• Category 2

    Selected in 2015

  • Grades: 4 - 9
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 15
    Student Enrollment: 611
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 72%
    White/Caucasian: 5%
    Hispanic: 20%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 3%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:16
    % Reduced Lunch: 86%
    % ELL Learners: 2%
    Founded: 2010
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Eric Sanchez
  • CONTACT:
    1071 Old Epsom Road
    Henderson, NC 27536
    252-204-8750
    cterranova@hendersoncollegiate.org
Henderson Collegiate
Henderson, NC
After each quarterly benchmark, teachers participate in “data days” in which students are sent home early so that teachers have time to break down and analyze student data. The takeaways from this analysis are used to adjust instruction.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Henderson Collegiate engages in open and ongoing dialogue with families to ensure that they are engaged in supporting their students’ education.

Before students begin at the school, they participate in enrollment meetings with a staff member and their families. The school explicitly outlines exactly what each party must do to empower the student to be successful in the program.

The school sets apart one day at the end of each quarter for parent teacher conferences and hosts a number of parent events such as Parent Pride Nights, Bring-a-Parent-to-School Weeks, Awards Ceremonies, and other events to share and celebrate the culture and students’ achievements with families.

Families are also encouraged to reach out to teachers whenever the need arises. Teachers have school-issued cellphones to field homework or families’ questions in the evenings and on weekends and families may request meetings with teachers any time in addition to the end-of-quarter meetings.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
While there are several activities that our school conducts each year to strengthen the ties between students, staff, families and the greater community, one of the most successful activities we do is Parent Pride Night.

Each year right before Christmas, Henderson Collegiate conducts a major event that celebrates the school’s values and the hard work and growth of its students. Parent Pride Night includes a variety of skits, chants, songs and musical performances put on by the students. Every student in every grade level participates in some part of the show, getting up on the stage to act, sing, dance or otherwise perform with other members of their grade level.

The community is always impressed by the cohesiveness of the performance at Parent Pride Night and by the magnitude of what the children have accomplished when every single child is able to participate in a strong performance that celebrates everything that Henderson Collegiate stands for.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
At Henderson Collegiate, we believe that there are 100 1% solutions. Our staff members pay attention to every detail that plays a role in the experiences and quality of education our students receive. Our staff members meet together weekly and plan meticulously for the lessons and activities they lead.

When the school identifies opportunities for implementing changes that can take student achievement and growth to the next level, that change begins with school leadership and transfers down to each staff member through extensive and recurring professional development.

For example, Henderson Collegiate adopted the technique of “aggressive monitoring” after learning about it through observation at Uncommon Schools. The school sent several leaders to observe the technique more closely, before they came back to Henderson Collegiate and lead staff training first with the instructional coaches and then with teachers. The technique is now an integral part of all instruction in the school.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Our school’s two main goals for next year are to increase the rigor in our instruction and to take our staff development to the next level.

As the mission of Henderson Collegiate is to prepare students to attend and graduate from the college of their choice, we must make sure that every student has fully developed their critical thinking skills by the time they graduate. Henderson Collegiate has grown effective at, and continues to work on, empowering students to grow academically. The next step will be to push their thinking so that they are not only mastering content in each lesson, but also learning to analyze and evaluate the content they are mastering at a collegiate level.

Staff development is another critical component of our program. We believe that every teacher can continuously improve at his / her craft, and we want to continue to refine the ways that we provide our educators with feedback to keep accelerating their growth and to continuously develop them as leaders.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The single greatest factor in our school’s success is the sheer grit that our students and staff bring to our work.

Henderson Collegiate operates for longer hours and more school days than required each year to create additional instructional time on task with students, because many of them enter our program below grade level and need to catch up quickly. Teachers also spend time tutoring after school at least once a week and commit to completing various tasks for their entire grade level team. Further, they receive a large volume of feedback that constantly pushes them to change elements of their practice (both large and small) that will lead to greater outcomes for students.

Grit is also a part of the culture intentionally built amongst our students. We teach students that “if you want more, you have to do more.” We celebrate those students who demonstrate “doing more” on benchmarks and in classes - not only for their academic achievement, but especially for their growth.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The school’s most successful initiative for improving student achievement is its instructional coaching model, which enables it to successfully implement new, more effective instructional strategies and to train new teachers very quickly.

New teachers begin at the school by participating in targeted professional development through “rookie meetings.” In these meetings, instructional leaders guide the new teachers through a book study of Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion, which outlines a number of instructional techniques that have been proven effective with low-income students through the author’s research.

Every teacher is also assigned to an instructional coach, who gives that teacher feedback on lesson plans and other materials they create, and through observations. Each teacher is observed by his/her coach at least two-three times per week and then debriefs with the coach to discuss next steps for improvement and their new instructional goal.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Henderson Collegiate uses Title I funds to reduce class sizes, perform more small-group instruction, and extend learning time, all of which have contributed to improved math and reading proficiency with our students. The school has also utilized funds to boost students’ daily attendance through activities, meetings, and special events that are specifically meant to engage families and the greater communities in supporting our students’ education.

The funds are specifically utilized for several full-time classroom teachers who are able to provide students with high quality regular instruction and tutoring, as well as to lead and help facilitate parent meetings and other events. These educators then partner with other classroom teachers at the school to ensure that the quality of instruction and community engagement efforts remains consistently high.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
In addition to the intense instructional coaching and “rookie” training for teachers, our teachers are encouraged to observe other highly effective classrooms as part of their overall development.

Teachers receive one day per month in which they do not have to teach, and are instead encouraged to observe in other classes around the school. This observation prompts teachers to see and think about different routines, procedures and techniques that they can use in their own classrooms. Often, teachers even receive recommendations from their instructional coaches for specific classes to visit to observe techniques related to their growth goals.

The school also takes the entire staff to visit at least one other high-performing school each year. Operations staff members get an opportunity to learn about different operating norms and procedures while teachers spend time observing in different classes and then debriefing together and with instructional coaches about the techniques they saw.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Henderson Collegiate trains teachers using the concepts from Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s Driven by Data on how to collect, reflect on, and adjust instruction according to formative and summative student data. Teachers collect data throughout classes through aggressive monitoring and exit tickets to inform daily instruction. To track students’ progress through units, they administer quizzes and unit assessments. Quarterly, the school administers benchmarks, and at the end of the year, the school uses data from in-house finals and state-mandated End-of-Grade tests to adjust the curriculum.

After each quarterly benchmark, teachers participate in “data days” in which students are sent home early so that teachers have time to break down and analyze student data. The takeaways from this analysis are used to adjust instruction.

Reading teachers additionally receive data from the Accelerated Reader program, which helps them to track students’ independent reading progress.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Henderson Collegiate has a positive culture amongst both students and staff.

The school recruits staff who are humble, hungry, and smart. They are willing to work hard, work together as part of a team, and constantly striving to improve. The leadership also actively encourages and facilitates opportunities for positive team-building amongst staff to form a team that is able to hold one another accountable.

Students have explicit lessons on character habits and how to be a better person. Lessons are led and reinforced by every staff member (both administrative and instructional). Each grade level focuses on the cultural and character lessons appropriate for their students’ developmental levels. Students are able to track their progress in character habit development through weekly “paychecks” that show how they earn “dollars” for displaying positive characteristics in classes and how they earn deductions for making poor choices indicative of negative character habits.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2015

  • Grades: 4 - 9
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 15
    Student Enrollment: 611
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 72%
    White/Caucasian: 5%
    Hispanic: 20%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 3%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:16
    % Reduced Lunch: 86%
    % ELL Learners: 2%
    Founded: 2010
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Eric Sanchez
  • CONTACT:
    1071 Old Epsom Road
    Henderson, NC 27536
    252-204-8750
    cterranova@hendersoncollegiate.org