A-2014-2015 Superintendent Annual Final

Hilaria Bauer, PhD Superintendent

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-‐2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

District Priorities ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1

Strategic Highlights ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1

General Administration ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5

Instructional Leadership __________________________________________________________________________________________ 6

Leadership Style ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7

Community Relations ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 8

Personnel Management __________________________________________________________________________________________ 10


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DISTRICT PRIORITIES It is unbelievable how time flies! It seems just like yesterday that I sat in my new chair and wrote a “Welcome Letter” to this great district. The first 100 days as a superintendent were focused on the articulation of the District’s Priority Areas as collected from many different stakeholders, including parents, staff, community partners, and students. The input from these stakeholders led us to the following Priority Areas:

1. Develop an English Language Development program that will ensure English Language Learners reclassification within the first three to four years of participating in Alum Rock School District’s academic program.

2. Redesign the Alum Rock Middle School Program to include a rigorous, Common-‐Core based curriculum, with a project-‐based instructional component that provides all students with a viable college and career pathway. The middle school program in Alum Rock will also incorporate socio-‐emotional resources designed to appropriately support all students in this level.

3. Engage parents in meaningful conversations to improve all district programs and services, and encourage active parent participation at all schools and district functions.

STRATEGIC HIGHLIGHTS The following initiatives have been implemented to address the district’s priority areas:

Priority 1. English Language Development Program.

Constructing Meaning. This is a professional development program designed to train teachers to address English Language Learners’ linguistic needs throughout the day and in all academic areas. The first year of implementation was focused on middle schools. Over 60 middle school and elementary teachers completed the five-‐day intensive training. All middle school principals collected evidence of teachers implementing Constructing Meaning new instructional practices. This was also present at the elementary campuses where teachers attended the training.

Kinder Plus. Extended day kindergarten. 100% of kinder classrooms offered extended day kinder. Teachers received two-‐hour paraprofessional support. In addition, we collaborated with State Senator Jim Beall’s California 15th Senate District office to bring full-‐day kinder to all


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TK/K students in Alum Rock with support from Kidango. This partnership will provide Alum Rock kinder students with full day kinder in collaboration with Kidango. Kidango is a state funded provider of preschool and afterschool programs. This bill is still pending. However, we were able to refurbish the kinder classrooms at five sites with Kidango support in order to implement the Kinder Plus program.

Extended Year Programs Examples:

Think Together Summer Academy-‐ In partnership with Think Together staff, eight Alum Teachers provided summer academic support and enrichment opportunities to over two hundred students second through fifth grades. The program focused on project based learning opportunities and critical thinking. The target students were our lowest performing students.

Kinder Plus -‐ Alum Rock has been offering extended year services for kinder students in collaboration with Kidango. This summer, ten families in the Russo/McEntee area qualified for free or reduced fees.

Bridge to Kinder-‐ In collaboration with the United Way, we provided kinder support to approximately forty families in Arbuckle, Chavez, Dorsa, and San Antonio attendance areas.

Priority 2. Middle School Re-‐design.

Throughout the year, every middle school presented to the board their new or updated design model. The goal for each middle school is to integrate a rigorous academic model while integrating Common-‐Core standards, and to integrate a college and careers pathway for each student. The following are the middle school’s re-‐designs and updates:

Mathson Institute of Technology.

Ocala STEAM Academy.

Fischer Business Academy.

Sheppard: School within School Model-‐ Atlas & AVID.

George Middle School and feeder pattern as Visual and Performing Arts Cluster.

Renaissance Academies I & II with a Social Justice focus


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Middle School Increased Support Services:

Measure A Santa Clara County. This initiative provides Alum Rock students with increased counseling services in the following schools: Sheppard/Painter, Ocala, and George.

City Year. This extended day support was implemented in nine of our schools. They will be in twelve schools during the 2015-‐2016 school year.

Citizen Schools. This support increased from George Middle School to include Sheppard Middle School. This initiative offers focused support to sixth grade students.

Middle School Extended Year:

We have increased the number of middle school students participating in math programs. As I visited all the sites, every program leader shared with me that this 2015 summer season has been stronger than in the past. We will use this year’s data as baseline, and the goal will be to double the participation rate for next year.

Programs offered:

Jose Valdez Summer Institute at San Jose City College. Approximately eighty students participated for the first time in this intensive math program free of charge to our Alum Rock students.

ALearn & Elevate Math-‐ Focused on supporting over two hundred sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students in reaching grade level proficiency in mathematics.

Mathson Tech Academy. Over 80 students participated in this “hands-‐on” tech program for students sixth through eighth grade at Mathson. More information will be provided during their presentation at the School District Board Meeting of August.

Middle School Bridge: Ocala & Fischer participated in putting together a bridge academy for incoming sixth grade students to ensure a seamless transition from Elementary to Middle School.

Priority 3. Parent Engagement.

The identified priority areas were the result of direct parent and stakeholder engagement. In addition to asking parents and stakeholders to volunteer and participate in our schools and at


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the district level, we have redirected the organization to seek their input at all levels of decision making.

Highlights:

Kinder enrollment efforts. With the support of Ford and Bonilla, our district’s Public Relations firm, last August we launched our first recruitment effort outside our campuses. Community liaisons were sent to a number of areas, including Mi Pueblo Supermarket(s), home visits, National Night Out-‐at St. John Vianey and Mayfair Community Center.

Media outreach. I spoke at four radio stations, in English and Spanish, and two TV stations regarding the importance of parents getting ready for school, and how they need to support their children. Telemundo featured George, Mathson, and LUCHA as exemplary programs in our community.

Back to District Night. We held Back to District Night on Tuesday, September 9 with over four hundred people in attendance. We shared district’s priorities, and highlighted a number of our programs.

Parent University. Parent University was held twice during the 2014-‐2015 school year, one in the fall and the other in the spring. Overall attendance to both events was over 700 parents.

Pathway to College. This event was a result of feedback from parents wanting additional information about College and University. We had approximately one hundred participants with a panel of Alum Rock alumni who are currently college students.

Middle School Expo Nights. As a result of parent feedback from Parent University, we held four Middle School Expo Nights in the four corners of our district. These events gave all parents an opportunity to learn about our middle school programs and our policy of open enrollment.

Principal Parent Engagement Goal. Every principal was asked to include a Parent Engagement Goal as part of their evaluation process.


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GENERAL ADMINISTRATION A. Efficient/Effective Management

Accomplishments: Addressed all the business of the district on an efficient and timely manner, including recruiting and hiring site administrators, addressing a number of personnel challenges at the executive cabinet and mid-‐management levels, passing Measure O, secured highly experienced interim assistant superintendents in both HR and Business while recruiting the appropriate staff for those positions, worked effectively with district legal counsel to address a number of personnel and agreement issues with different agencies, etc.

B. Policies and Programs Accomplishments: Upheld all district policies and agreements. Worked effectively with staff and Construction Management company to address a number of facilities issues, completed all last summer projects, addressed emergencies such as Dorsa’s roof, and used support from Kidango to complete the number of kinder bathrooms that needed to be refurbished. This partnership with Kidango increased the number of refurbished bathrooms. Passed Measure O to improve district services. Secured a number of corporate partners funding to increase district services, including Shortino Foundation, Applied Materials, New Teacher Center, Deloitte, and Cisco Systems.

C. Planning Accomplishments: Worked with parents, stakeholders, executive and extended cabinet members to update and align Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and other funding sources to district priorities. This led to the development of the 2015-‐2016 LCAP. As a result of this work, we were able to offer a reasonable salary increase to staff, provide increased support for all district sites and departments, including the allocation of LCAP resources for school facilities improvement.

D. Communication Accomplishments: Identified communication as one of the district office’s goals. We sought out stakeholder input via a survey. As a result of the survey, we focused on strengthening customer service from the district office. I keep an open door policy, and meet regularly with the leaders from all the units. Kept positive and productive communications with charter partners, while adhering to all current agreements.


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INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP A. Curriculum Development

Accomplishments: 1. English Learner Priority. Integrated Constructing Meaning as the pedagogy to assist teachers decrease the number of Long Term English Learners. During the 2014-‐2015 school year, the majority of middle school teachers participated in this professional development effort. 2. Middle School redesign at Mathson and Ocala Middle Schools. Mathson Middle School re-‐opened in August 2014 as Mathson Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT focus is on high tech, enabling students to learn college and career skills in the area of technology. Major curriculum additions were the integration of technology-‐focused electives, and the use of 3-‐D monitors and 3-‐D printers in different core classes, including Math and Science, Constructing Meaning, Common Core and Project-‐Based-‐Learning.

B. Program Evaluation Accomplishments: 1. Initiated the implementation of iReady. iReady, an adaptive diagnostic assessment, has been implemented as our local assessment. It supports the integration of technology in a blended learning mode, as well as the implementation of Common Core standards. The adaptive technology provides students opportunities to focus on working on standards and skills at their specific level as determined by the on-‐going assessments.

C. Staff Development Accomplishments: 1. English Language Development. Constructing Meaning. This provides teachers with the process and tools for integrating explicit language instruction into content-‐area teaching. Over sixty middle staff completed the five day training cycle, and over twenty elementary school staff completed the five day training cycle. Out of the teachers and staff that participated in the full cycle, five will become the district’s trainers of trainers. 2. Program Evaluation. We initiated the implementation of iReady in January 2015. As of now, about half of our sites have successfully implemented the first round of iReady.


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This initiative is at its early stages of implementation, and we are planning to move the rest of the sites into full implementation as well as to support the rest of the sites to move to the next implementation level. 3. Leadership Development. Deloitte Courageous Principals Training. In collaboration with the New Teacher Center and Cisco, we provided Deloitte’s training to all sixty five ARUSD administrators. This training will allow all our administrators to strengthen their communication and collaboration skills with all their stakeholders.

D. Stability and Continuity Accomplishments: 1. Partners in School Innovation. We were able to complete the Partners in School Innovation (PSI) effort in our district. We continue to use their cycle of inquiry model, and we have modified it to align with the needs of our district. In addition, we have supported other programs that have been effective in our district, such as City Year, Citizen’s Schools, etc. All the after school providers that were able to demonstrate student success continue in our schools.

LEADERSHIP STYLE A. Student Advocacy

Evidence: All district initiatives and efforts are student centered. The three district priorities start and end with the student in mind. Focusing on the reclassification of English Learners provides the majority of our students (about 52% of ARUSD students are English Learners) the support and services needed to become fluent in academic English as soon as appropriate. The main purpose of redesigning Middle Schools is to capture students’ hearts and minds, making schools more meaningful and places where students want to be. Increasing parent engagement allows our district to understand the point of view of our parents who want the best for our students. Thus, the three district priorities are designed to provide success for all our students.

B. Clear Vision Evidence: Alum Rock is a “turned-‐around” district. Our schools have increased academic performance for the past several years. We are now taking Alum Rock to the next academic level. We are building on the strong foundations of solid academic


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performance and creating the “New Alum Rock.” The New Alum Rock is innovative, welcoming, and provides all students with a solid college and career pathway.

C. Collaborative Management Process Evidence: All district initiatives have been launched in collaboration with all stakeholders. Constructing Meaning was implemented with full support from the teachers union and most administrators. The LCAP process included all stakeholders, and parents were invited to facilitate the parent and community meetings. Parent University included a variety of partners, including community organizations, parent groups, teachers, ARUSD alumni, and administrators. Principals led Principals’ Roundtables, and a variety of administrators collaborated in creating all management meetings and retreats.

COMMUNIY RELATIONS A. Communication

1. Vision of The New Alum Rock: Creating our New Image. The New Alum Rock is a turned around district. In the past several years, Alum Rock has beat the odds by moving 14 of its 17 elementary schools over the state goal of 800 API mark. Three of those campuses were identified as persistently high academic performing: McCollam, Russo/McEntee, and LUCHA, with API scores over 850. Our focus on Middle School redesign has created the Alum Rock Middle School Model focused on a career and college path for every student. We moved our middle schools from remediation factories to college and career induction centers. The New Alum Rock has high student expectations and provides students with the academic rigor and student support that each student needs to be ready for the 21st century work environment.

2. Media. With the support from Ford and Bonilla, our district has a new media presence. Alum Rock is now “on the news” for its innovation and improvement. Last year, we took our message to both Radio and TV stations, both in English and Spanish, to offer our community the many high quality programs our schools offer. In addition, when something of importance to parents needed to be addressed, we did so in a prompt and transparent manner. In December, we informed our parents


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about the real situation of the roof at Dorsa, and this spring we addressed the Walden West incident much more efficiently than other entities.

3. Creating a Digital Presence. At the request of parents and community, we updated our district website. The new website look helped us not only tell information, but tell a story through pictures. We are also “being followed” on Facebook and Twitter. During the first months in Facebook, Mandy Ford, from Ford and Bonilla, managed our Facebook presence. It was imperative to work with our followers to develop a clean and honest look. With Mandy’s straightforward style, we allowed all comments, positive and negative to be printed on Facebook. Jason Sorich, Principal on Special Assignment, helped us to establish a Twitter presence. These two efforts have created an international digital community for Alum Rock.

4. Communication Assistant Superintendent’s Office. We added the new position of Communication Assistant in the superintendent’s office. The goal is to increase and improve communications with all stakeholders. This position provides web support to all sites and the district’s Facebook account. In addition, the Communication Assistant provides support to all district-‐wide events, special recognitions, and other public relations endeavors.

B. Visibility Evidence: I visited every school in the district, and attended the majority of back to school and open house nights throughout the district. I participated in a number of parent meetings, including Principal’s coffees, PTO/PTA meetings, supported the organization of the PTO at Chavez. I worked closely with community/parent groups, including Somos Mayfair, PIQUE, etc. I received The “Champion of Student Success” Award from City Year, for the collaborative effort we made raising funds to support and increase of services in our schools. I spent many hours supporting and participating in a variety of volunteer events, including NVIDIA, United Way, and City Year. I participated in most LCAP input sessions with our community.


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PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT A. Visibility

Evidence: I keep an open door policy. Every employee and all parents and community members have access to my time. At the beginning of the school year I extended an invitation to have one-‐on-‐one meetings with employees, parents and community members. I met with approximately 200 individuals in my first three months. I worked closely with the negotiations team throughout the negotiations process, being able to successfully reach a win-‐win agreement with all bargaining units.

B. Morale Evidence: I reach out to all employees in different manners. I have reached out to all ARUSD at the beginning and end of different seasons, sharing thoughts and videos to support the district’s vision of creativity and innovation. We have sponsored a couple of pot-‐luck events for district office employees, seeking communication with employees that traditionally are difficult to schedule, such as bus drivers, maintenance, and technology support. I reach out to teachers on a regular basis to seek feedback from them in all of our initiatives. Some teachers were invited to the management retreats both in January and June.

C. Staff Development Evidence: I supported Teamsters when they asked to receive more training. I worked with MOT Director to identify areas of need. As a result of this, three bus drivers have applied for the trainer’s professional development. I supported AREA leaders in their effort to provide AREA members with Common-‐Core training. We paid teachers to participate in these trainings. I have supported all staff in their pursuit of higher degrees, including all administrators seeking a doctorate.

D. Staffing Evidence: We were able to implement all the district’s initiatives by increasing the number of staff involved in decision making, including in cabinet another level of administrators. For example, when we were not able to find an appropriate candidate for Assistant Superintendent of Business, we included the Director of Fiscal Services and the Administrator of Fiscal Services. The district’s work kept on-‐going.

This is just the beginning of our work in the creation of the New Alum Rock. We have set the foundation to develop exemplary learning environments in all our schools. Creativity has now


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been added as a core academic area where students are challenged daily through rigorous instructional practices as they thrive in their journey towards college. Thank you so much for the opportunity to serve such a great district!

Hilaria Bauer, PhD Superintendent July 29, 2015

Alum Rock Union Elementary School District

2930 Gay Ave. San José, CA

Tel (408) 928-‐6800

www.arusd.org

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A-2014-2015 Superintendent Annual Final

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