning environment which emphasizes our core values of civility, integrity, excellence and compassion.

2. School Context Abbotsford Traditional Secondary School (ATSS) is a choice school within the Abbotsford public school district. The prescribed curriculum and regulations of the B.C. Ministry of Education are followed. ATSS opened in September 2004 with 190 students in grades eight through eleven. In the 2006-2007 School year, ATSS moved from the campus on Lower Sumas Mountain Road to its new current site on Windsor Street. It began and continues with a community of shared “traditional” values resulting in a common dress code for all students and a more structured and disciplined learning environment. Along with our “traditional” choice we are also a one to one laptop program school. All students attending ATSS have a laptop for school use. One of the greatest advantages of the “Traditional” program is that it has drawn together students, parents and staff with a more consistent set of student and school expectations. We have seen significant growth in the past six years. We began at this current site with an overall population of 323 students and have now grown to 545 students for the 2011/12 school year in grades 9 through 12 with anticipation of over 550 for the 2011/12 school year. This has resulted in the growth and development of a number of programs. Although this is very welcome news it does lead to growth challenges with programming and resources. ATSS draws students from the feeder school, Abbotsford Traditional Middle School (ATMS). ATSS attracts a significant number of students from independent schools, home schooling programs, electronic learning programs and a large number of students from neighboring districts. We have a very small percentage of First Nations students, 2.59% of the total school population, a small number of fund generating ESL students, 2.1% and a Special Educ. Population of 5.8%. The overall ethnic mix of our school demographic is approx. 4% Asian, 50% Indo-Canadian and 46% Caucasian.

3. Leadership/Teamwork

The basis of an effective school is shared understanding and common values. In order to create ATSS, the first step undertaken by the founding committee of staff, parents and students was to articulate a school mission, vision and values that all stake-holders could agree upon and support. ATSS Traditional Secondary school staff members are committed to both the traditional philosophy and the development of a professional learning community at the school. The basic tenets of the traditional philosophy and of a professional learning community are reviewed on professional development days and at monthly staff meetings. The process of redesigning our School Growth Plan began in 2006-2007, several Non-Instructional days were planned as a review of these two philosophies. The planning and deciding continued last year both in staff meetings and Department Leader meetings. This culminated in a professional development day this year where both parents and teachers met to review strategies and structures in the preparation of the

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completion of an entirely new School Growth Plan. With this now in place we have begun to sharpen the focus and specifically set targets for student achievement and for the development of an overall positive “traditional” school climate. The basis of the traditional philosophy is: • Safe and orderly environment • Climate of high expectations for academic success • Climate of high expectations for positive, respectful and responsible

behavior • Excellent teaching with a variety of instructional strategies • Parental and student involvement • Maximize student time on task - and active involvement • Dress for success (school uniform) • Key visuals such as standing when an adult enters the room. The major aspects of a professional learning community are: • Shared mission, vision, and values • Collective inquiry and critical thinking • Collaborative teams • Action orientation and experimentation • Continuous improvement • Results orientation through quality process. To support this, strong communication among members of the staff, and many opportunities for discussion are integrated into the routine in the school. The focus on student learning is supported through: a) A Student Service Department which includes 3.5 FTE LA, ESL and counseling components. b) A 0.25 FTE library tech to support student use of the library and the development of the

library program. c) Common strategies to support literacy developed by the staff and presented through the

Homeroom program, 30 minutes once a week. d) the establishment of a school-based Professional Learning Community, PLC, through the

Department Leaders made up of a teacher leader and a number of teachers to review teaching practice and how it can impact student learning across the grades. They are currently focusing on Differentiated Instruction.

e) Ongoing professional development toward school goals incorporated in a number of the staff meetings.

f) Current Committee established with the mandate of looking at ways we can support PLCs and how we can better support students within our existing structure

g) Professional development days throughout the year devoted to the development of programs to support our school goals, and reviewing the traditional philosophy.

h) Department meetings to review strategies to support attainment of school goals i) Weekly Department head meetings to review school structures and how they support the

attainment of our school goals. j) Strong communication structures for student, staff and parent communication

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4. Communication

Communication with/between Staff 1. We take the time to review and discuss elements of the School Growth Plan at various

times throughout the year beginning with a thorough review and adjustment in the Sept. non-instructional day

2. Ongoing reviews in regularly scheduled staff meetings

Communication with Parents and Students 1. The SPC will review the finalized goals and the data supporting them and then they will refer the finalized School Plan back to the staff for review 2. The SPC The plan will then be communicated to the community first

through the PAC at a PAC meeting and then to the entire community through newsletters 3. The final copy of the School Plan will be posted on the school website

5. Goal and Objectives

Goal One: to Increase Overall Student Achievement at ATSS

in Several Specific Areas as identified in the Objectives

Rational for the Goal: We are a young school having just completed our sixth year. Although we have done well in a number of areas considering both our size and our maturity, it is our strong desire to carve out a niche for ourselves in the educational community as a successful school where both students wish to attend and parents wish to have their children attend. We have made some significant gains this past year in our standardized assessment scores, (Provincial Exams, Dist Writes), as we have scored better than both district and provincial averages in several of our Gr. 10 Provincial exams, but we desire to continue on as we need to develop consistency before we will be convinced that high student achievement is historic practice here at ATSS. This year as a result of district feedback and further analysis of our standardized test score achievement we have reviewed our goals and made the focus more specific in each of the relevant areas. Though this process we have realized that some of our early indicators of Writing, the Gr. 9 District Writes have indicated a slight decline over the year before. We have dropped from last years scores of 72.6% meeting or fully meeting expectations down to 61.3% this year. We feel this is partially due to the increase of students whose first language spoken at home is not English. Both our English and our Socials departments feel strongly that writing literacy are areas that need focus and improvement and that we need to develop our own rubrics to accomplish this end. This is what we have set out to do. Out Math department is concerned about reducing the number of students who fail or barely pass at the Principles level. It is their objective through the actions identified to reduce the overall percentages in the 45% - 55% range by moving them beyond in their Math Principles classes. It is our desire to improve our achievement to be one of the top performing schools in the Abbotsford School District and indeed in the Province of British Columbia

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Objectives:

Objective 1:

In English students will increase their achievement skills in writing

literary paragraphs, (Literacy), as measured by the 6 point writing

rubrics scale and Classroom student samples taken at the beginning

and end of each course.

Performance Indicators:

- Grade 9 District Write Results

- Grade 10 Provincial Exam:

- Grades 9-11 tracked progress from in-class 6 point scale literary

paragraph writes at beginning and end of the course, (beginning

2010/11)

Actions:

- use scaled rubrics (6 pt. scale) for students in English Gr. 9-12

- teach these rubrics to students, show exemplars of each writing level (1-6

points)

- have students write a literary paragraph by the 3rd week of the semester

(in-class write)

- follow-up with another write of literary paragraphs within the last 3

weeks of the semester (in-class write)

- teachers compile their data at the last department meeting and submit to

the Sis Clerk

Objective 2:

In Social Studies improve students’ abilities to retain facts and

improve their essay writing skills, (Literacy).

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Actions:

Spend instructional time teaching classes study techniques to

facilitate fact retention.

The creation of standardized tests cross grade for Essential

Learning Outcomes

Teach and use essay writing rubrics for essay writing.

Teach and use standard outline helpers/organizers.

Provide feedback and allow/request rewrite.

Exposing students to essay exemplars from previous students.

Data collected and compared from standardized provincial and

unit tests written by the students.

Work on developing consistency with new staff for literary

paragraphs

Writing of in-class essays


Analyzing unit tests where fact retention and writing skill,

evident in a variety of question formats and long paragraphs and

essays, are assessed.

Standardized tests such as provincials

Department standardized Final Exam marks for Socials 9 and 10,

(beginning 2010/11)

Objective 3:

To move 10% of the total number of “grey area” students, (those who achieve

at 45 – 55%) to higher than 55% in all math classes (Numeracy)

Actions:

• increase number of effective peer tutors in all Math classes

• provide extra help for other students 3 lunch hours a week

• offer exam preparatory sessions outside of class time in weeks

prior to exams

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• introduce and/or increase the use of manipulatives in junior

math classes in alignment with the new curriculum

• improve numeracy by encouraging more non calculator

classroom environments

• to offer tutorials online through “elluminate” sessions


• Overall Final marks and yearly list of class failures

• Gr. 10 Provincial exam scores

• Gr. 12 Provincial exam score

• AP Calculus Exam Results

Goal Two: The Development of a Positive “Traditional”

School Climate Rational for the Goal: We are a young school just getting established entering into our sixth year. We have spent two of our first three years, first establishing and then moving an entire school. We have felt a very definite need to firmly establish what a “traditional culture” looks like at the secondary school level and to involved all key stakeholders in this process. We have spent significant time in the development of a new “Civility Code”. We need to establish that “traditional” baseline and then proceed to build a strong, vibrant and positive school culture around these values and beliefs. Although we score high in the Ministry Satisfaction Surveys overall, of particular note this past year is the drop in Gr. 10 students feeling safe all or most of the time. This is of concern to us and will precipitate further work on this goal.

Objective 1:

Students will demonstrate a high standard of pride and

responsibility in their school by caring about themselves and their

school community


1. Ministry Parent and Student Satisfaction surveys

2. School based satisfaction survey, (currently being developed)

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Target:

Ministry Satisfaction Survey Results:

% reporting “all of the time” or “many times”

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12

Actual Actual Tar/Act Tar/Act Tar/Act

Tar/Act

Gr. 10s

Do you like School? 45 46 60/31 50/29 40/28 40/

Do Staff Treat Fairly? 56 50 65/47 60/37 40/44 50/

Do teachers care? 51 61 70/45 65/51 60/63 70/

(NYO = Not Yet Out)

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12


Tar/Act

Gr. 12s

Do you like School? 66 30 70/44 50/46 60/38 50/

Do Staff Treat Fairly? 78 37 80/58 50/56 70/40 70/

Do teachers care? 85 69 90/65 90/71 90/72 80/

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12


Tar/Act

Parents

Do Staff Treat Fairly? 79 94 85/79 95/67 80/msk 80/

Do teachers care? 91 82 95/89 95/60 90/msk 90/

Do you feel welcome? 83 88 90/100 90/100 100/msk100/

* (NYO = Not Yet Out)

Actions: (Time, Resources, Organization)

1. Develop an effective Student Recognition program,

- student of the month,

- athlete of the month,

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- academic and effort honour role list posted,

- Principal’s list

2. Gr. 9 welcoming BBQ

3. a developed lunch hour Intramural program

4. teachers and administrators greet and meeting all students

entering the school and classrooms in the morning

5. term Recognition Assemblies (End of Term 1 & End of Semester

1 & End of the Year)

6. all students in school uniforms, no hats

7. traditional visuals established, eg. students standing when

asking formal questions or giving answers, class standing when

a adult guest enters classroom

8. School Assembly Opportunities for band/choir performances

9. making academics, arts & athletics part of our daily

announcement routines.

10. getting blowups of significant student activities printed, framed

and posted in common areas.

11. a LCD TV at the entrance to promote school events (photos and

announcements).

12. organize students in charge of maintaining display boards,

collecting photos from staff and printing.

Objective 2:

Students will feel safe at ATSS

Data to Support:

1. Ministry Satisfaction surveys

2. School based satisfaction survey

3. track number of suspensions for fighting, (currently not able to

pull from MacSchool)

4. track number of incidences of bullying/harassment, (currently

not able to pull from MacSchool)

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Target:

Ministry Satisfaction Survey Results:

% reporting “all of the time” or “Many Times”

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12


Tar/Act

Gr. 10s

Do you feel safe at

school? 76 77 90/59 90/60 75/69 75/NYO

Are you bullied or

teased? 3 5 0/14 0/11 5/7 5/NYO

Are expectations

clear? 81 80 90/67 90/68 80/71 80/NYO

Gr. 12s

Do you feel safe at

school? 93 73 100/77 90/68 90/57 75/NYO

Are you bullied or

teased? 0 12 0/6 5/8 5/12 5/NYO

Do you know

expectations? 86 76 90/76 90/74 90/71 90/NYO

Parents

Is your child safe at

school? 94 94 100/100 100/93 95/msk 95/NYO

Is your child bullied

or teased? 0 6 0/0 0/7 5/msk 5/NYO

Are expectations

clear? 91 88 100/100 90/93 95/msk 95/NYO

• (NYO = Not Yet Out)

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Actions:

1. develop a school-wide civility code this done with parent,

student and teacher input

2. school uniform dress code, already existing expectations

3. traditional visuals established, eg. students standing when

asking formal questions or giving answers, class standing when

a adult guest enters classroom, already existing expectations

4. supervised intramural program, Athletic Director responsible

5. clearly defined code of conduct, all students in uniform, no

hats

6. smaller school size and Closed Campus,

7. all students met at the door of the school by administration

and teachers in the morning

8. Code of Conduct reviewed in Homeroom at beginning of the

year

9. all grade assemblies at beginning of year to review ATSS

policies and expectations

10. no unsupervised spares for all students

11. guest speakers brought in to deal with bullying, responsible

decision-making

Goal Three: District Graduation Completion

At Abbotsford Traditional Secondary School, we are familiar with the

District Achievement Contract and Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement.

We have been thoughtful in our approach to school completion and we

have been mindful of the work done at the district level to support

students. Our Student Services and Administration team meets monthly

to discuss the progress of our most at-risk students. Each term we

analyzed the report cards and identified students failing 2 or more

courses and assigned an appropriate intervention. We also used our

weekly School Based Team meeting to identify students who are at-risk

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behaviorally as well as academically. The vice-principal designed and

applied a series of interventions designed to provide an early warning

system and a pathway to success. Teachers have been particularly

supportive of this initiative. We note that our graduation rate is steady

at 98% though we recognize that there are opportunities to increase this

number with additional support particularly to our unfunded ESL

students. We are pleased that 100% of the students who qualified for

School Completion Certificates received them.

Objective 1:

improve successful transitions of students between schools/grades.

Progress to Date: We moved 1 students to another school using the services

of the Transition Helping Teacher. We worked closely with our attached

middle school and provided on-going support for successful transition of

the grade 8’s to our campus. We have trained 1 Administrator, 1 teacher

and 40 students as part of the Link Crew. The counselors identified the

most at-risk grade 8 youngsters and matched them with significant adults

prior to the school year. The information provided by the 100% project has

been helpful in identifying kids who should receive extra support in these

programs.

Aboriginal Agreement:

We have not set out special attention to our aboriginal students for the

following reasons. Our aboriginal population is insignificant so as to not

register in the provincial exam data and as a result cannot be tracked

without drawing specific attention to individual students=. As well

despite our best efforts to encourage our aboriginal students to get involved

in specific activities we have found over the years that our aboriginal

students do not wish to be identified as a separate group. They are well

integrated and compete on par with all other students

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A Data Picture of ATSS Secondary School Student Achievement Results

Indicator 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011

Grade 9 Writing (% Fully Meeting/Exceeding) 29.7%% 37.6%% 72.6%% 61.3% 73.4% 75.7%

English 10 - Provincial Exam (average mark) 73% 68.9% 74.37% 73.4% 74.1% 74.6%

English 12 - Provincial Exam (average mark) 72.5% 75.38% 73.76% 72.6% 77.1% 70.2%

Math 10 - Provincial Exam (average mark) 67% 66.4% 71.9% 71.4% 71.1% 73.8%

Math 12 - Provincial Exam (average mark) MASK 74.7% 69.6% 72.9% 65% n/a

Socials 11 - Provincial Exam (average mark) 74% 71% 73.5% 74.5% 75.8% 77.9%

Science 10 – Provincial Exam (average mark) 69.1% 70.3% 74.7% 71.3% 74.4% 76.4%

Overall Pass Rate in English Courses Offered n/a 94% 95% 97.4% 98% 96%

Overall Pass Rate in Math Courses Offered n/a 90% 91% 96.5 93% 94.6%

Overall Pass Rate in All Courses Offered n/a 80% 80% 86.3% 88% 96.8%

(prov ex)

Dogwood Completion (6 yr)

Aboriginal Dogwood Completion (6 yr) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

School Completion Certificates 0 0 0 0 1 1

Behaviour Program Success Rate

Student Engagement Data

Average Daily Attendance* 95.64 94.73 94.21 93.99 96.94 86.4% % of Students in Extra-Curricular Activities*

(include athletics, arts, leadership, service) n/a 53% 58% 42.9% 54%

Percentage of Students Using the School’s

Learning Center n/a 9% 7% 11.5% 13.4% 12%

Percent of Students who Successfully Transition

from Grade 11 to 12 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 98%

Percentage of Grade 12 students Graduating

When Eligible n/a 82.5% 77% 86.9% 88.8% 91%

Number of catchment students enrolled in BCfL n/a 0 0 n/a n/a n/a

Number of Student Withdrawals 27 13 14 19 18 14

Number of Secondary School Apprenticeships

Number of students in ACE-IT programs 5 1

Number of students in BC Skills Competitions

Discipline Data

Number of Referrals* n/a 128 169 171 194 Top Three Reasons for Suspensions n/a defiance

disruption

truancy

disruption

defiance

other

Truancy

Defiance

Non

performance

Defiance

Truancy

Disruption

Defiance

Truancy

Cheating

Number of In-School Suspensions 29 43 48 67 60 30 Number of Out-of-School Suspensions 15 49 18 40 70 28

Survey Data

Student Satisfaction Survey Item: #14* 43%/n/a 19%/50% 45%/66% 59%77% 60%68% 69%/57%

Student Satisfaction Survey Item: #17* 56%/n/a 82%/86% 76%/93% 45%89% 51%71%

63%/72%

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Demographic Data

Overall Enrolment 314 333 396 469 515 533

Percent Using the School Meals Program 0 0 0 0 0 0

Percent Transiency* 10.83% 5.71% 5.3% 6.61% 5.24% 3.38%

Percent Special Education 8.01% 7.74% 6.96% 6.91% 5.94% 6.32%

Percent ESL 1.05% 0.62% 0.77% 1.3% 0.99% .57%

Percent Aboriginal 3.83% 3.1% 2.06% 2.59% 2.38% 2.11%

Other Demographic Data:

Other Demographic Data:

Instructions for Completing the Data Picture Chart for your school:

o Extra-Curricular Activities: Include all extra- curricular activities such as athletics, clubs,

leadership and service.

o Referrals: Include only referrals that are formally logged into MacSchool/BCeSIS

o Satisfaction Survey Questions: #14 - Do you feel safe at school?

#17 - Do your teachers care about you?

o Average Daily Attendance: Calculated in Cognos.

o Transiency Rate: Calculated in Cognos

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DATA APPENDIX:

Math Achievement Marginal Scores 45%-55%

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Math 9

Below 55% 12 Below 55% 8

Above 55% 43 Above 55% 79

Math 10



Math 11



Math 12



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Math Achievement Marginal Scores 45%-55%

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Math 9

Under 45% 1 Under 45% 0

45-55% 11 45-55% 8

Over 55% 55 Over 55% 87

Math 10


45-55% 16 45-55% 9

Over 55% 58 Over 55% 54

Math 11


45-55% 8 45-55% 7

Over 55% 52 Over 55% 27

Math 12


45-55% 2 45-55% 7

Over 55% 29 Over 55% 12

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