• Category 2

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: 7 - 12
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 875
    Student Enrollment: 87
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0%
    White/Caucasian: 0%
    Hispanic: 0%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 100%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:11
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1922
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jenna Feldman
  • CONTACT:
    902 E Broadway
    Solen, ND 58570
    701-445-3331
    solenschooldistrict@outlook.com
Solen High School
Solen, ND
The culture at Solen High School is a culture of collaboration and teamwork
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Solen High School partners with our district elementary school, Cannon Ball Elementary, to hosts monthly parent and community involvement events. We have a home liaison who communicates with parents and makes home visits as necessary. Our school monitor oversees student attendance. This year, we partnered with Avera- ECare to provide our students with access to a nurse and to communicate any medical needs students may need. We also partner with Indian Health Services to provide individual counseling to students. Within the high school, we have a mentoring program. This program allows our students to meet with their mentor teacher daily. During this time, mentor teachers monitor student’s attendance, classes, and progress towards graduation. They also check in with students to aide in supporting and navigating challenges they may face outside of school. Mentor teachers keep the lines of communication strong with parents and guardians to ensure students are staying on track.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Solen High School staff have strengthened ties to the community by increasing staff involvement and presence in student and community activities. When staff increased their attendance at student and community events, they were able to communicate and build relationships with parents, community members and stakeholders. Student and teacher relationships strengthened as teacher dedication and support became more evident. Solen High School partners with and/or hosts monthly parent activities with our elementary school in Cannon Ball, ND. These activities are well attended by parents and members of the community. Monthly events include: back to school picnic, the fall carnival, community Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, toy bingo, turkey bingo, sporting events, spring art show, Thathanka (buffalo) Days, Christmas concert, DECA activities, and parent teacher conferences.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
Change in a school district relies on building strong relationships and providing an avenue for teachers to have a voice in the decision-making process via shared leadership. For our school district this means we have built and strengthened the following key relationships:
• Tribal Relations & the Tribal Education Consortium
• Teacher relationships with students
• Teachers relationships with other teachers
• Board Members
• Community members and parents
• Sioux County Extension—Sioux Image
• State and Federal Agencies
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
The top goal for Solen High School in the 2019-2020 school year is to incorporate more innovative and blended learning practices to enhance student engagement. Our second goal is to provide more opportunities for our students to gain experience in their chosen path after high school.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement is hiring, evaluating and retaining high quality staff. Hiring and retaining positive, productive staff who care about kids, want to work with them, are reflective, have a student-centered approach and are willing improve their practice has had the greatest positive effect on our students. Another initiative that has a positive impact on student achievement was our federal School Improvement Grant. This grant provided our school with a variety of supports to improve student achievement. Additionally, we implemented a trimester schedule. This has provided our students with more opportunities to earn the credits necessary for graduation. We have also been able to partner with local colleges to enroll our students that are ahead in dual credit college courses.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Federal funds are utilized to hire high quality staff, teacher aids, and a school monitor. We also purchase curricular programs, purchase supplemental materials, and provide high quality professional development to staff. Federal funds also ensure that our students have access to after school tutors and our local Sunday Academy program.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Providing our staff with high quality professional development opportunities not only assists in retaining staff, but providing an avenue for staff to continue to develop their repertoire of teaching strategies. The school district has provided professional development specific to implementing best teaching practices and curriculum alignment. All staff attend a Tribal Education Consortium Back-to-School professional development that focuses on implementing culturally sensitive teaching strategies and integrating culture into our schools. Staff members also participate in the following statewide and national professional developments opportunities: Standing Rock Wowakia Teachers, ND DPI Educators Conference, NDCEL, MREC- Behavioral Intervention Strategies, Apple Connect Ed, Title 1/ESEA, ISTE, ASCD, and RTI at Work Conferences.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Solen High School has monthly data and RTI team meetings. We have a district data coordinator who leads meetings and reports essential data (enrollment, demographics, student behavior, transient rates, attendance, and achievement, as measured by NWEA testing, state assessment) to our staff. The team is able to utilize the data presented to determine interventions for students who were referred to the RTI process, determine curriculum needs, and address any other student support initiatives. Our data coordinator is available to provide support to staff members to compile or interpret student data. He updates and maintains our school data boards that show student’s their individual achievement NWEA growth.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
The culture at Solen High School is a culture of collaboration and teamwork. To improve the school culture, the district ensures that we recruit, hire and retain high quality staff members. The school district retains high quality staff by providing high quality professional development, teacher leadership opportunities, implementing shared leadership and offering competitive salary and benefits. We provide support to new teachers by encouraging each new staff member to work with mentor/master teachers. Another key impact on our school culture is the implementation of shared leadership. The school district utilizes shared leadership to ensure that all staff have a voice in the decision-making processes. Our school has bi-monthly leadership and data meetings that are led by teacher leaders to discuss school-wide initiatives.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: 7 - 12
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 875
    Student Enrollment: 87
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0%
    White/Caucasian: 0%
    Hispanic: 0%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 100%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:11
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1922
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jenna Feldman
  • CONTACT:
    902 E Broadway
    Solen, ND 58570
    701-445-3331
    solenschooldistrict@outlook.com