2018 2019 Annual Report

Watershed Charter School

2018?2019 Annual Report

Submitted by: Jarrod Decker, Head Teacher

4975 Decathlon Avenue Fairbanks, AK 99709 (907) 374-9350



Philosophical Foundation of Watershed Charter School

Watershed Charter School offers an education rooted in the philosophy and pedagogy of place-based education, defined by the Rural School and Community Trust (2003) as:

...learning that is rooted in what is local ? the unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature, and art of a particular place. The community provides the context for learning, student work focuses on community needs and interests, and community members serve as resources and partners in every aspect of teaching and learning. This local focus has the power to engage students academically, pairing real-world relevance with intellectual rigor, while promoting genuine citizenship and preparing people to respect and live well in any community they choose. Place-based education is closely related to and shares some fundamental elements of, environmental education, outdoor education, and community-based education. The model of place-based education used by the staff of Watershed Charter School integrates elements from these disciplines with the curricular content areas of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies.

Marlene McDermott Peggy Haas Moira O'Malley Amy Arneson Dave Merrill Erin Otness Chasity Perez Lisa Beattie Becky Hansen Abigail Paul Kate LaSota

Alex Mihalich

Nuntarat Anderson

Watershed Charter School Staff

Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade Math/Science ELA/Soc. Studies Special Education Counselor

Speech/Language Pathologist ELL Tutor/Instructor

Jarrod Decker Georgiana Smith Sharon Baker Tyrone Burkhead Amy Kulp Pam Laker Rachael Peter Jennifer Sampson April George Lynn Malzahn Pauline BennettGannon Alison Lankford

Head Teacher Administrative Assistant Kindergarten Aide Custodian Library Media Associate Aide Aide Aide Recess/Lunch Duty Recess/Lunch Duty Occupational Therapist

School Psychologist

Standardized Assessment Performance

Student performance results on the 2017-18 PEAKS and 2018-19 Measures of Academic

Progress (MAP) are included below.

2017-18 MAP Growth Results*

Percent of Watershed Students Meeting MAP Projected Growth Targets

100

90

80

70

60

57.1

55.6

50

40

30

20

10

0 2016-17

64.3 58.9

2017-18 Reading Math

61.2

61.5

2018-19

*Please see "Interpreting the Percentage of Students Meeting or Exceeding Their Growth Projections Dr. Nate Jensen, Research Scientist at Northwest Evaluation Association for guidance on interpreting the data above.

2018 PEAKS Results

Percentage of Students Scoring Proficient or Advanced (grades 3 ? 8)

90.0

84.1

80.0

73.9

70.0

70.0

60.0 52.1

50.0

45.7

41.2

40.0

47.2 42.4

36.7

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0 FNSBSD

State ELA Math Science

Watershed

School Improvement Initiatives

Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Growth ? Several teachers participated in professional learning opportunities this year. Lisa Beattie, Rebecca Hansen, Chasity Perez, and Erin Otness attended the Alaska State RTI/MTSS conference in Anchorage in January. Teachers attended various workshops centered on close reading, intervention strategies, and student assessment. ? All staff was recertified in Wilderness First-Aid in the fall. ? Peggy Haas received a grant for $5000 from Carrs Safeway to purchase three Tower Gardens for the school. She, along with Amy Arneson and Marlene McDermott, will incorporate these towers into their science curriculum. The produce grown will be used in the school and donated to the community food bank and soup kitchen. ? Moira O'Malley spent 57 days in the Arctic on a Russian Icebreaker in the capacity of Teacher-at -Sea. She wrote a daily blog including details of scientific studies, polar animals and their habitat, and ship life. Followers included teachers and classrooms worldwide. Chemical Oceanographer, Rob Rember, continues to work with the Watershed second graders.

Recruitment and Outreach Watershed Charter School made several efforts to inform families in the community of the school and its application process.

? Watershed Charter School participated in the Interior Alaska Celebrate School Choice Fair.

? Watershed Charter School contacted preschool directors and posted notices about Watershed's application/enrollment window at local preschools, day care centers, and the FNA Head Start program. Additional notices about informational meetings were posted in high-traffic areas around town.

? Watershed received 201 applications for fall enrollment, 84 of which were for kindergarten. Thirty-five percent of first through eighth grade applicants were from outside of the district (non-district homeschool, military PCS, private school).

Community Engagement Watershed Charter School continues to develop partnerships with community members and organizations to enhance the school's curricula and fulfill its mission.

? The third and fifth grade classrooms have been working in partnership with members from UAF to investigate relationships between the sun and Alaska's ecology.

? The fourth grade class has continued its ongoing partnership with the Alaska Songbird Institute (ASI). Students constructed swallow nesting boxes for ASI to replace aging boxes at Creamer's Field and UAF. Students also participated in an ongoing swallow box survey with ASI collecting swallow nests at UAF that would later be analyzed by UAF graduate students.

? Second graders continue to visit the FNSB Animal Shelter. Students bake and donate dog treats and spend a morning reading to the dogs.

? The kindergarten class continues to raise chickens and use the eggs for a variety of learning and service projects including baking large batches of cookies that are donated to Stone Soup Caf?.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download