2004-2005 No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program
U.S. Department of Education
Cover Sheet Type of School: X Elementary X Middle __ High __ K-12
Name of Principal: Mrs. Cheri L. Wood
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other) (As it should appear in the official records)
OfficialSchool Name: St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool
(As it should appear in the official records)
School Mailing Address: 33866 Calle La Primavera
(If address is P.O. Box, also include street address)
Dana PointCA92629 -2020
City State Zip Code+4 (9 digits total)
County: OrangeSchool Code Number*: N/A
Telephone ( 949 )496-1241Fax ( 949 ) 496-1819
Website/URLstedward.com E-mail:
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge all information is accurate.
Date______
(Principal’s Signature)
Name of Superintendent*: Father Gerald Horan, Department of Catholic Schools
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
District Name: Diocese of Orange County, CATel. ( 714 )282-3055
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
______Date______
(Superintendent’s Signature)
Name of School Board
President/Chairperson : Mrs. Geri Nealon
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
I have reviewed the information in this package, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
_ Date______
(School Board President’s/Chairperson’s Signature)
*Private Schools: If the information requested is not applicable, write N/A in the space.
PART I ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATION
The signatures on the first page of this application certify that each of the statements below concerning the school's eligibility and compliance with U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) requirements is true and correct.
- The school has some configuration that includes grades K-12. (Schools with one principal, even K-12 schools, must apply as an entire school.)
- The school has not been in school improvement status or been identified by the state as "persistently dangerous" within the last two years. To meet final eligibility, the school must meet the state’s adequate yearly progress requirement in the 2004-2005 school year.
- If the school includes grades 7 or higher, it has foreign language as a part of its core curriculum.
- The school has been in existence for five full years, that is, from at least September 1999 and has not received the 2003 or 2004 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools Award.
- The nominated school or district is not refusing the OCR access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a districtwide compliance review.
- The OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the school district concluding that the nominated school or the district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if the OCR has accepted a corrective action plan from the district to remedy the violation.
- The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that the nominated school, or the school district as a whole, has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution's equal protection clause.
- There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the school or school district in question; or if there are such findings, the state or district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings.
PART II DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
All data are the most recent year available.
DISTRICT (Questions 12 not applicable to private schools)
1.Number of schools in the district: _____ Elementary schools
_____ Middle schools
_____ Junior high schools
_____ High schools
_____ Other
_____ TOTAL
2.District Per Pupil Expenditure: ______
AverageState Per Pupil Expenditure: ______
SCHOOL (To be completed by all schools)
3.Category that best describes the area where the school is located:
[ ]Urban or large central city
[ ]Suburban school with characteristics typical of an urban area
[ X]Suburban
[ ]Small city or town in a rural area
[ ]Rural
4. 4 Number of years the principal has been in her/his position at this school.
If fewer than three years, how long was the previous principal at this school?
5.Number of students as of October 1 enrolled at each grade level or its equivalent in applying school only:
Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade Total / Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade TotalPreK / 7 / 30 / 37 / 67
K / 32 / 35 / 67 / 8 / 19 / 16 / 35
1 / 39 / 33 / 72 / 9
2 / 39 / 33 / 72 / 10
3 / 38 / 33 / 71 / 11
4 / 28 / 38 / 66 / 12
5 / 32 / 35 / 67 / Other
6 / 30 / 35 / 65
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL / 582
[Throughout the document, round numbers to avoid decimals.]
6.Racial/ethnic composition of 89.6 % White
the students in the school: 2.8 % Black or African American
4.8 % Hispanic or Latino
2.6 % Asian/Pacific Islander
0.2 % American Indian/Alaskan Native
100% Total
Use only the five standard categories in reporting the racial/ethnic composition of the school.
7.Student turnover, or mobility rate, during the past year: _1.03_%
(This rate should be calculated using the grid below. The answer to (6) is the mobility rate.)
(1) / Number of students who transferred to the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 3(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 3
(3) / Subtotal of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)] / 6
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1 (same as in #5 above) / 582
(5) / Subtotal in row (3) divided by total in row (4) / 0.00103
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100 / 1.03%
8.Limited English Proficient students in the school: 0_%
0% Total Number Limited English Proficient
Number of languages represented: 0
Specify languages:
9.Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: 0 %
Total number students who qualify: 0
If this method does not produce an accurate estimate of the percentage of students from lowincome families or the school does not participate in the federallysupported lunch program, specify a more accurate estimate, tell why the school chose it, and explain how it arrived at this estimate.
10.Students receiving special education services: __1.0___%
___6____Total Number of Students Served
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
____Autism____Orthopedic Impairment
____Deafness____Other Health Impaired
____Deaf-Blindness__6_Specific Learning Disability
____Hearing Impairment____Speech or Language Impairment
____Mental Retardation____Traumatic Brain Injury
____Multiple Disabilities____Visual Impairment Including Blindness
- Indicate number of fulltime and parttime staff members in each of the categories below:
Number of Staff
Full-timePart-Time
Administrator(s)__2______1___
Classroom teachers__21______10___
Special resource teachers/specialists___1______
Paraprofessionals__18______6___
Support staff______
Total number__42______17___
12.Average school student-“classroom teacher” ratio: 22:1
13.Show the attendance patterns of teachers and students as a percentage. The student dropout rate is defined by the state. The student drop-off rate is the difference between the number of entering students and the number of exiting students from the same cohort. (From the same cohort, subtract the number of exiting students from the number of entering students; divide that number by the number of entering students; multiply by 100 to get the percentage drop-off rate.) Briefly explain in 100 words or fewer any major discrepancy between the dropout rate and the drop-off rate. (Only middle and high schools need to supply dropout rates and only high schools need to supply drop-off rates.)
2003-2004 / 2002-2003 / 2001-2002 / 2000-2001 / 1999-2000Daily student attendance / 99.9% / 99.9% / 99% / 98% / 99%
Daily teacher attendance / 98.7% / 99% / 98% / 97% / 98%
Teacher turnover rate / 7.8% / 2.8% / 9.0% / 3.2% / 3.4%
Student dropout rate (middle/high) / 0% / 0% / 0% / 00% / 0%
Student drop-off rate (high school) / N/A % / N/A % / N/A % / N/A % / N/A %
PART III SUMMARY
St. Edward the Confessor Parish School is a parish school established in 1981 in the Diocese of Orange, California, and is located in an upper middle-class, predominately Caucasian community. St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool serves families who belong to the parish of St. Edward the ConfessorParishChurch. School openings are extended to the surrounding community once the needs of the parish families have been met. St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool serves 582 students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade that reflect a variety of races and ethnicities and use English as their primary language. The existing classes include up to 36 students per class. St. Edward the Confessor currently has four classes in a half-day kindergarten, two classes in each level from grades one through seven and one class in grade eight. Admission projections indicate that enrollment will increase to a capacity of 648 students by the 2005-2006 school year. Current staffing accommodates one classroom teacher and a teaching assistant for every 36 students. The school community includes individuals with disabilities; it has in place and is currently making improvements to accommodate special needs students with an auxiliary program that was initiated in 2000 to service these students and their classroom teachers. St. Edward the Confessor Parish School is a newly remodeled permanent campus that includes 25 classrooms, two lunchrooms, two computers labs, one science lab, one library, one extended-day facility, administrative offices, one physical education office, one staff lounge, one kitchen, and one multi-purpose room/gym. There are three playgrounds, a large field and a large hardtop play area. On campus we also have our parish church, offices, and facility center to serve our parish community. St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool completed the WASC/WCEA visit and evaluation in March 2004 and received a full 6-year term of accreditation until June 30, 2010.
St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool shares in the mission of the church to communicate the Gospel message, to build the Christian community and to serve others. We assist and complement parents as the primary educators of their children in the formation of Catholic standards and values. Through a holistic approach that emphasizes an excellent education in the traditional basic subjects, we strive to develop our students spiritually, intellectually, physically, psychologically, socially, emotionally and multi-culturally.
Diocesan and WCEA/WASC standards require the development of Schoolwide Learning Expectations. These are used in curriculum development and assessment. They are written as follows: A St. Edward the Confessor Parish school graduate is a faith-filled Catholic Christian who understands and models strong Catholic principles, has a Catholic identity, can put their faith into action and can live a “Christ-like” life, is a person who respects and is a guardian of all life, is able to make wise decisions based on good Catholic moral values with a clear understanding of consequences, and is a compassionate and caring person. A graduate is also a life-long learner who is academically knowledgeable, is a critical, independent thinker with good judgment, is able to organize time and tasks in order of priority and urgency, is able to attain the skills necessary to set and achieve goals, and has the desire to never stop growing or adapting to new ideas. Also, a graduate is an integrated individual who has a global vision of one’s role in society, seeing diversity in others and accepting those differences and celebrating them, is a person of character with integrity, accountability, responsibility, and self-discipline, is a steward with the knowledge of self, which leads to a realization of their God given talents, is a health-conscious individual able to make healthy choices, and is an effective communicator. These Schoolwide Learning Expectations guide our curriculum and future planning.
PART IV – INDICATORS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS
St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool participates in the fall norm testing mandated by the Diocese of Orange, Department of Catholic Schools. The mission and focus of the testing is to measure students diagnostically at the beginning of the school year and is not meant to measure school performance. In order to consider these scores in this manner, it is important to note that the norm group would test the knowledge of prior school year after a summer break. In addition, the assessment results reported are comprised of the last two years of ITBS Form A and one year of SAT/9 because the Diocese changed assessment systems during this time. Because of this, longitudinal study can only be statistically performed for the last two years. Another factor that affects the overall results is the number of students tested. During this three-year period, we were still doubling some of the grades in the school, so the number of students tested beginning in 6th grade in 2002 was half the number in the other grades. In reviewing the scores, the percent total number of students varies only due to absent students who were unable to retake the test. Even though these factors affect the study of the results, careful study indicates the St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool students perform at the level that deserves Blue Ribbon recognition.
The Reading Scores reported as percentile ranks indicate that the students significantly exceed the 90th percentile in all grades. This is particularly notable in the intermediate grades of 3rd through 5th. It is expected for 2nd grade to test lower than the other grades, since it is their first experience with standardized testing and our curriculum is not focused upon test preparation. In addition, a new reading textbook series was adopted for K – 5 in the 2001 school year with the intention of improving instruction. Current assessment results in 3rd through 5th support that expectation that the new textbook series would improve learning. In addition, the introduction and wide utilization of Accelerated Reader in 3rd through 8th grades helped to boost our reading comprehension scores. Our focus on literature-based and grammar instruction in the junior high grades has maintained higher percentiles as well. Sustaining and improving our current strategies will continue these high standards in reading scores.
The Mathematics Scores with computation are also reported as percentile ranks. The scores indicate that the students exceed the 90th percentile over the three years with lower scores seen in 2nd and 6th grade. Again, it is expected for 2nd grade to test lower than the other grades, as mentioned above. In addition, a new math textbook series was adopted for 1st – 6th in the 2001 school year with the intention of improving instruction. Current assessment results support that expectation that the new textbook series would improve learning. This is shown with this year’s 5th and 6th grade assessment results showing marked improvement over last year. In review of the results of the 2nd through 4th grade a few curriculum issues emerge for future planning in meeting the new Diocesan and California State Standards in mathematics. Some concepts will need to be introduced sooner and some work with computational speed and accuracy is needed. As a pilot, the 3rd grade did some review and test preparation for the testing. There was a longitudinal trend that supports the benefit of that pilot. There was an increase in percentile rank from 68 percentile in 2nd Grade to 85 percentile in 3rd grade, which went back down in 4th grade to the 71st percentile and stayed relatively stable thereafter. Therefore, implementation of all of these new strategies will only continue to increase these high scores.
1. How the school uses assessment data to understand and improve student and school performance.
At St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool, teachers use a variety of formal and informal assessments to evaluate student learning and to ensure that the students’ needs are being met. The administration and faculty use assessments as a means of determining if students are achieving our Schoolwide Learning Expectations and grade level subject area expectations based upon diocesan and state standards. Teachers integrate both alternative and authentic assessment throughout the teaching and learning process, thereby providing them with the tools by which they can determine what modifications and adjustments are needed to help them reach their goal.
The needs of the students and the desired outcomes determine the choices of assessments that include traditional and alternative assessments. Traditional assessments include teachers’ observations, standardized tests (SAT 9/ITBS norm referenced, fall administration), teacher created tests and quizzes, publisher assessment resources, written homework assignments, study guides, research reports, daily class work and projects. Alternative assessments include class discussions, assignments with specific rubrics, cooperative and collaborative projects, student presentations, projects requiring manipulatives, oral vs. written assignments, debates, and multi-media presentations. Our grading reflects a balance of the various types of assessments used, and matches particular assessments to the multiple learning styles of our individual students.
The faculty utilizes the standardized tests diagnostically and for curriculum action planning. As a diocesan school, the faculty is trained by representatives from the testing company in a post-test in-service to interpret the results. They are provided with all of their score reports, interpretive guides and worksheets guiding them toward planning instructional change. The teachers are expected to complete these guides and return them to the administration. The teachers then meet in grade level meetings to share results and action plan for the future and plan for the articulation of particular students to the next grade in the fall. In this way, the teachers and administration become a team to support individual children and guide instructional change in order to improve school performance.
2. How the school communicates student performance, including assessment data, to parents, students, and the community.
St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool has consistently been using standardized testing (SAT9 and ITBS). The administration and teachers are trained and study these reports to determine trends. The individual results are sent to the parents and often discussed in parent-teacher conferences in the fall. Following these reports, the principal offers an evening presentation for the parents regarding the interpretation of the results and makes individual appointments to action plan for individual students. The overall school report is first presented to the Pastor, then to the Parent Guild Organization and the School Commission by the principal. The report typically includes grade level group performance reported as percentile ranks and stanines. In addition, the principal indicates the trends and instructional planning changes proposed as a result of the standardized assessment. As a diocesan school using a fall norm-referenced test, school results are not reported to the community at large. In-Depth Studies required yearly by the diocese guide teachers to accomplish Schoolwide Learning Expectations. St. Edward the ConfessorParishSchool also has a yearly Progress Report of WCEA/WASC action plans that is submitted to the Diocese of Orange.