• Category 2

    Selected in 2014

  • Grades: 7 - 12
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 278,427
    Student Enrollment: 816
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 30%
    White/Caucasian: 19%
    Hispanic: 46%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.7%
    Asian: 3%
    Native American: 0.4%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:13
    % Reduced Lunch: 76.9%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1974
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Lamont Thomas
  • CONTACT:
    260 Norfolk Street
    Newark, NJ 07103
    973-733-8689
    lthomas@nps.k12.nj.us
Science Park High School
Newark, NJ
Creating a Parent/Community Center that is open from 8am to 8pm daily has been a key factor in motivating parents to participate in all aspects of school life. Parent volunteers, especially our Blue Ribbon Parents, see themselves as advocates for all children and families and not just for their own children.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Creating a Parent/Community Center that is open from 8am to 8pm daily has been a key factor in motivating parents to participate in all aspects of school life. Parent volunteers, especially our Blue Ribbon Parents, see themselves as advocates for all children and families and not just for their own children. Maintaining a comfortable space that is hosted by parents and welcoming of teachers, students, and alumni has broken down many barriers. It has also allowed us to deliver social services through our clothing closet and food pantry in sensitive and discreet ways. The extended schedule for the Parent/Community Wing also provides greater opportunities for small, impactful workshops like weekly PowerSchool training, which gives parents direct access to student grades and attendance. We are able to accommodate working parents who want to be involved and, at the same time, remove barriers from parents who may lean on them too heavily. Parents, teachers and students truly avail themselves of the space and time provided by having extended access to their school and its resources.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Science Park’s annual International Night celebration is a festive and culturally rich experience that brings together all of our constituency groups – students, parents, teachers, alumni and local businesses. The five month planning cycle ensures that 500 to 600 guests will be treated to art and artistry that exemplifies the talent and diversity of our entire community. The fact that our parents take the lead in organizing this event allows teachers and staff to appreciate the families they serve in new and surprising ways. In turn, parents and students have the opportunity to witness the humanity of our teachers and staff members, many of whom bring their families to enjoy the festivities. Students from other schools or organizations are invited to perform and fellowship with our students. Local restaurants join our Science Park families in providing international cuisine that accentuates the cultural diversity we aim to achieve each year. And our more prominent businesses help to sponsor and underwrite International Night so that the entire evening is free of charge to all attendees. It is a spectacular collaboration that represents the inclusive spirit of our school community and the ideals we hope to model for children throughout the year.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Ever vigilant that teachers’ professional development opportunities are not limited to a pull-out or the old “sit-and-git” approach, Science Park engages in both a traditional approach. i.e., District designated Staff Development Days, as well as an on-going constructivist professional development approach, e.g., cognitive coaching, PLCs, and Peer Coaching. At every level, teachers are encouraged to engage in focused, reflective professional learning. Through the sharing of best practices, review of literature, and participation in workshops both on- and off-site, teachers have a wide variety of professional learning opportunities facilitated by a strong Professional Development Team of faculty, staff, administrators, and on occasion students.
A school-wide commitment to Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) creates a venue in the hectic pace of the high school environment for twice-weekly collegial meetings that are dynamically designed to meet the needs of community members. By rotating the responsibilities of chairing the PLCs, teachers take an active role in designing the focus of professional learning. Recent PLC agendas have included departmental focus on Edmodo, UBDs (Understanding by Design), students’ ILPs (Individual Learning Plans), vertical alignment, problem-based and project-based learning, and pedagogical approaches across the disciplines, and strategies for time management during high-stress periods of the academic year.
Vice Principals of Instruction engage in on-going cognitive coaching sessions (a constructivist method) with teachers in each department. The PLCs also reinforce the wider strategies shared during professional development days. A recent Science Park High workshop called Restorative Practices: Teacher Support & Building Community via the Body, Mind & Spirit which greatly enhanced by teachers’ fluency with creating a culture of care via responsiveness to the needs of students, teachers’ and parents, and the new technology(Edmodo & ManageBac), which has also been introduced during PLC meetings. Moreover, because we design and implement our professional development activities based upon Maslow’s Hierarchy, evidenced via summative professional development evaluations and empirical/formative observations have been: enhanced motivation, optimistic attitudes towards professional development, retooling of teachers’ thinking, up-skills teachers’ pedagogical practices. Additionally teachers are better prepared and better focused to make use of the in-service time, and are able to ask the presenter targeted questions. An example of the synergistic relationship between implemented professional development activities and professional learning, was the information imparted and literature introduced as part of a professional development workshop regarding helping students develop technology etiquette, and become more adroit consumers of information technology , which was also be discussed in subsequent PLC meetings.
In addition to these job-embedded professional learning opportunities, teachers have a variety of chances throughout the year for high-quality offsite professional development opportunities, including those offered by the IB (International Baccalaureate Program), GIBS (Guild of International Baccalaureate Schools), Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, local universities including Montclair State University and Rutgers /UMDNJ University, and regional professional organizations.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
At Science Park HS we are adherents to Continuous Quality Improvement methods for process and quality management common to industry. Data is collected on the effectiveness of our educational processes across all areas that contribute to student achievement such as: disaggregated results of standardized tests such as the HSPA, PSAT, SAT, ACT and AP/IB and college placement exams; measures of teacher practice from observations and evaluations; measures of climate and culture such as student lateness/attendance and number/severity of student disciplinary actions; data on the effectiveness of professional development; and measures of parental and community involvement.
Data is regularly analyzed as it arrives or is collected to determine whether goals are being met and to identify opportunities for improvement. Data is tracked and studied both on a year over year basis and by class cohort and covered group. The year over year view ensures that the school is improving at a steady pace and identifies challenges between class cohorts. The cohort view allows us to measure progress and opportunities for improvement with respect to specific sets of students.
As a specific example, assessment results have been used to improve curriculum and instruction. We analyze AP test results on a yearly basis to determine weaknesses in our AP Courses and to make improvements for the following year. We also use these results in conjunction with vertical planning to address issues of preparation stemming from prerequisite courses. This serves to increase the rigor of courses throughout our curriculum while increasing the number of students who qualify for AP courses and the number achieving a score of three or better. This is equally true for English and Mathematics.
We analyze PSAT results for weaknesses relative to the SAT. In particular, the Mathematics and Language Arts departments scrutinize questions that students respond to incorrectly to determine how to help students offer better responses in the future. This has led to class room improvements such as increasing the level of critical thinking in lessons and demanding greater rigor in student work. In Common Core-like fashion, Social Studies, Science and other departments are engaged in the process to broaden responsibility for student improvement across the breadth of our school’s curriculum.
HSPA results have also been analyzed. In particular, in New Jersey, student results have been reported for subcategories called clusters (e.g. Math has four clusters: Number Sense, Spatial Sense, Probability/Statistics, and Algebra). This data has been used to identify and correct weaknesses in our program relative to the NJ Core Curriculum Standards for many years. As such, year over year, the percentage of our students achieving the Advanced Proficient designation has improved significantly.
Nevertheless, the Common Core State Standards and associated PARCC assessments present an engaging opportunity to increase expectations and aim at higher goals. We are preparing for the first full run of PARCC and the opportunity to benchmark the results and use them to reset goals with higher expectations and more opportunity for growth.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Building a school culture that is inclusive and open to innovation is demanding, deliberative work. Science Park has endeavored to move parents from the periphery into the main stream of school initiatives and decision-making by strengthening the PTSA and adding a Blue Ribbon Parent organization to engage additional parents who are able to commit their time and talent. At the same time, we have been reaching out to alumni to attract them back to a building that holds a new physical identity, but traditions and values that have stood the test of time. We have been building our network of community partners, especially those universities and businesses that can contribute to our academic mission. While paying attention to these other constituency groups adds complexity to our daily tasks, we benefit by the creativity and more expansive world view that our students and staff are able to experience.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2014

  • Grades: 7 - 12
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 278,427
    Student Enrollment: 816
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 30%
    White/Caucasian: 19%
    Hispanic: 46%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.7%
    Asian: 3%
    Native American: 0.4%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:13
    % Reduced Lunch: 76.9%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1974
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Lamont Thomas
  • CONTACT:
    260 Norfolk Street
    Newark, NJ 07103
    973-733-8689
    lthomas@nps.k12.nj.us