• Category 1

    Selected in 2017

  • Grades: 9 - 12
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 18,000
    Student Enrollment: 405
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 29%
    White/Caucasian: 42%
    Hispanic: 9%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 19%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:24
    % Reduced Lunch: 47%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 2006
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Andrew Vincent
  • CONTACT:
    17 Gretna Blvd.
    Gretna, LA 70053
    504-363-3400
    bonnie.lepine@jppss.k12.la.us
Thomas Jefferson High School for Advanced Studies
Gretna, LA
We believe that assessing student potential & interest, while providing access to courses and opportunities, will bring about school improvement.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
I strongly believe that assessing student potential & interest, and providing access to courses and opportunities that correlate, will bring about school improvement. It is important to be responsive to the needs, and desires of the learners on your campus. Further, it is imperative to identify the programs and courses that will provide tangible benefits and produce success for the students on your campus.
Course offerings, dual enrollment opportunities, CLEP & AP offerings are all examples of things that must be strategically planned for the unique student body on your campus. When this is done responsibly, your students will achieve and culture and morale will improve.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Goal 1 - Increase the amount of passing CLEP scores this year from 35 to 70. We would also like to maintain a passage rate of 58-63%.
Last year we had our CLEP lab running in the spring semester only. We were pleased with our results (35 passing tests, 61% passage rate). We are hoping to double this amount in 2017-2018 since we will be working with two full semesters. We hope that a full year of implementation and success will integrate CLEP into our overall portfolio of opportunities for earning college credit.
Goal 2 - Increase our graduating senior's average ACT score from 26.7 to 27.5. Seniors who have not achieved a 27 on the ACT are enrolled in our ACT Prep class. The reason we emphasize the score of 27 is because our state's tuition program (TOPS: Taylor Opportunity Program for Students) awards their maximum stipend for students that earn a score of 27. We have improved our average score over the last two years, and more students are requesting ACT Prep with each passing year.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
Increasing access to collegiate level courses and opportunities - By using PSAT data and analyzing AP Potential for our student body, we adjusted AP course offerings to better suit the needs of our students. This formula has proven successful. In 2015, TJHS recorded 23 passing AP scores. In 2017, TJHS more than tripled this figure by posting 78 passing scores.
We have also have established dual enrollment partnerships with 5 local colleges and universities. Last year, approximately 75% of our graduating class attended a class via a dual enrollment partnership.
We also saw the College Board’s College Level Examination Program (CLEP) as another great avenue for our students to earn college credit. In 2016-2017, we established TJHS as a CLEP testing center allowing us to test our students on site. In the spring of 2017 we administered 57 CLEP tests, with 35 passing scores (61% passage rate).
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
In regards to our efforts to increase access to collegiate level courses, we have been able to purchase laptop computers for our dual enrollment College Algebra classes. This class is taught on our campus but requires a 1:1 student to laptop ratio. The instructional materials are accessed via an online platform administered by Southeastern Louisiana University.
Further, we have been able to purchase Princeton Review and/or McGraw Hill AP workbooks to supplement instruction i our AP classes. These resources have been instrumental in preparing our kids for the testing strategies and writing skills necessary for success on AP examinations.
We have also been able to use Title 1 funds to support our students taking our ACT Prep courses on Campus. Every student that has taken ACT Prep at TJHS has received a copy of "The Real ACT Prep Guide." Increasing ACT scores has been a really big initiative in our LEA because of it's direct link to a state funded tuition program.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
In 2015-2016, we transitioned to a Professional Learning Community (PLC) in an effort to conduct more effective student data analysis. Also, we wanted to respond to that data by creating targeted academic interventions for students who were falling short of mastery in essential skills and standards.
The PLC also put a greater emphasis on teachers meeting and planning in teams. This has had a positive impact on classroom instruction. Teachers are now routinely collaborating on creating Common Formative Assessments, lesson plans, and also sharing valuable information regarding strategies and instructional practices that yielded results in the classroom.
Our PLC has increased collaboration and has given our teachers more of an opportunity for strategic planning and analysis. Our students have benefited from improved instruction, and now many students have the opportunity to reach mastery in subjects they struggle in by receiving additional instruction through academic interventions.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2017

  • Grades: 9 - 12
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 18,000
    Student Enrollment: 405
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 29%
    White/Caucasian: 42%
    Hispanic: 9%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 19%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:24
    % Reduced Lunch: 47%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 2006
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Andrew Vincent
  • CONTACT:
    17 Gretna Blvd.
    Gretna, LA 70053
    504-363-3400
    bonnie.lepine@jppss.k12.la.us