• Category 3

    Selected in 2017

  • Grades: 9 - 12
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 7,500
    Student Enrollment: 475
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0%
    White/Caucasian: 89%
    Hispanic: 5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 45%
    % ELL Learners: 3%
    Founded: 1900
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Lynne Scalia
  • CONTACT:
    102 View Vista Drive
    Livingston, MT 59047
    406-222-0448
    lisa.yarborough@livingston.k12.mt.us
Park High School
Livingston, MT
To change a school culture, one must begin with the teacher's vision of education.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
A parent advisory group meets monthly and is not a fundraising group, but simply a feedback and discussion group. Community meetings have been held as needed for internal redesign initiatives, gathering feedback. As well, as we move into community collective impact, families will be asked to participate in work that is meaningful to them.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
The most successful activity our school initiated to strengthen ties to the community has been the coming together of a group called Livingston Graduation Matters. The school community, parents, youth-serving agencies, and high school students worked on initiatives, first having to do with raising graduation rates, and eventually taking a Birth-18 yrs. collective impact approach. A collective impact larger community initiative has taken hold and is working on five strategic actions that tackle deeper issues such as poverty, economic development, suicide, and civility.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
To change a school culture, one must begin with the teacher's own vision of education - what inspires me to do this work, what do I hope to achieve in my career as an educator, what do I hope will be my legacy. Being in touch with that which inspires my staff, helps me, as a leader, orchestrate our work - work that is done together and which is/can be greater that what we can do alone.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
1. Complete stage 1 of internal redesign.
2. Begin closer alignment between middle and high school.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
Our internal redesign process is one that could be replicated.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The combination of opening our doors and involving the community with the faculty/admin-led initiative of internal redesign complement each other and have had a profound effect over time. In schools, we tend to measure initiatives in terms of a year and we lose steam over time. We have worked to not let that happen. Our Board of Trustees have also been supportive of our pilot programs.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Our Title 1 funds are used to close achievement and opportunity gaps through reading, math, peer tutoring, and "reboot" (credit recovery) efforts. As well, faculty have been invited to a week of dialogue, problem solving and planning in the summer. These longer, spirited discussions led to the grassroots internal redesign which has had such a profound effect on our school's achievement. Graduation rates have increased from 75% in 2012 to 95% in 2016 in the all-students population. For the economically disadvantaged, graduation rates rose from 58% in 2012 to 90% in 2016. As well gaps have closed in achievement.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Keep the focus over time -- it's too easy to get bombarded with initiative overload. Working on "internal redesign" we broke into committees made of all staff. We researched, got feedback, kept the staff informed, coordinated changes and kept moving forward. Staying the course has taken 5 years and we are now completing Stage 1.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
In an institution filled with data, we work to set goals and look at that matter to us - in both quantitative and qualitative forms. These goals are in the areas of attendance, behavior, achievement, graduation rates and education after high school. Our students and our staff choose goals at the beginning of the year in areas they feel are important. These are kept track of, reported to students, and celebrations ensue as we meet goals or are tracking toward these goals. An open student group, call Principals' Advisory, composed of teens who are engaged in school and those not so engaged, meet weekly at lunch with the principals. Students bring issues and principals bring issues to the table. These meetings have been crucial in informing decision-making.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
The faculty, students and leadership of the school have engaged in the process of internal "redesign", examining an overhaul of major aspects of education: content and curriculum, structure and use of time, student and teacher relationships, pedagogy, proving learning (assessment and grading), and professional growth and collegiality. We have worked at a grassroots community level to attempt to figure out how to best rethink institutional practices and curriculum offerings in order to launch students into their futures in a deindustrialized community and a rural state.
Stats
  • Category 3

    Selected in 2017

  • Grades: 9 - 12
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 7,500
    Student Enrollment: 475
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0%
    White/Caucasian: 89%
    Hispanic: 5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 45%
    % ELL Learners: 3%
    Founded: 1900
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Lynne Scalia
  • CONTACT:
    102 View Vista Drive
    Livingston, MT 59047
    406-222-0448
    lisa.yarborough@livingston.k12.mt.us