Letter of Intent- District-Sponsored Redesign Plan for Henry World School
Proposed School Name: / District-Sponsored Redesign Plan for Henry World SchoolThe school’s name will be confirmed through the Community Design Team’s planning and outreach process.
Grade Configuration: / 6th- 8th (three year phase in)
Model or Focus: / Through an authentic community process led by the school’s principal and a Community Design Team the school model is being developed based upon research-based practices in turnaround and the individualized assets and needs of the school community.
The Community Design Team intends to revive the International Baccalaureate (IB) / Middle Years Program (MYP) and target the specific needs of the school community including personalized learning (1:1 technology ratio) and bi-literacy support as core to the instructional model. Through this approach we will ensure that every student has access to a rigorous, inclusive, personalized education in preparation for a lifetime of learning and success in college and career.
Primary Contact Person:
Phone:
Email: / Lindsay Meier
330-353-0368
Region / Neighborhood: / Southwest Denver, Henry Middle School
Proposed Leader: / Lindsay Meier
Replication: / Yes No
Contract with ESP/EMO: / Yes No
Enrollment Projections: Provide additional rows and columns if necessary.
GRADES / 2016-17 / 2017-18 / 2018-19 / 2019-20 / 2020-216th / 150 / 150 / 150 / 150 / 150
7th / 150 / 150 / 150 / 150
8th / 150 / 150 / 150
Total # students / 150 / 300 / 450 / 450 / 450
Proposed Demographics / 87% FRL / 15% SPED / 44% ELL
83%
Spanish speakers / 5.8%
ACCESS 1 & 2
Demographics reflect student enrollment at Henry World School as detailed in the Call for New Quality Schools.
Mission of School: / The school’s mission is being collaboratively developed with the Community Design Team consisting of over 30 parents, teachers, community members, and district staff and other targeted community outreach.
Provide a brief overview of the education program of the proposed school: / Background on the Henry World School Turnaround Timeline:
- DPS identified Henry World School as a school requiring turnaround based on chronically low performance, safety concerns and declining enrollment as detailed in the districts Tiered Support Framework (November 2014; April 2015).
- DPS conducted a rigorous principal hiring process with the Henry community in the fall of 2014 and identified Lindsay Meier as the principal assigned to develop a plan for turnaround at Henry Middle School.
- DPS released a supplement to the Call for New Quality Schools in May, 2015 requesting proposals to turnaround Henry Middle School beginning in the fall of 2016.
Process for Developing a District-Sponsored Turnaround Plan: Denver Public Schools is sponsoring Lindsay Meier, proposed principal, with developing a turnaround plan for Henry World Middle School. Valuing community input, district expertise, and research-based practices, Ms. Meier coordinated a Community Design Team to develop a plan to turnaround Henry World School. This design team meets weekly as a core team and bi-weekly with the extended school community. The following process is underway to ensure a quality plan is ready for district consideration by July 22nd.
Community Design Team consists of 30 volunteer community members, parents, teachers, and district staff:
Images from Initial Community Design Team Meetings:
Engaging in Additional Community Outreach:
In addition to the Community Design Team, the Principal and members of the community design team have met with and surveyed the school’s founding students, current 4th grade students at each of Henry World Middle School’s feeder elementary schools. With support from the district’s Family and Community Engagement office, the school leader has held over 20 individual meet and greet sessions with community members including discussions about the school’s program with members of Padres y Jovenes Unidos, and the Bear Valley Improvement Association.
Designing Based on the School’s Assets and Needs:
In order to effectively develop a school design the applicant commissioned SchoolWorks to conduct an audit and root-cause analysis of the existing school including an in-depth review of the school’s IB/MYP program implementation. This audit found many areas for growth in school culture and climate, organized instructional practices, and nearly a complete lack of implementation of IB/MYP across the school.
In addition, the principal has held meet-and-greets and surveyed existing staff, parents and students at Henry World School to expound upon the current strengths and deficits of the school. Based on these meetings as well as a deep dive into the school’s School Performance Framework ratings the principal and Community Design Team identified targeted areas for school improvement and grounded their planning in core values and a vision of academic success for all.
Guiding Principles of the Turnaround School Design:
Furthermore, the principal received targeted support from Public Impact, a national leader in school turnaround and identified core areas for school improvement within a reputable framework for school turnaround. The Community Design Team is currently rooting their planning in these elements: School Leadership, Effective Teaching, Extended Time, Rigorous Instruction, Data-Driven Instruction, Culture and Climate, and Family and Community Engagement.
On behalf of the Community Design Team, I am pleased to provide this letter of intent. We fully commit to an intentional school design that authentically engages the school community and will submit our plan to the Denver Public Schools on July 22nd, 2015. As the founding school principal I am fully committed to implementing our redesign plan and to creating a school culture in which all adults and students are engaged with the school’s vision and mission.
The goal of our school community is to ensure that every students and the entire school community have are engaged in a robust program rooted in the IB/MYP Learner Profile. We expect every student will succeed and demonstrate significant academic and personal growth necessary to prepare them to hit the ground running as they enter high school and continue through college and career.
Join us, or follow us on Facebook as we continue to design the best school possible for our students and school community! https://www.facebook.com/southwestdenverphaseinmiddleschool
Respectfully,
Lindsay M. Meier
Founding Principal