Codman Academy Charter Public School

Annual Report 2010-2011

“To Learn, to Lead, and to Serve”

Codman Academy Charter Public School’s mission is to prepare students for full participation in the intellectual, economic and civic life of our society, by ensuring their preparation for and access to further education, the skills and vision to undertake a rewarding career, and the motivation and character needed to engage deeply and productively in community life. We view parents and community members as integral partners in this endeavor.

Meg Campbell, Executive Director

Codman Academy Charter Public School

637 Washington Street

Dorchester, MA 02124

(617) 287-0700

mcampbell@codmanacademy.org

www.codmanacademy.org

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Table of Contents

I. Introductory Description of the School Page 3

II. Letter from the President of the Board Page 4

III. Summary of Performance Relative to Accountability Goals and Common Schools Standards

a. Faithfulness to Charter Page 6

i. Accountability Plan Objectives and Measures

ii. Common School Performance Criteria

b. Academic Program Success Page 13

i. Accountability Plan Objectives and Measures

ii. Common School Performance Criteria

c. Organizational Viability Page 21

i. Accountability Plan Objectives and Measures

ii. Common School Performance Criteria

IV. Recruitment and Retention Plan Page 27

V. Dissemination Efforts Page 32

VI. Financial Reports Page 34

a. FY11 Statement of Net Assets (Balance Sheet)

b. FY11 Statement of Revenues, Expenses and Changes in Net Assets (Income Statement)

c. FY12 approved school budget

VII. Data

a. Instructional time Page 40

b. Student enrollment information Page 40

c. Student demographic and subgroup information Page 40

d. Administrative roster Page 41

e. Organizational Chart Page 41

f. Teacher and staff attrition Page 43

g. Members of the Board of Trustees Page 44

VIII. Attachments Page 46

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I. Introductory Description of the School

Now entering its 11th year, Codman Academy Charter Public School serves grades 9-12 with an enrollment cap of 145 students. Codman Academy is located on the site of its primary partner, the Codman Square Health Center, in Dorchester, MA and draws most of its students from Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan. Codman offers its students a six-day a week, extended school day program, from 7:00am to 6:00pm. Academic classes run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, with physical education and study hall held before or after the academic day. To date, Codman has graduated six classes, with 100% of its graduates accepted to college. Codman’s educational philosophy is rooted in the Expeditionary Learning Schools design (http://www.elschools.org/), which emphasizes character development along with intellectual development. This approach draws heavily on Outward Bound’s philosophy of personal transformation through adventure, service, teamwork and real life applications to learning within and outside the classroom. Developing student awareness of social justice issues and the desire to give back to ones community are core values at Codman. As of June 30, Codman enrolled 130 students. We have enrolled a large freshman class, which we will continue to do in the coming years, to reach full capacity.

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II. Letter from the Chair of the Board of Trustees

Dr. Commissioner Chester,

We are pleased to present our 2010-2011 Annual Report which highlight the school’s successes, evaluates progress towards established goals, and offers an honest assessment of areas targeted for further improvement. As Codman enters its eleventh year, we are particularly proud of our outstanding faculty, students, and families, whose collective work has resulted in Codman Academy being named an EL Mentor School by Expeditionary Learning Schools. With this designation, Codman Academy will join a small number of high performing ‘best practice’ ELS schools that host national professional development sessions and share curricular and programmatic resources on the EL website.

This achievement comes on the heels of what was one of Codman’s strongest years ever in terms of dissemination and replication. In order to significantly expand our impact beyond the school’s student body, Codman has collaborated with school design groups that share our vision. This has resulted in significant partnerships with four charter and district schools across the country, including one school in the local school district. Codman is actively working with each group throughout their school design process, sharing expertise in areas such as curriculum design, internships, skills tutoring, and partnership development. We look forward to the opening of these schools, starting in September 2012.

Codman Academy received significant awards and recognition this year, as did our faculty and students. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education bestowed the school with the Massachusetts Gold-Level School Wellness Award, recognizing Codman’s wellness program as the strongest in the state. Our founding partner, the Codman Square Health Center, received the First Mayoral Prize in Innovation in Health Care for its innovative partnership with the school. Meanwhile, the school’s Principal was named to the founding cohort of the Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College, the Dean of Enrichment was one of eight college counselors nationally to receive the 2010 Counselors that Change Lives Award, and two teachers received the Fund for Teachers Award and Boston Athenaeum Award this summer. Student awards include a Posse Scholar, the school’s third, and two other substantial scholarship awards.

Traditional indicators of school and student performance were equally impressive. Codman graduated its 7th gradating class with a 100% college acceptance rate. Student growth percentiles from last year’s MCAS exam placed Codman Academy in the top 5% of schools state-wide for math and top 15% for English language arts. Internal assessments suggest that results from this year will be as strong or stronger. Our tireless efforts to boost student recruitment and retention have led to some impressive results: this year the school received nearly 600 applications, a nearly four-fold increase from the number received two years ago. We re-enrolled 87% of our students, an 8% increase from last year. The school commissioned its first school climate survey based on the district’s climate survey model; 100% of teachers recommended the school as a good place to teach and 87% of students stated that the school is a good place to learn.

All of this does not mean that our work is complete. Indeed—there is much more to be done. Next year, Codman will, among other things, expand its performance based grading initiative pilot project, further improve the school-wide literacy initiative, continue to implement strategies aimed at improving alumni outcomes, and streamline the 9th grade schedule to better integrate wellness into the flow of the day. The school board voted this year to seek an amendment to expand the school by adding grades K-8, but based upon a strong advisory from the state's Charter School Office, we have deferred filing that request until next year.

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It is important to note that we could not have achieved any of our successes without the generous support of our hard-working students and alumni, committed families, dedicated faculty, Board of Trustees, Foundation Board of Directors, generous donors, and exceptional partners, notably the Codman Square Health Center, Huntington Theatre Company, American Youth Foundation, and Expeditionary Learning Schools. Together we will continue our work to offer our students an outstanding educational experience that prepares them to be effective leaders and engaged citizens. Sincerely, Bill Walczak President, Codman Academy Charter Public School Board of Trustees

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III. Performance and Plans

Faithfulness to Charter

Goal 1: The academic program will reflect Expeditionary Learning design principles, philosophy, and core practices.

Measures/Outcomes:

1. Codman Academy will receive a positive annual implementation review by Expeditionary Learning Schools. The school has met this measure. Expeditionary Learning Schools (ELS) conducted an annual review (see www.codmanacademy.org for complete report). The Implementation Review has three specific purposes: 1) to provide schools with an opportunity to benchmark their progress towards essential aspects of the design, 2) to provide an informed basis for developing next year’s work plan for the school’s partnership, and 3) to give Expeditionary Learning Schools the management information essential for the continuous improvement of the services and tools offered to Codman Academy. The school received a score of 3 or higher on 14 of 16 benchmarks assessed; a 3 signifies that most of the components of the benchmark are implemented at a high quality level. This year, the focus of the school’s ELS partnership was teaching literacy across disciplines and building a culture of reading across the school; the Implementation Review noted significant growth in both areas. The review also noted improvement in effective instructional practices and teaching writing across disciplines. School leadership and structures received a high 3 score in four out of six benchmarks. The report noted a wider range of scores in the areas of ‘effective assessment practices’ and ‘fieldwork, service, and experts’ suggesting the need for additional attention next year. As part of the school’s contract with ELS, Codman Academy receives fourteen days of on-site professional development and on-site coaching from an EL school designer. Additionally, the school has recently been appointed an EL Mentor School, a testament to the strong partnership the school has forged with Expeditionary Learning Schools. As part of the arrangement, Codman Academy will join a small number of high performing ELS schools that hold an on-site annual professional development workshop for hundreds of visiting teachers and administrators from the ELS network.

2. Codman Academy will post at least one learning expedition to its web site annually. The school has not met this measure. The school did not post learning expeditions to its website this year, as the school is in the process of changing the way in which it disseminates learning expeditions. As part of being named an El Mentor School by Expeditionary Learning Schools, recognizing the school’s strong performance and dissemination efforts, Codman Academy will now contribute to the EL Commons library of resources. The school believes that EL Commons will provide increased exposure and access to school learning expeditions and curricular resources.

Goal 2: Students and alumni will demonstrate character, leadership, service, and commitment to social justice.

Measures/Outcomes

1. Students shall meet graduation requirements for senior talk/apologia. The school has met this measure. 100% of graduating seniors earned a 70% or higher on their final senior talk. Abbreviated versions of each senior’s apologia are incorporated into our graduation ceremony. A booklet of all senior talks is published each summer.

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2. Students shall meet graduation requirements for the social justice project. The school has met this measure. 100% of graduating students met the school’s SSAP graduation requirements.

3. Average daily attendance will be 97% or higher. The school has met this measure. Average daily attendance for the 2010-2011 school year was 97%.

4. Using a software program we built to reinforce positive behavior, citizenship status for each student is tracked daily. Over time, we aim to show improved citizenship status for individual students as well as improved citizenship averages for each grade. The school has not met this measure. Information pertaining to the school’s Citizenship program can be found in the Classroom and School Environment response in the Common School Performance Criteria Academic Program section. Citizenship data from the year reveals that less students had low Citizenship scores (below 200 points) in grades 11 and 12 than grades 9 and 10, however there was no direct correlation between grade level and Citizenship.

5. During our annual school-wide trip in October, students shall successfully complete an annual American Youth Foundation leadership course on site at Camp Merrowvista in New Hampshire. The school has met this measure. All eligible students participated in the school’s annual school-wide camping trip and completed the American Youth Foundation (AYF) leadership course on site at the camp. Two students were not eligible; one has a chronic back pain ailment and was receiving services at home during the trip, the other was in violation of probation during the trip. This summer, the school is sending 4 students to the American Youth Foundation’s National Leadership Conference in Michigan, a week in which students across the country gather to build leadership skills. Additionally, two students are on AYF funded Outward Bound trips in Nova Scotia and New Hampshire.

Goal #3: Students will demonstrate physical and mental health.

Measures/Outcomes

1. Students shall demonstrate increased physical fitness capabilities consistent with progress on meeting presidential standards of physical fitness. Height, weight, and BMI (body mass index) is measured annually. Individual plans shall be designed for students who struggle with obesity and other weight-related health issues. The school has met this measure. Codman Academy recently received the 2010 Massachusetts Gold-Level School Wellness Award (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary education), recognizing the school’s exemplary whole school approach to fostering wellness, high level of student involvement in the program, and coordination with the Codman Square Health Center. Codman Academy, the highest scoring school state-wide, measures student baseline health data (height, weight, BMI) annually. The school further improved the program this year through several initiatives including contacting parents of at-risk students and connecting parents with health resources. The school also conducted its first ever diabetes screening in which 85% of students voluntarily participated. The school piloted an individualized health fitness program for five students at-risk of chronic health problems. Codman Academy also expanded its personal fitness program by partnering with the YMCA to allow male students to receive membership, as it has previously done for female students through its partnership with HealthWorks. This year, students in the 10th-12th grade were able to enroll in personal fitness in lieu of a school wellness course. All students take a standardized fitness exam that meets or exceeds presidential standards and students are expected to pass or demonstrate improvement.

2. Students shall demonstrate mastery of health promotion and nutrition, as shown by successfully reading food labels, purchasing and making nutritionally sound meals on a limited budget, and learning how to advocate for themselves within the health care system. They shall demonstrate knowledge of preventable, chronic public health issues including AIDS, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and violence. The school is

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making progress towards meeting this measure. The school’s nutrition leadership team, comprised of the Executive Director, Principal, Wellness Director, Wellness Expert (Dr. Susanna Bedell), and Social worker outlined three goals for the 2010-2011 year: 1) Raise awareness of nutrition and healthy eating, 2) Change student heath behaviors and 3) Increase community advocacy and build a school culture of wellness. The school’s educational topic for the year was Type II diabetes. To realize these goals, the school continued to offer a nutrition class for all 9th grade students during the Summer Institute program. The school’s Nutrition Action Club, established in 2009-2010, expanded the Junk Food Free pledge from one month to a trimester (three month) commitment. Junk Food Free Trimester 3, which included wellness presentations at lunch, healthy food cooking demonstrations, ‘meatless Mondays’ at lunch, healthy snack raffles, and crew nutrition contents, saw high levels of faculty and student participation. As part of the initiative, a group of 9th grade students and teachers cooked a healthy snack during the Freshmen Seminar twice a week and then served the snack to the entire school after-school. The school also launched its first ever diabetes screening. An impressive 85% of students voluntarily participated in the weekend screening and post-screening community celebration. The school has received substantial press for the Junk Food Free initiative, including an NPR story entitled, “Dorchester Students Lead Prize—Winning War on Junk Food” (March 31, 2011). This summer, a number of interested students will join the Wellness Director of a Summer Nutrition Leadership summit, in which students will visit local farms and health organizations. The school’s health topic next year will be obesity and the Junk Food Free initiative will be further expanded.

For the past several years, the school has partnered with the Codman Square Health Center to offer two week internships exploring health careers to all 11th and 12th grade students as part of the school’s graduation requirements. The Codman Square Health Center recently received the First Mayoral Prize in Innovation in Health Care, recognizing the organization’s ground-breaking partnership with the Codman Academy.

3. Students shall demonstrate mastery of conflict resolution skills and tools for reducing stress as shown by reduced number of suspensions. The school has met this measure. In spite of having a larger enrollment due to last year’s cap increase, the total number of suspensions has decreased since 2008-2009.

Academy Year # of suspensions # of students enrolled as of June SIMS submission

2008-2009 62 120

2009-2010 60 116

2010-2011 58 130

Suspensions at Codman are a reflective, solutions oriented process as opposed to being a mechanism to hold students out of school for multiple days. The vast majority of suspensions are only 1 day in length. The school’s high suspension rate can be attributed to high behavioral expectations. At Codman suspensions adhere to the following protocol: 1) suspension hearings with the student and parent/guardian are scheduled immediately after the infraction so as to avoid a lengthy and unproductive delay, 2) suspension hearings address the incident with a focus on the student’s plan for the future, 3) every suspension results in the student completing a written reflection assignment.

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In response to feedback received by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, all students sent-home during the day for behavioral reasons received a suspension hearing and were classified as suspended in 2010-2011.

As has historically been the case, the majority of the school’s suspensions this year were in the 9th grade, suggesting that the school’s older students are better equipped to positively respond to challenging situations. The school continues to offer additional supports to 9th grade students to support in the difficult transition to high school and reduce the likelihood behavior infractions leading to suspension.

2010-2011 Suspensions by Grade

9th grade70%

10th grade12%

11th grade2%

12th grade16%

The school’s Dean of Students schedules intervention meetings when a student is at-risk of a suspension in order to address the concerns and create a plan to avoid further disciplinary action. All 9th graders participate in single-sex talking circles (45 min per week) led by the Social Worker, to facilitate discussion on a variety of mental health and current event topics. To manage stress and overall mental wellness, the school’s full-time Social Worker provides individual and group counseling. This year, 33 students were referred for individual counseling, 13 of which received in-school counseling through the Social Worker. The remaining students received services out of school. The Social Worker also serves as a family liaison to the services at the Codman Square Health Center to ensure that all members of the Codman community receive adequate health care.

4. Annually, each member of the Codman community, students and teachers alike, selected and shared a personal character intention for the school year. The school has met this measure. Intentions are reviewed and discussed throughout the year during crew and professional development days.

Goal #4: The school will gather data on 100% of alumni each year to record their progress in college and the work force.

Measures/Outcomes

1. The school will collect data on 100% of alumni pertaining to college attendance and academic performance on an annual basis by allocating appropriate human and financial resources to support alumni as well as collect, store and analyze alumni data. The school has met this measure. The Alumni Support team, comprised of the Dean of Alumni, Social Worker, and Dean of Enrichment, made

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contact with each alumnus/a by phone or email. Data is stored on the school’s network and analyzed annually by the Dean of Alumni.

2. At least 70% of alumni from all classes will graduate from college or be enrolled full time. Those not enrolled in college-level course work will be gainfully employed. Those students not enrolled in college and students home during the summer breaks will find meaningful ways to be involved in their community, through volunteer work or part-time mentoring of current Codman students. Through monthly calls to alumni and in-person meetings on an ad-hoc basis, our Dean of Alumni tracks the status of each Codman student. The school has nearly met this measure. The school’s Dean of Alumni tracks the educational and professional outcome of the school’s 100 alumni. Currently, 66% of alumni are enrolled or have graduated from college; an additional 5% have earned an alternative certification as vet techs, medical assistants, IT, and business associates. Of students have earned their B.A. or B.S. degree, 81% are working and 19% are attending graduate school. Though they significantly surpass district averages, the school is not fully satisfied with educational outcomes of its first three classes (e.g. 45% of Codman’s Class of 2005 are on track to graduate within 7 years from 4 year colleges versus 24% of BPS Class of 2005 graduates excluding exam schools. 40% of CACPS Class of ’05 have graduated).1

Educational Outcomes of CACPS Class of '05-'07

Graduated (2 or 4 yr), 29%

Enrolled in college (2 or 4 yr), 20%Earned alternative

certification, 9%

Other, 43%

Over the past three years, the school has placed an increased emphasis on skill building and raising student achievement scores which should result in an increased percentage of Codman alums successfully completing college. The school has also supported six alumni who are in the Year Up Program. The Dean of Alumni has found that cost, however, is the largest barrier to degree attainment; the school will continue to support alumni in financial aid and financial literacy. The educational outcomes of the most recent three classes (Class of 2008-2010) are below:

1 According to a Boston Foundation study, 24% of Boston Public School graduates who attended college (from the Class of 2000, excluding exam schools) completed their 2-4 year degree within 7 years of graduating high school. The complete study can be found at: http://www.tbf.org/uploadedFiles/tbforg/Utility_Navigation/Multimedia_Library/Reports/PIC%20Report.pdf

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Educational/Prof Outcomes of CACPS Class of '08-'10

84%

5%

2%

2%

5%

2%

Enrolled in College (2 and 4 yr)

Graduated (2 yr)

Military; enrolled in College

Transitioning back to college

Working

Other

This year, one student was selected for the prestigious Posse Scholarship; the student will be attending Bryn Mawr in the fall. This represents the school’s 3rd Posse Scholar over the past three years. Two students received significant scholarships including a full scholarship to do postgraduate work at Northfield Mount Hermon School and a Martin Luther King scholarship to attend Providence College. For the first time, two Codman alumni were invited to participate in an Expeditionary Learning symposium at Harvard University. Students provided an essential viewpoint on the efficacy of the ELS model to senior ELS administrators, school designers, and teachers.

Goal #5: Parents, students, and community partners will continue to be satisfied with their experience at Codman.

Measures/Outcomes

1. 75% of parents will complete annual parent satisfaction survey with 90% or more rating Codman B or above. The survey will measure the level of satisfaction around academic program, extra-curricular program, school communication, school safety, and summer programming. The school has nearly met this measure. 85% of parents completed the annual survey. 89% rated the school at a B or above; 90% rated the school at a B or above in 2009-2010 and 76% rated the school a B or above in 2008-2009. The school views families as integral partners in their child’s education and involves them through a variety of mechanisms including an in-take interview, parent orientation session, annual student/teacher conference, annual school open house, Huntington Theatre Showcase event, access to real-time display online of student grades and behavior reports, daily automatic messages if their child is absent or tardy, progress reports sent home three times a year and associated contact by crew leader, and financial aid, technology and nutrition workshops with Codman staff. Parents are also invited to participate in Saturday courses, on a space available basis.

2. 100% of families will participate once a year in student/teacher conferences. The school has nearly met this measure. 99% of families participated in a student/teacher conference this academic year.

3. Codman Academy’s core community partners (Codman Square Health Center, Huntington Theatre, American Youth Foundation, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project) will complete an evaluation of the program indicating its effectiveness. The school has met this measure. The school completed its annual post-mortem evaluation with the Huntington Theatre, American Youth Foundation, and Codman Square

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Health Center. The school discontinued its partnership this year with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. The Huntington review, which included Codman and Huntington senior administrators and teachers, evaluated year’s highlights and challenges and established a written plan for the upcoming year. Overall, the evaluation team noted tremendous growth for the program and partnership, particularly in the area of production. Identified areas for improvement included scheduling and use of time. The group also reviewed previously established programmatic goals and identified four main goals that would guide the program going forward: 1) Literacy Comprehension and Analytical Skills (written and verbal), 2) Development of strong dramatic performing skills, 3) Exposure to/practice in all aspects of theatre, and 4) Development of teamwork and ensemble. Similarly, Codman and American Youth Foundation staff completed an evaluation of this year’s Camp Merrowvista program. Identified successes were student leadership, student engagement, and effectiveness of Merrowvista staff. Identified areas for growth include: incorporating a theme that can be brought back to school and increasing collaboration between crew leaders and Merrowvisa staff. The 11th and 12th grade internship program has continued to deepen the school’s partnership with the Codman Square Health Center (CSHC). As part of the partnership, the Senior Internship Coordinator met with a health center representative to evaluate the program and make adjustments for the following year. CSHC was the recent recipient of the First Mayoral Prize for Innovation in Health Care, recognizing the organization’s partnership with Codman Academy.

Common School Performance Criteria Summary on 1) Implementation of Mission, Vision, and Education Philosophy and 2) Implementation of the governance/leadership structure. The extent to which Codman Academy implements its mission, vision and education philosophy is answered above in response to our Accountability Plan measures. A description and evidence of the school’s governance and leadership structure can be found in the Organizational Viability section.

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Academic Program Success

Goal #1: Students will achieve proficiency, as defined by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in English, mathematics, and physics.

Measures/Outcomes

1. The school will achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets as set by the Commonwealth for all subjects and student subgroups each year of the charter period. The school has not met this measure. While Codman Academy has met AYP targets for both Math and English Language Arts for the previous seven years, the school did not make AYP in English Language Arts for 2009-2010. It is worth noting however, that Codman’s 2010 MCAS Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) were high in both subjects:

• 2010 Math MCAS: Codman Academy students had a median SGP of 78, putting the school in the top 5% of schools state-wide.

• 2010 ELA MCAS: Codman Academy students had a median SGP of 66, putting the school in the top 15% of schools state-wide.

While the 2011 MCAS results not yet been released, internal periodic assessments indicate that performance will be as good or better. In math, average student scores on diagnostic tests rose from 234 to 250 over the span of the year. In ELA, average student scores rose from 223 to 242. These accomplishments are the result of hard work on the part of the school’s teaching staff and as well as the school’s Tutors for All program, which provides each 9th and 10th grade student with 66 hours of personalized tutoring sessions over the course of the school year. A full report on the school’s AYP results, including subgroup information, can be found on the following page. The school’s complete MCAS report, including subgroup performance, can be found on the DOE website.

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Goal #2: Students will be provided access to, qualify for, and be ready to succeed in an institution of higher education which best meets their goals and needs.

Measures/Outcomes

1. 100% of graduating seniors will be accepted into college. The school has met this measure. 100% of graduating seniors were accepted to college.

2. Graduating seniors will have proven mastery, scoring a 70% or above in all core academic courses prior to graduating as well as meeting all other graduation requirements. The school has met this measure. All graduating students achieved a 70% or better in all core academic courses and completed all other graduation requirements, including their senior professional internship and graduation portfolios.

Common School Performance Criteria Summary on Academic Program Success:

• Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS): The school’s response to this criterion is provided above in reporting on the school’s accountability plan.

• Other achievement, improvement, or assessment measures: Internal assessment data pertaining to the MCAS diagnostic testing and the school’s Tutorial program can be found above in the school’s reporting on the accountability plan. As part of Codman Academy’s literacy initiatives this year, the school replaced the Degrees of Reading Powers test with the GRADE assessment system to provide teachers and administrators with additional data to identify deficiencies related to student reading ability (e.g. decoding, fluency, comprehension, etc). The GRADE was administered to students in grades 9-11. Unfortunately, results from the GRADE were uneven and an analysis of student scores suggests that students did not perform to their abilities on the test. As result, the Principal is working with other members of the Literacy Team to ensure stronger implementation of the GRADE next year.

• Curriculum: The school’s curriculum, based on Expeditionary Learning design principles, is fully aligned with the Massachusetts Curricular Frameworks. The school is in the process of refining the curriculum so that it meets new frameworks released in 2011. The curriculum includes four years of humanities, integrating history and literature. The class sequence is: World History and Literature I (grade 9), United States History and Literature I (grade 10), United States History and Literature II (grade 11), and World History and Literature II (grade 12). Students are required to complete four years of math and laboratory science. The math class sequence is: Algebra I (grade 9), Geometry (grade 10), Algebra II (grade 11), and Pre-Calculus or Calculus (grade 12). The science sequence is: Physical Science (grade 9), Physics (grade 10), Chemistry (grade 11 or 12), and Biology (grade 11 or 12). Two years of foreign language are required: French I in grade 11 and French II in grade 12. Students complete interdisciplinary Passage Portfolio assignments in the 10th and 12th grades. Additionally, all students are required to complete 4 years of physical education/wellness, 1 year of studio or performing arts, 8 Saturday class credits, two summers of approved enrichment programs, and 1 internship experience.

In response to data collected and the recommendations of an ad-hoc faculty literacy workgroup in the 2009-2010 year, the school instituted a number of initiatives aimed at improving student literacy skills. The school created a standing literacy workgroup that worked with individual teachers and developed professional development sessions aimed at integrating literacy into the curriculum across disciplines. The Literacy Working Group instituted a school based approach to literacy by requiring every student to participate in DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) for 30 minutes, 3x/week. During DEAR, students

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engage in silent, sustained reading of a book or article of their choosing. As part of the program, a small group of students volunteered to staff the library in order to help students choose books for DEAR.

Curricular changes in particular courses included: • Humanities 9: Students who were identified as low-skilled were placed into an additional reading

class using the Wilson Reading System. 9 students were placed into the class, based on test results that revealed literacy skills at or below a 5th grade reading level. In order to better prepare students for the 10th grade ELA MCAS, students started open response practice in Trimester 3. Additionally, all 9th grade students continued to receive literacy tutoring through the Tutorial program.

• Humanities 10: In order to better prepare students for the ELA MCAS, students completed twice as many long compositions as the year prior.

• Humanities 11: While the course continued to use the same historical and ELA content as last year, the curriculum was reorganized around new essential questions. A new oral history and spoken word component was also added (in partnership with the Kit Clark Senior Center) in which students collected oral histories and used them to develop poetry.

• Humanities 12: An investigation examining the Chilean Coup of 1973 and citizens’ agency in resisting the Pinochet regime was added to the course curriculum in lieu of a literature study. Major products included a comparative historical paper and summative exam.

• Math 9-12: Teachers further differentiated instruction and assignments in each grade to offer more difficult work for accelerated students.

• Instruction: Each year, Codman Academy benefits from the support and expertise of an Expeditionary

Learning school designer who meets with teachers and administrators, provides one-on-one coaching, and conducts professional development sessions to support in curriculum design, improving instruction, and using effective assessment practices. The school’s schedule provides extensive common planning time, allowing faculty to work in both grade-level and department teams to insure proper implementation and share best practices.

Instructional changes in particular courses included: • Math 10: In geometry, the teacher experimented with different instructional practices to

differentiate the classroom. Specifically, the teacher used a diagnostic assessment to create separate homogenous learning groups that would tackle learning targets based on student skill. The teacher also used technology as a way of delivering content so students could progress at their own pace. Student progress was tracked and students received targeted support based on need.

• Classroom and school environment: Codman Academy has a robust behavior management system to

track student behavior, reward positive choices, and hold students accountable when expectations are not met. The Citizenship system, designed in 2004 by the faculty and built by George Brackett, Ph.D., is a computer based application that provides real-time data to students, families, and faculty. Each student starts the trimester with 500 Citizenship Points. Using personal computers, staff award positive points (for behaviors such as leadership or service) and negative points (for behaviors such as uniform infractions or disrespectful speech) to students in real time. Students who reach 1000 points are added to the Citizenship Honor Roll, receiving a special prize each trimester (e.g. movie passes, restaurant gift certificates, bookstore coupons, etc) and are eligible for special field trips over the course of the year (major league sports events, dinners, theater tickets, etc). Students below 200 points are assigned detention. Interventions and/or suspension hearings are scheduled for students who are below 200 points for multiple weeks with the goal of helping the student be successful. The spirit of the system is to follow the

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norms of our community, and to move from external feedback (points, consequences) to internal feedback and self-control as students mature over the course of their education. Additional information relating to this expectation, as well as a summary of student suspensions, can be found in the school’s response to accountability measures relating to Faithfulness to charter. The school made few adjustments to the student accountability approach this year other than adopting a school-wide Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan (submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) and marking students sent home for behavioral reasons as suspended.

• Diverse learners: Codman Academy has a strong track record of meeting the needs of diverse learners. The school’s special education population represents 25% of the student body, a higher percentage of special education students than area charter schools, the district average, or state average. The school continued to implement a number of strategies to ensure equal access and success for all students, including special education students and English language learners (which comprised less than 1% of the student population).

The school’s approach includes: • Expeditionary Learning Curriculum: The school’s curriculum emphasizes project-based learning,

an approach well suited to special education students. Research from the Expeditionary Learning Schools across the country substantiates this finding; special education students perform noticeably well in ELS schools compared to other students, outperforming their district peers. 2

• Small Classes/Teacher to Student Ratio: Codman Academy’s classes are intentionally small, allowing teachers to differentiate instruction and support for the diverse needs of learners. Average class size is 14 for mainstream classes; the school’s substantially separate classroom is significantly smaller and has a 1:6 teacher to student ratio.

• Higher Learning Institute (Substantially Separate Classroom): The school’s substantially separate classroom served 6 students in 2010-2011 (2 in Grade 10, 2 in Grade 11, and 2 in Grade 12).

• Student Support Team (SST): The school’s SST, comprised of the Principal, Dean of Students, Dean of Enrichment, Social Worker, and Special Education Coordinator, met weekly to discuss referred students, build targeted supports, and establish action plans to address concerns.

• Strong staffing structure: o The school’s Special Education Coordinator oversees the school’s program and ensures

compliance full compliance with applicable state and federal laws regarding students with disabilities.

o The school hires full-time inclusions associates to support inclusion classrooms and special education teachers to support special education students. Additionally, the school contracts with outside contractors to provide additional services.

o The school has a full-time social worker who provided counseling services to 13 students and referred 20 additional students for off-site counseling. The social worker met weekly with identified special needs students and those needing additional academic and/or emotional support. They also led a social skills group to assist students with a variety of conditions including Asperger’s Sydnrome, Dandywalker Syndrome, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Our social worker conducted an extensive individual intake interview with each parent and incoming student.

A language assessment survey is administered to all incoming students to identify potential English language learners; students who may be sub-proficient in English language skills complete a language assessment exam to determine eligibility. The school ensures that the curriculum and program is fully

2 http://elschools.org/our-results/academic-achievement

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accessible to all students. Special education students and English language learners receive services based on need (as evident in student IEP and 504 plans) and applicable state and federal laws. Codman Academy is now in full compliance for the special education section of the Coordinated Program Review. The school will submit documentation for the remaining sections (ELL, civil rights) in August. Departmental changes this year included scheduling a permanent special education monthly meeting, adjusting discipline policies to meet state and federal requirements, and referring all special education students during their 11th grade year (with parental/student consent) to the Bureau of Transitional Planning for support in college and the work place. The school’s assessment of special education promotion rates this year reveals that special education students were promoted at similar levels as their non-disabled peers; five students with IEP’s were held-back in the 9th grade and one in the 11th grade. The school expects to serve a higher percentage of English language learners in the years ahead due to the school’s recruitment and retention activities, as documented in the attached Recruitment and Retention Plan.

Professional climate: The school’s primary mechanism for providing formal feedback to teachers is through routine Principal observations. The school uses an adapted version of Kim Marshall’s teacher evaluation rubrics for annual teacher evaluations, which include a self-evaluation component. Teachers are evaluated in the following areas: 1) planning and preparation for learning, 2) classroom management, 3) delivery of instruction, 4) monitoring, assessment, and follow up, 5) family and community out-reach, and 5) professional responsibilities. The rubrics are designed to give teachers a year-end assessment on where they stand in the performance areas—and detailed guidance on how to improve. Teachers who are not meeting expectations are provided with additional supports. Teachers that fail to make sufficient progress are terminated. See the attachment section for example evaluation tools. In addition to observations, the Principal meets frequently with teachers to review all aspects of curricular implementation, as well as instructional and assessment practices. School structures intentionally support the growth of teachers; extensive common planning time is provided throughout the span of the day/year allowing teachers to meet weekly in grade and departmental teams. All teachers also participate in at least one day of peer observations to share and learn from best practices throughout the school. Several of the major professional development activities during the 2010-2011 school year have been addressed in the accountability plan objectives relating to the Faithfulness to Charter. Additions to this year’s professional development plan included PD related to building a school-wide culture of reading and interdisciplinary approach to literacy. The school’s Principal and ELS school designer provided professional development on how to effectively teach reading (e.g. basic reading strategies, using vocabulary that is specific to the discipline to allow for greater access, etc.) Equity was an additional focus of the 2010-2011 professional development plan. Equity professional development asks staff to look inward, examining their identity to see where it aligns and does not align with the identity of the school’s students, as increased awareness will lead to stronger teaching practices. The school’s August equity session centered on cultural wealth; staff members discussed Tara Yosso’s article, “Whose Culture Has Capital”, looking the linguistic capital, resistance capital, and familial capital of the students. In January, a panel of teachers discussed different approaches they took to difficult conversations with students around race, sexual violence, etc. In the June session, staff engaged in role plays in which they responded to difficult student situations. During the final session of the year, staff shared positive and critical feedback using the beehive protocol. School climate surveys and faculty feedback will be used to gauge the effectiveness of equity sessions and results from the GRADE, ELS implementation reviews, as well as faculty feedback, will be used in evaluating the strength of literacy professional development. As part of the school’s partnership with Expeditionary Learning Schools, teachers and other staff can attend EL institutes and workshops across the country in order to further improve their practice.

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In addition to providing staff with frequent feedback and structures that foster collaboration, the school uses a decision making matrix in order to clarify roles and responsibilities so that staff have a clear sense of purpose and job function. These measures, coupled with the annual ratification of staff non-negotiables, helps promote a staff culture that emphasizes accountability, performance, ownership, and teamwork. This year, the school conducted its first school climate survey, using the same tool and process as the Boston Public School district. The survey, which assessed school climate conditions based on student and staff responses, provides valuable feedback to school leaders. Results indicate a positive school climate; 100% of teachers would recommend the school as a good place to teach and 87% of students stated that the school is a good place to learn. A summary of results can be found in the attachment section. The school also conducted a student survey to gather information regarding student study and lifestyle habits and as well as student perceptions of school programs. Codman Academy aims at creating a supportive, collegial environment that attracts outstanding educators and leads to retention of highly effective staff. As has historically been the case, the school retained the majority of its staff this year; 85% of positions next year (excluding new positions) will be filled by returning staff. At the end of this academic year, three staff left for personal reasons and one staff member’s contract was not renewed.

CACPS Staff Retention: 2005-2011

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012

% New Faculty (excluding newpositions)

% Returning Faculty

Assessment and instructional decision-making: The school’s assessment strategy includes a mix of internal and external assessments of student progress. All students complete Passage Portfolios in the 10th and 12th grade. Portfolio assessment is the process by which students prepare a selection of work that demonstrates knowledge, abilities and growth. Students then present their work to a panel comprised of faculty, students, and a family member. In addition to classroom quizzes, interim assessments, and final exams, students take annual external assessments in math and literacy. As part of the school’s literacy initiative, all students take the GRADE exam. Additionally, students in 9th and 10th grade are assessed in math using the GMADE, as part of the Saturday Tutorial Program. Data from both exams is shared with teachers in order to help refine curriculums, tailor assignments, and differentiate instruction. Data also allows Saturday tutors to provide a customized one-on-one curriculum. As part of the tutorial curriculum,

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students take a series of ongoing assessments to measure growth. This year, the school also piloted a standard-based assessment approach in the 10th grade. As part of the pilot, grades were criterion-referenced (rubric referenced) for all assignments on a four-level grading system. Consequently, grades were organized under ‘big’ learning target categories instead of assignment type categories. The result is that student grades were based largely on ends over means (e.g. demonstration of proficiency rather than homework, habits of work). Student performance in the 10th grade was strong; internal assessments revealed high student growth percentiles (see the school’s response to Goal 1, above) and 100% of the 10th grade class was promoted to 11th grade. Program Evaluation: The school receives valuable external evaluations by the Department of Elementary and Secondary education as well as Expeditionary Learning Schools (see Goal 1, Measure 1 under Faithfulness to Charter). In response to feedback received from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the school conducted physical restraint training on August 24, 2011 during professional development. The school also adapted disciplinarily procedures to ensure full compliance with state and federal laws. Each June, the entire staff meets during professional development to debrief the academic year, highlight successes, and discuss opportunities for programmatic and curricular improvements. Administrators make adjustments based on these sessions, external evaluations, student data (include assessment data, grades, promotion rates, attendance data, Citizenship data, and attrition rates), student surveys, and family surveys. The major modification made to the program this year, based on this process, was the school’s literacy initiative which is described in detail throughout the report.

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Organizational Viability

Goal #1: The school will continue to be a viable organization.

Measures/Outcomes

1. The school will be fiscally sound. It will receive an unqualified opinion on its annual financial statements from its auditor. The school has met this measure. Codman Academy received an unqualified opinion on its FY10 financial statements.

2. The board will evaluate the Executive Director on a bi-annual basis in accordance with outlines goals and review protocols. The school has met this measure. The Board will conduct its next evaluation of the Executive Director in the summer of 2012.

3. At each September board meeting, the Board of Trustees will establish a set of board objectives aligned with the school’s strategic vision and will accomplish 75% by the end of each fiscal year. The school has not met this measure. The Board did not establish a set of board objectives in September, but did focus on two key areas over the course of the year: expansion and student performance data (including external assessments, retention rates, and graduation rates). The Board considered the question of whether the school should expand during the November meeting and requested faculty feedback. School leaders convened a faculty working group in December and results were presented to the Board at the January meeting. The Board approved the initiation of a planning process for a feeder elementary and middle school on January 4, 2011. The school was advised not to submit an application by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education given the lack of available seats in the district. The school took the Department’s counsel, but is eager to apply for a K-8 school in the future. Over the course of the year, the Board also reviewed student performance data, including results from external exams (SAT, MCAS), graduation rates, and attrition rates. As result of this process, in May the Board decided to convene a standing Academic Achievement Committee charged with reviewing student performance data and conducting annual departmental reviews. .

4. At least 85% of students who are enrolled at Codman on October 1 of each year will re-enroll and be in attendance as of October 1 of the subsequent school year, exclusive of those students who move out of the city of Boston or graduate. The school has met this measure. Approximately 87% of students who were enrolled as of October 1, 2009 were enrolled as students as of October 1, 2010, an 8% increase from 2009-2010. According to school data, 8 students left over the course of the 2009-2010 academic year, 8 over the 2010 summer, and 2 between the start of the 2010-2011 academic year and October 1, 2010. The vast majority of students who transfer out do so because they failed to earn passing grades (70% or higher) in one or more classes. Activities undertook as part of the school’s Recruitment and Retention Plan have boosted the school’s retention rate over the past three years. See the plan for further details.

Goal #2: The school will demonstrate a strong commitment to dissemination of best practices.

Measures/Outcomes

1. The school’s web site (www.codmanacademy.org) will have at least 65,000 visits per year. The school has met this measure. This year, Codman Academy overhauled its website to provide a more user-friendly experience for prospective students/families, visitors, outside educators, and internal users. As part of the redesign, all components of the new website are available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Chinese. In addition to featuring curricular examples and student work, the new website better highlights the school’s distinctive qualities and core partnerships. All internal and external

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evaluations of the school are also available on the new site. Because of the transition to a new webhost, the school only has partial year visitor data. According to data, the website received 38, 629 visits from February, 2011-July, 2011, representing 71, 487 page views and 10, 907 unique visitors. The school’s average visits/month (6438) puts it well on track for over 65,000 annual visits.

2. Positive feedback from 100% of visitors to school. The school has met this measure. Each year, Codman Academy plays host to countless visitors from around the world. The school asks every visitor to complete a feedback form. This year, the school received positive feedback from nearly 60 visitors who came on behalf of secondary schools, universities, governmental agencies, and research organizations. The school expects an increase in visitors next year as part of being recently named an Expeditionary Learning Mentor School. As a Mentor School, Codman Academy joins a small number of high performing ELS schools that offer annual professional development sessions for educators across the network. We maintain a binder of feedback forms in which all visitors share their impressions. During the 2010-2011 school year, visitors included:

• Massachusetts Department of Public Health: John Xuerbach, Commissioner, Laura York, Director

• Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Carol Goodenow, Director of School Health Programs

• Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard Universi ty: Ryan Fagan, Research Manager

• Expeditionary Learning Schools: Scott Mengel, Chief Growth Officer and Winston Cox, Director of Turn-around Schools

• Singapore Visitor Tour: Representing Singapore Middle School, White Sands Primary School, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School, and the National Institute of Education

• Israel Education Department: Mira Shanan, Department Manager, Education Department and Head of the High School Department, Ramat Gan Municipality Education Department, Israel

• United Kingdom Visitor Tour: Representing Beauchamp College, John Cleveland College and the Leading Edge Project.

• St Johns Fisher College: Richard DeJesus-Rueff, Vice President for Student Affairs and Diversity Initiatives

• Visitors from universities and organizations including Boston Area Health Education Center (UMass), Children’s Hospital-Boston, Harvard Business School, Teach for America, and Brandeis University.

3. At least one major news story about our work annually. The school has met this measure. Significant press highlighting Codman’s successes in 2010-2011 includes:

• STUDENT ADVICE FOR HIRING TEACHERS - (Huffington Post Blog, 6/10/11) • TEST SEASON - (Huffington Post Blog, 5/30/11) • ED EXTRA: HEALTHY APPETITE - (Harvard Ed. Magazine, 5/13/11)

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• JUNK FOOD FREE: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER YOUNG PEOPLE TO MAKE CHANGE - (Huffington Post Blog, 4/7/11)

• STUDENTS PLEDGE TO FIGHT OBESITY - (WBUR.org, 4/5/11) • DORCHESTER STUDENTS LEAD PRIZE-WINNING WAR ON JUNK FOOD - (WBUR.org, 3/31/11) • BOSTON SCHOOL GOES JUNK FOOD FREE - (Channel 5 News Boston, 3/23/11) • URBAN UPDATE: FEATURED GUEST - MEG CAMPBELL (Channel 7 News Boston, 1/23/11) • BE HEALTHY - (Bay State Banner, 1/6/11) • MSNBC's LAWRENCE O'DONNELL LIFTS KIDS IN MALAWI ONE DESK AT A TIME - (The Grio,

1/6/11)

Note: All press highlighting the school is posted to our main webpage.

4. Each faculty member of subject matter (i.e. Math, Humanities, Science or student support) shall publish at least one learning expedition or article to our public web site. We will send at least one faculty member or team to present their work at the annual Expeditionary Learning Schools conference. The school has partially met this measure. The school did not publish a learning expedition or faculty article to its website in 2010-2011 as the school is moving to a new dissemination format for learning expeditions as part of being named an El Mentor School. This year, a team of six teachers and administrators attended Expeditionary Learning School’s annual conference in Portland, Oregon. For the first time, the school was awarded master class presentations for all applications submitted (five in total). Classes presented, based on the theme ‘Fresh Thinking about Student Achievement: Supporting Success for All Students in Expeditionary Learning Schools’, included Co-Teaching Done Right, Supporting the Ferment of Ideas: Structuring and Scaffolding Classroom Discussion Protocols, and The Road to Opportunity—College Expeditions.

Common Schools Performance Criteria on Organization Viability:

• Policy Decisions: Major policy decisions made by the school’s board of trustees during the 2010-2011 school year include:

• The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to amend bylaws to allow up to 16 board members to serve, a 1 member increase.

• The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to amend the school’s uniform policy to include shorts. This decision came as result of a student led initiative in which students did research into policies at various charter schools and submitted a petition which was signed by 95% of the student body.

• The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to start a standing Academic Achievement Committee. The committee, which will go into effect next year, will analyze internal and external student achievement data.

Officers for the board of trustees include President, Vice-President, Clerk and Treasurer. The President and Vice-President develop the monthly agenda with the Executive Director. It is a board policy to generally bring up items at one meeting but wait until the next meeting to take a vote. This practice promotes greater deliberation by the board. The board committees report at the board meetings and include: Finance, Nominating, Development, Facilities and Executive Director's Evaluation.

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At Codman, teachers are organized in departmental and grade teams. Each departmental and grade team has a team leader/facilitator. The Student Support Team is an additional team comprised of the Principal, Special Education Coordinator, Dean of Students, and Social Worker. Teachers report to the Principal, as does the Dean of Students, Special Education Coordinator, Internship Coordinator, and Academic Support Coordinator. The Principal reports to the Executive Director, as does the Student Services Team, comprised of the Dean of Enrichment, Dean of Alumni, Social Worker, Director of Development, Director of Technology, Wellness Director, Director of Tutorial/Title I, Business Manager, and Office Manager. The Executive Director reports to The Board of Trustees. An organizational chart can be found in the data section of the report.

• Amendments to Charter: There were no amendments made to the school’s charter in 2010-2011.

• Complaints: The Board received two official complaints over the course of the year. The first complaint, submitted in November and discussed at the December meeting, expressed a parent’s frustration with the school’s response to an alleged assault. As result of the complaint, the Principal and Executive Director met with the parent regarding the issue, reviewed school discipline and bullying policies, and presented a report to the Board regarding the implementation of the school’s bullying policy, which was adopted in November. School leaders also issued an apology to the family for failing to help them feel that they received appropriate communication. Though school leaders and parents disagree as to the extent of the alleged injury, both parties agreed to move forward and parents report the student is now doing fine. The second complaint, received in May and discussed at the May Board meeting, was a parent’s appeal of a student suspension issued by the school’s Principal. As part of the appeal process, the Executive Director conducted an investigation and grievance hearing and upheld the suspension, finding the student in violation of the school’s code of conduct. The Board of Trustees upheld the suspension based on a review of the reports received.

• Oversight: The Board will complete its bi-annual review of the Executive Director next summer; the last review was in the summer of 2010. By design, the evaluation takes into account feedback from various constituencies (i.e. classroom teachers, administrators, and students/families). Academic and non-academic (i.e. student support or development) departments take turns presenting their work and taking Q&A at board meetings. The board also reviews external evaluations of the school including the annual Expeditionary Learning School implementation review and site visit feedback from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Each year, the board thoroughly reviews internal and external student achievement data, as discussed in the school’s response to Organizational Viability Goal 1.

• Board Planning: See Organizational Viability Goal 1

• Family Engagement: See Faithfulness to Charter, Goal 5

• Safety: See Faithfulness to Charter, Goal 2 and 3 for information pertaining to the school’s behavior management system, suspension hearing process, and methods for addressing social, emotional, and health needs of the school’s students.

The school is committed to providing a safe and orderly environment where students can achieve academic success. Any practice violating the school policy is entirely unacceptable and any students engaged in such activity are removed from the school for a length of time determined by the Principal based on the school’s code of conduct. Students and their families have the right to attend a safe school, and Codman Academy does not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment or intolerance. If there is

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evidence of clear and imminent danger or harm to a student and/or others, staff members are legally required to report this information to the authorities responsible for ensuring safety. Massachusetts state law requires that any staff member at Codman, who learns of, or strongly suspects physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect of a child, must report this information to the appropriate state agency. At Codman all reports of any abuse go directly to the School Social Worker and/or Student Support Team. The school takes an assertive and active role in protecting its students and staff from harassment. Harassment in any form is not tolerated on school grounds, at school-sponsored events or activities, or while traveling to and from school or school-sponsored events or activities. A complete harassment policy can be found in the school’s Student-Family Handbook. Codman’s Board of Trustees recently approved a School Bullying Policy, in order to ensure the safety of all students, and this policy was reviewed with the entire staff during the year.

• Employee Qualifications: The school’s Principal met with teachers to ensure that those who were not qualified moved towards being qualified and receiving certification. This year, two staff members made progress on certifications. All other staff made no changes to their status.

• Allison Poirot (11th Grade Humanities): Submitted paperwork for initial license for history/political science. DESE Status: Ready for review.

• David Liebowitz (12th Grade Humanities): Completed certification to earn teaching license for history.

• Financial Oversight: Faculty and staff completed an informal survey in which all respondents were asked to submit departmental requests for FY 12. The Director of Development, in consultation with the development committee, Foundation Board and Executive Director, made preliminary predictions for FY12 fundraising results. The Board of Trustees reviewed and approved FY12 budget at its June 7th board meeting. The school’s FY12 budget is presented in Section 9 of the report, as well as the unaudited FY11 statement of revenues, expenses, and net assets.

• Recruitment, Enrollment, and Retention Strategies: Codman Academy successfully met our recruitment and retention goals, by adding a few concentrated and purposeful changes to the 2010-2011 recruitment and retention plan. The school nearly tripled the applicant pool from the pervious school year, with close to 600 applicants. This can be partly attributed to the fact that the school sent out a mailing, which included an application for admission, to every single 8th grade family in the Boston Public School district. Labels were provided, upon our request, by the district. By coding the applications, the school learned that these applications accounted for nearly 1/3 of our applicant pool. This mailing also led to a diverse applicant pool that is more representative of the sending district. Given that we identified ELL as an area of weakness in our recruitment plan, we increased our efforts in this category. Translators were present at all information sessions and open houses, and we partnered with ELL organizations to help support our newly admitted ELL students and families to be sure they understood the next steps in the admissions process. Because of our increased efforts, Codman Academy’s applicant pool included an increased number of ELL students. And, while there has been some change, our special education population remains higher than both the sending district and area charter schools. We are proud of our efforts to recruit a diverse population of students and look forward to improving and reflecting upon our plans in the coming year.

This year, Codman Academy saw its re-enrollment rate clime to 87%, an eight percent increase from last year. Much of this can be attributed to the school’s strategy to increase academic and social supports for

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our students, particularly in the 9th and 10th grade. Our emphasis on skill building through our mandatory tutorial and study hall keeps students who could fall behind engaged, and significantly increases their skill level. Additionally, this year we provided additional summer credit recovery options. Our new summer school partnership with Academy of the Pacific Rim allowed two 9th grade students to be promoted to the 10th grade this past year. Without this opportunity, those students would have repeated the 9th grade or left of our school for the sending district. Our student support team continues to do an exemplary job identifying students in need of additional support and following up to be sure the support is received. The intervention strategies implemented by student support team continue to bolster student retention at the school.

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IV. Recruitment and Retention Plan

I. Recruitment Plan

General Recruitment Activities List recruitment activities undertaken each year which apply to all students.

� Attendance and recruitment at Charter School Showcase � Application and information mailed home to all 8th grade families in Boston � Application and information mailed to all middle and K-8 schools in Boston (charter and district) � Publicized open houses and information sessions on our website � Open houses and information sessions open to all students and families

Recruitment Plan – Goals and Strategies List goals and strategies for recruitment activities for each demographic group.

Demographic Group:

A. Special education students

� Codman Academy will provide information about our SPED programs

at all open houses and information sessions. � We will have all incoming special education students/families will

meet with our Special Education Coordinator during the intake interview process.

� We will publish the successes of special education students at the school.

� Goal: We will continue to serve a higher proportion of special education students than area charter schools.

Demographic Group: B. Limited English-proficient students

� Codman Academy will provide Spanish translators at all information

and orientation sessions. � We will provide application and advertisement materials in multiple

languages. � We will use bilingual staff at Codman Academy and the Codman

Academy Health Center to speak with families in their respective home languages via phone to address questions/concerns about the school.

� We will continue to attend the high school recruitment fair at the bilingual Hernandez Middle School.

� We will let potential ELL students know that we provide access and support for English Language Learners according to State and Federal requirements.

� Goal: Based on these recruitment strategies, the school’s applicant pool will become increasingly representative of the demographics of the sending district, especially in the area of English language learners.

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Demographic Group: C. Students eligible for free lunch

� Codman Academy will engage in recruitment at local middle schools

that serve a high number of low-income students. Specific schools include the Harbor School, Smith Leadership Academy, and Young Achievers.

� We will provide a free breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack to every student, regardless of their income, to reduce stigma for students in this demographic group.

� Goal: The school’s student demographics will be similar to that of the sending district, particularly in the area of low-income students (as defined by free and reduced priced lunch).

Demographic Group: D. Students eligible for reduced price lunch

� Codman Academy will engage in recruitment at local middle schools

that serve a high number of low-income students. Specific schools include the Harbor School, Smith Leadership Academy, and Young Achievers.

� We will provide a free breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack to every student, regardless of their income, to reduce stigma for students in this demographic group.

� Goal: The school’s student demographics will be similar to that of the sending district, particularly in the area of low-income students (as defined by free and reduced priced lunch).

Demographic Group: E. Students who are sub-proficient

� Codman Academy will recruit from middle schools where a large

percentage of the students are sub proficient. � We will partner with Citizens Schools in this endeavor. � We will offer individual tutoring to all students in grade 9 and 10. This

is especially attractive to students and to families of students who are sub-proficient.

� Goal: Student growth percentiles (SGP) on state standardized exams will exceed state and district averages.

Demographic Group: F. Students at risk of dropping out of school

� Indicators of drop out include low 3rd grade ELA MCAS scores and

low 8th grade math MCAS scores. As stated above, Codman Academy actively recruits from middle schools that serve a large percentage of sub proficient students and meet these drop-out risk factors.

� Additional risk factors that can lead to drop out include being from a low-income background, and/or being labeled as a special education student. 70% of enrolled students at Codman Academy are on free and reduced lunch and 25% of students are classified as special education.

� We will offer a comprehensive student support program. These supports will be clearly communicated to families and students, helping us serve students who are at risk of dropping out. These supports include: crew, student support team, and counseling services.

� Goal: The school’s annual October-October re-enrollment rate, as calculated in the Annual Report, will exceed 85%.

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Demographic Group: G. Students who have dropped out of school

� Given that the vast majority of students who drop out are above

our entry point, Codman Academy’s recruitment options are limited in this area.

� That being said, Codman Academy will work hard to retain students who are at risk of leaving the school, leaving the school system or dropping out of high school.

� The student support team will identify these students and create individual plans to ensure they graduate from Codman Academy or another high school. Strategies include: home visits with families, referral for services, and/or referrals to area high schools.

� Of 5 repeating seniors identified to fit this category in 2010-2011, three out of the five graduated from the district or Codman. The other 2 are in enrolled in summer school courses that should lead to graduation.

Demographic Group(s): H. Other subgroups of students who should be targeted to eliminate the achievement gap

II. Retention Plan

Overall Student Retention Goal

Annual goal for student retention (percentage):

The primary reason students leave the school is due to not earning sufficient grades for promotion to the next grade level. At Codman Academy, students are required to earn a minimum of 70% in all core classes in order to advance to the next grade level; students who earn below a 70% in one or two classes may choose to recover the credit through approved summer programs. Students who earn below a 70% in more than two classes are slated to repeat the grade. The vast majority of repeating students are in Grade 9. As such, the school has put into place a number of targeted support programs aimed at increasing student retention without lowering academic standards.

During the 2010-2011 school year, Codman Academy lost 10 students. 1 student left to be home schooled, 1 student was expelled and 8 returned to the sending district. Goal: Codman Academy’s retention goal is 86%.

Retention Plan Goals and Strategies -- List goals and strategies for retention activities

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Summer Enrichment Partnerships

At Codman Academy students must complete 2 summer credits to graduate. These summer credits can range from participation in leadership conferences to work as a camp counselor. A staff member at the school works to find fabulous opportunities for our students. Students who might otherwise leave Codman Academy are attracted to stay in order to take advantage of these opportunities. We continue to hold strong partnerships with the American Youth Foundation (AYF) and the Huntington Theatre. This year AYF granted two students full scholarships for Outward Bound experiences. One student will attend a 2 week hiking trip through New Hampshire, the other will attend a 3 week biking trip through Nova Scotia. Additionally nearly 30 students will participate in the annual Huntington Theatre/Codman Academy summer program, culminating in several summer showcase performances. Students who participate in this opportunity receive a working T-pass for the summer.

Mandatory Study Hall Analysis of student data has revealed that students who complete daily homework earn good grades, while those who fall behind struggle to earn a promotion. Consequently, the school has implemented a mandatory after school study hall program, Monday-Thursday, from 4:30pm–6:00pm. While open to all students, 9th grade students are automatically enrolled twice a week and need to earn strong grades in order to “skill” out of the program. Next year, the 9th grade schedule will be streamlined and the mandatory study hall program will be offered in the morning. This will allow all 9th grade students to participate in physical education/wellness classes during the late afternoon period.

Summer Credit Recovery Codman Academy has several approved summer programs on and off site, allowing students to recover necessary credits. In previous years, the school has not offered summer credit recovery for humanities given that few schools in the sending district teach humanities as one course. This year Codman Academy partnered with Academy of the Pacific Rim to offer a 9th grade humanities summer credit recover program. This allowed two 9th grade students to be promoted to the 10th grade. 21 students are currently enrolled in summer credit recovery.

Mandatory skill tutoring program

We have dramatically expanded the “Tutors for All” one on one tutorial program, offering each 9th and 10th grade student 66 hours of required one-on-one tutoring over the course of the year. Modeled after the successful program at City on a Hill, we provide 9th and 10th grade students with targeted tutoring support as part of the school’s Saturday Program. Tutors are trained, supported, and supervised by the Director of Tutorial and Title I. Tutors focus on skill building in math, reading, and writing. Testing data reveals that students have made significant growth, as measured by student growth percentiles,

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over their two years in the program.

Revamped Portfolio requirements

We have revamped our 10th and 12th grade portfolio requirements significantly, scaling back project completion requirements in order to focus more on skill building/MCAS preparation than volume of assignments to complete (quality over quantity). The revised process also includes increased amount of student choice in selecting assignments to demonstrate understanding of standards. This has led to a significant increase in 10th and 12th grade promotion rates. Additionally, 9th and 11th grade teachers have carved out significant time in their curriculum to begin working on either the 10th grade or the 12th grade portfolio with the goal of reducing the intensity of the workload in grades 10 and 12.

Additional hires to support school changes

Over the past four years we have invested in human resources to support the changes described above, including the addition of 2 classroom teachers and personnel focused on tutoring (Director of Tutorial), student accountability (Dean of Students), academic support (Academic Support Coordinator) and summer enrichment and college counseling (Program Associate).

Enlarging Initial Class Size We have found that students added to the 9th grade during the academic year perform much worse than students who start the year at our school. As such, we have increased our initial admit class to 55 students and have added a section of grade 9 to accommodate, with the goal of avoiding adding students during the academic year.

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V. Dissemination Efforts

As evidenced throughout the report, Codman Academy Charter Public School is committed to sharing best practices with the local and global community. The school accomplishes this goal through a variety dissemination efforts including partnering with potential district and charter schools, welcoming numerous visitors from around the world into our classes, posting best practices to our redesigned website, and sending staff to other schools and conferences to share best practices. As result of its strong performance and outstanding dissemination record, Codman Academy was recently named a Mentor School by Expeditionary Learning Schools, joining a small number of top ELS schools that host professional development events for educators across the network and contribute best practices to the EL Commons online archives.

This year, the school offered support and expertise to several school design projects across the country, including one school in the local district.

• Margarita Muniz Academy District Innovation School (Boston, MA): Meg Campbell, the school’s Executive Director, was a founding member of Margarita Muniz Academy’s design team, a proposed two-way bilingual Innovation high school in Boston, MA. As part of the team, Campbell offered operational insights as the director of a high expectations, college-preparatory urban high school. Margarita Muniz Academy, which is scheduled to open in September 2012, will draw heavily from Codman’s successful work in curriculum design, internships, tutoring (Tutorial Program), and partnerships. Campbell has been invited to sit on the school’s board of trustees.

• Downtown Library Charter School (San Diego, CA): Codman Academy has also partnered with the Downtown Library Charter School project in San Diego, California, hosting school design member Julie Zoellin Cramer (Senior Research Associate, Center for Education Policy and Law at the University of San Diego) for a recent site visit. Campbell will be visiting the group in August to provide further support. Cramer writes of the partnership, “Through interviews with its Executive Director, Meg Campbell, and a site visit at their Dorchester campus by one of the members of our development team, we were able to see, first hand, the unique environment created by a charter high school operating alongside a community organization. If our proposal is approved, Ms. Campbell has agreed to provide further operational consulting to DCH beginning with an initial consultation in August 2011.”

• Baystate Academy Charter Public School (Springfield, MA): Baystate Academy’s design team was impressed by Codman Academy’s successful partnership (and co-location agreement) with the Codman Square Health Center and plans to establish a similar partnership and co-location agreement with Baystate Health (Baystate Medical Center). Baystate Academy’s design team visited Codman Academy this year to gain insight into the school-health center partnership and to explore best practices that could be replicable in Springfield. Campbell was invited to participate in the design process and Codman Academy has agreed to provide ongoing consultation to Baystate Academy.

• World of Inquiry Middle School (Rochester, NY): Codman Academy hosted a team of educators from World of Inquiry (and ELS network school) who are in the early stages of expanding from a K-8 to a K-12 school. Codman Academy has offered to support World of Inquiry during the expansion process.

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As has historically been the case, Codman Academy faculty and staff continue to receive recognition for their work. Meg Campbell recently received a Huffington Post blog site and was a featured panelist for a “Technology in Schools” panel at the Heckinger Institute (Colombia School of Journalism). Thabiti Brown, the school’s Principal, was recently named to the inaugural cohort of the Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College, joining Principals from charter, district, and parochial schools. Meanwhile, Sydney Chaffee (9th grade humanities teacher) received a Fund for Teachers Award, allowing her to visit South Africa in order to improve her apartheid curriculum and Karen Crounse (11/12th grade math teacher) received the Boston Athenaeum Award, allowing her to expand her expertise in the field of teaching the history of astronomy. Finally, Nora Dowley (Dean of Enrichment) received the 2010 Counselors that Change Lives Award, one of eight selected nationally.