St. Martha ElementarySchool Plan for Continuous Growth

2019-2022

Walking Together in the Light of Christ

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St. Martha Plan for Continuous Growth 2019-2022School Mission: We are called by our faith to be Christ’s physical feet, his spokesperson and his heart in this world and especially in our school. We believe that Catholic Education: • is more than just words – it is our actions and all that we say and do. • supports a cooperative relationship between the school, families, and the parish which is the primary network for our students. • is about: • Welcoming, forgiving, holiness, united hearts, prayer and openness. • A supportive network of people, reflective of celebrations and the Church. • Rooms filled with laughter, peace, happiness, liturgical music, and involved students who are interested in learning. • A learning community filled with joy and created in Jesus’ name where we are all united in faith. • God among us.

As Catholic educators, we are able to articulate and demonstrate what makes us different from other school systems and districts. Our beliefs support a sharing of our faith stories and experiences. As a faith-filled staff we seek to: • Impact students’ morals based on Christ’s teachings. • Encourage and support creativity and leadership among our colleagues. • List to all people on staff and acknowledge their contributions. • Put people first and seek to understand their point of view. • Develop a strong sense of collegiality and a sense of co-responsibility for all that happens in our school community. • Recognize through our words and actions that all persons in our school are made in the image of God. • Gather together in prayer with Christ as our ever-present teacher.

School Vision: At St. Martha School, we welcome all children to our Christ-centered learning community, where we are nurturing spirits, filling hearts, and informing minds.

School Charism:Nurturing Spirits: developing the whole child - body, mind, and spirit.

School Context: St. Martha Elementary is in Edmonton’s west end. Our growing school population is just under 300 students and is attracting families from the Ormsby and Lymburn areas. Our school-wide focus is developing the whole child – body, mind, and spirit. We are proud of our students and staff who hail from a diversity of backgrounds. We are fortunate to have approximately 11% of our students who identify as being of First Nations, Metis, or Inuit ancestry. We have strong relationships with our parent community through the work and advocacy of the St. Martha School Advisory Council as well as a close affiliation with Good Shepherd Parish.

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Our teachers and Educational Assistants are a very collaborative group who focus on literacy and numeracy development for all our children aged three and four in our 100 Voices through to grade 6. This is due to our strong academic programming which is supplemented by extra-curricular activities such as Running Club, Volleyball Club, Kids on Track, and Student Leadership to name a few. We are pleased to offer French second language instruction to our grade 4, 5, and 6 students. St. Martha Elementary boasts an exceptionally strong Music program where students have the opportunity to learn how to play several instruments throughout their time with us. Our students’ musical talents are on display during our school celebrations and ceremonies and are particularly spotlighted at Christmas time when they are invited annually to play the hand-bells at Edmonton’s City Hall. This year we were most pleased to have all our students participate in week-long drumming sessions culminating with two final concerts for our parent and greater school community.

Review of Previous Year’s Goals: Goal Achieved/continue

Modify

Evidence/data used

1. During the 2018-19 school year, students will use their time, talent, and treasure to Walk Together in God’s Love.

2. Students, Staff, and Stakeholders will have the opportunity to demonstrate God’s love through social justice activities.

3. Continue to enhance the home-school-parish relationships.

Achieved. -Report Card comments reflected how the students’ faith grew as demonstrated by their participation and expression in class and how they served others

-100% of students and other St. Martha stakeholders had the opportunity to engage in social justice activities such as visiting the Mustard Seed and making sandwiches for those being served there, collecting socks for the homeless, Christmas hamper collection in conjunction with Good Shepherd Parish as well as

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the Thanksgiving food drive which provided food for St. Theresa of Calcutta School.

-Staff attended a school mass at Good Shepherd Parish as well as the Good Shepherd ‘Family of Schools’ mass in February 2019.

-100% of grade 4-6 students reported that religious celebrations are important at our school and that prayer is important.

St. Martha students receive an excellent education which prepares them academically, socially, and mentally for lifelong learning, the world of work, and active citizenship. St. Martha grade 6 students will meet provincial average on PAT Excellence and Acceptable results.

Continue On the Accountability Pillar Survey, 82.1% of grade 6 students met the Acceptable standard compared to 73.8% for the province of Alberta. Increasing the percentage of students who will meet the PAT Excellence level will be a priority for the 2019-2020 school year. School wide projects based on literacy (updated book selection for the school learning commons and classroom libraries) and PATHS instruction to support positive mental health and pro-social skills further support the excellent education that students receive at St. Martha.

Increase academic success and historical knowledge by promoting a culture of

Achieved and Continue Grade 5 and 6 students participated in an Indigenous blanket exercise

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diversity particularly as this supports the academic growth of Indigenous students.

designed to increase the awareness of the residential school system and the loss of traditional lands due to the Treaties.

Data Analysis: Areas to celebrate

Accountability Pillar - Safe and Caring 91.5%

- Program of Studies 94.9%

- Education Quality 93.9%

- PAT Acceptable 82.1%

- Work Preparation 92.9%

- Citizenship 90.7%

- Parental Involvement 85.3%

- School Improvement 98.2%

District Satisfaction Survey

Parents: -My child’s school helps my child learn to the best of his/her ability. (96.3%) – My child is learning the attitudes and behaviours that will make him/her successful in the world of work. (99.1%) – My child’s school focuses on continuous improvement. (99.0%) – My child is developing math and number skills that will prepare them for the future. (100.0%) – My child is developing reading and writing skills that will prepare them for the future. (99.1%)

Students:

-Our religious celebrations are important. (100.0%) - Prayer is important at my school. (100.0%)

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-I show respect for others in my school. (98.7%) -Student behaviour is handled fairly. (91.2%) -My teacher expects my work to be done well. (98.7%)

All Staff:

-I am satisfied with the way student discipline is handled at our school. (100.0%) – Learning experiences at our school support the development of creative, critical thinking, global citizens. (100.0%) – Care and concern for others is evident in day-to-day interactions at our school. (100.0%) – Our school is providing the necessary supports for children with special needs. (100.0%) – In our school, technology is meaningfully integrated into instruction. (100.0%)

Regression Analysis -English Language Arts 6

- Science 6

PAT analysis - ELA 6 Acceptable (93.3%), Excellence (20.0%)

- Science 6 Acceptable (82.9 %)

- Social Studies 6 Acceptable (86.2%)

Areas to target for growth Data Source Measures Goals in response to data

Accountability Pillar

- PAT Excellence 12.8% St. Martha students will meet the Acceptable and Excellence standards on the June 2020 writing of the Provincial

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Achievement Exams.

District Satisfaction Survey

97.1% Ongoing professional development of staff is a priority in my child's school

89.8% I am satisfied with the way that student discipline is handled in my child's school.

97.3% Daily prayer and religious celebrations are important at my child's school.

-Staff participate in weekly professional learning activities either at the school or divisional level. For the 2019-2020 school year, the focus will be on vocabulary acquisition across the curriculum and visible learning in math.

-Increased supervision during recesses will support expected student behaviour and minimize incidents which require discipline.

-A student-based faith team, GLOW, was instituted this year to allow Division 2 students further opportunities to engage in and lead social justice activities.

Regression Analysis

-Math 6

-Social Studies 6

-Implement pedagogical and assessment practices focused on improving students’ conceptual and procedural knowledge of subject-area disciplines and cross-curricular connections.

- Common weekly open-ended math questions. Students will work on these questions both within their respective classes and make their learning visible through the use of the new white boards located, outside the main office. This strategy has two elements: a weekly math vocabulary word and related math word problems which differentiated by division.

PAT/Diploma analysis

-Math 6 Acceptable (65.5%), Excellence (6.9%) Assessment data (district assessments such as the MIPI and

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-Science 6 Excellence (10.3%)

-Social Studies 6 Excellence (13.8%)

grade 4 writing test, CTBS/CCAT, PATs, Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading levels, in-class assessments) gathered into student profile sheets are reviewed by School Learning Team members who meet on a weekly basis to address all student learning needs.

Goals:

Catholic Identity Goal: Goal 2: St. Martha school has a charism where our gifts are shared. )

District Correlation: District Correlation: 1.1 Demonstrate the distinctiveness and strengths of Catholic education.

Strategy 1: We will explore how St. Martha’s school’s charism of Nurturing Spirits - Developing the Whole Child: Mind, Body and Spirit , is permeated and unique to our school culture.

Actions

Intentionally linking our school charism of nurturing spirits to the hospitality of our Patron Saint, St. Martha.

a) Reciting the prayer to St. Martha on Mustang News.

b) Reciting the prayer to St. Martha on Mustang News.

Evidence of effectiveness

The school charism will be shared and reviewed with all stakeholders at the beginning of the school year.

The prayer to St. Martha will be prayed as a school on Wednesday morning announcements.

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c) Reciting the prayer to St. Martha at school celebrations.

d) Singing/playing songs relating to nurturing spirits.

The prayer to St. Martha will be prayed at the following celebrations/recognitions:

-School opening

-Thanksgiving

-Remembrance Day

-Advent

-Lent

-Easter

-School closing

Songs relating to nurturing spirit will be sang/played at

-School opening

-Thanksgiving

-Remembrance Day

-Advent

-Lent

-Ash Wednesday

-Easter

-School closing

School Chaplain will provide monthly inserts by the 25th of

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e) School charism to be showcased in the monthly newsletter

f) Displaying religious artifacts throughout the school.

g) Students will learn specifically about St. Martha and integrate their understanding beyond the religion classroom.

every month.

-Pope Francis

-images of Jesus which represent the different ethnic backgrounds of students

-Archbishop Smith

-St. Martha

-Mary Mother of Jesus

-Each grade will be assigned an artifact to explore

-Teachers will have students explore St. Martha, via expository text, in their Language Arts class by:

Writing about St. Martha – journals, letters, reader’s responses, visual journals, etc.

Students will be able to talk about the projects and how they relate to our school charism.

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Catholic Education Goal: During the 2019-2020 school year, St. Martha students, families, and staff will have the opportunity to walk together in the light of Christ.

District Correlation: We are called to live the Word of God through worship, witness, and service.

Strategy 1: Develop collaborative opportunities with Good Shepherd Parish to enhance our mutual work, to evangelize our families, and promote a life of faith.

Actions

-Promote Sacramental preparation classes offered through Good Shepherd Parish.

Evidence of effectiveness

-Good Shepherd Parish will advertise Sacramental preparation classes in our newsletters and at on our Meet the Teacher Night.

-Advertise upcoming parish events and special masses (Christmas and Easter) scheduled at the parish.

-Attend regular meetings at the parish as part of the ‘family of schools’ which are affiliated with the parish.

-School Staff members will attend an annual ‘family of schools’ mass at the parish.

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Strategy 2: Demonstrate a way of life rooted in the Catholic Christian call to discipleship and service.

Actions

1) Grade 4/5/6 students will engage in age appropriate social justice work by serving those in the greater Edmonton community.

2) All 100 Voices to grade 6 students and their families will have the opportunity to share their gifts, time, and treasure to serve those in their school and parish communities.

Evidence of effectiveness

1)Grade 4/5/6 students will prepare a meal for those served by the Mustard Seed Community Support Center and tour the facility.

-grade 3/6 will be visiting Chartwell Wildrose Retirement Residence to perform for and read with the residents.

2) Students and St. Martha families will participate in a school food drive which provides lunch items for St. Martha students in need. Students and the SAC will bring food items for the annual Good Shepherd Parish Christmas hampers. Students will collect new socks for the homeless in the greater Edmonton area.

3)

-Student led assemblies.

-GLOW leadership team will take the initiatives on school wide social justice projects to

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3)Developing and enhancing student leadership competence and confidence in leadership roles.

share out to the school community:

-Toonies for Terry

-Pink Shirt Day

-Orange Shirt Day

-Christmas Hampers

-Annual Sock Fight for YESS

-student lead video announcements

-candygram sales at Christmas to support Catholic charities

-Advent blessing “Take What You Need Tree”

-Interactive Advent Wreath

-Student led Office Monitors, Classroom Monitors, and milk sellers

Strategy 4: Promote and create a school culture where the permeation of faith remains central to all day to day practices.

Actions

1.All community members, students, staff, and parents, will be able to engage in daily prayer.

2.All community members, students, staff, and parents, will be

Evidence of effectiveness

1.Students and staff will participate in daily prayer as part of the Mustang News, grace before meals, end of day, and regular religious instruction.

2.

-School opening

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able to engage in school prayer which recognizes the liturgical seasons and other significant events throughout the school year.

3.Students will learn and practice essential prayers of the Roman Catholic faith such as the Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Nicene Creed as part of daily and classroom prayer.

-Thanksgiving

-Remembrance Day

-Advent

-Lent

-Ash Wednesday

-Easter

-School closing

4. Students will have modeled by teachers and staff members and practice essential prayers of the Catholic faith.

Goal 3: St. Martha students will meet the Acceptable and Excellence standards on the June 2020 writing of the Provincial Achievement Exams.

District Correlation: To develop students to their fullest potential, through multiple pathways, so that they can nurture their gifts and talents in service to others and pursue their passions and interests as contributing members of community; academically, spiritually, physically, mentally, and socially.

Sub Goal a: Implement pedagogical and assessment practices focused on improving students’ conceptual and procedural knowledge of subject-area disciplines and cross-curricular connections.

Strategy 1: Shifting pedagogical practices from the traditional methods to student centered approaches in the context of 21st Century Learning where students are actively engaged in constructing their own understanding in mathematics.

Actions

1.Assessment practices focus on improved student learning.

Evidence of effectiveness

1.Regular participation in professional development such as:

-teacher participation in

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2. Teachers will implement research-based reading instruction.

divisional COPs

-weekly meetings/PD with Educational Assistants

-participation in Early Learning COPs and call backs by staff members assigned to 100 Voices and Kindergarten classrooms.

2. Assessment data (district assessments such as the MIPI and grade 4 writing test, CTBS/CCAT, PATs, Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading levels, in-class assessments) gathered into student profile sheets are reviewed by School Learning Team members who meet on a weekly basis to address all student learning needs.

.-Grade 1 students participate in the Dr. G. Georgiou Reading Intervention Study.

-Grade 1 teachers, Learning Coaches and school admin participate in research based professional development related to reading.

Sub Goal b: Developing a numeracy rich classroom environment, making learning visible in math through hands on learning and math word wall displays.

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Strategy 1: Identity and implement best practices that align with excellent pedagogy and learning environments in the areas of literacy.

Actions

1.Targeted whole school math instruction based on Dr. Marian Small’s work Open Questions for Rich Math Lessons.

2.Students will articulate their understanding of strategies used in their basic fact fluency to peers and adults.

3. Students will improve their immediate recall of math facts.

Evidence of effectiveness

1. Common weekly open-ended math questions. Students will work on these questions both within their respective classes. and make their learning visible through the use of the new white boards outside the main office.

2. Staff and students regularly hear appropriate strategies named and discussed related to numeracy.

3. St. Martha students in grades 2-6 will each have a 2019-2021 subscription to Reflex Math to improve their recall of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.

4.Students and parents will be able to participate in a school sponsored Numeracy evening using Box Cars and One-Eyed Jacks math games held in October 2019. In January 2020, grades 2-3 students will be able to join a lunch hour math games club. This may be expanded as

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4.Staff will hold a Numeracy Night for Families.

5.Teachers will join ECSD Math Assessment Cohorts and bring knowledge back to school.

6.Developing a numeracy rich classroom environment, making learning visible in math through hands on learning and math word wall displays.

7.The school will look to intentional plan several “Numeracy” weeks throughout the year (Coding, ECSD numeracy week, etc.).

resources allow.

5. Teacher participation in the divisional math and science COPs.

6.-Students will make their learning visible through the use of the new white boards outside the main office.

-Instructional walk-throughs.

7.Students will be able to participate in numeracy week, Hour of Code, STEM Conferences, Maker Space Conference, Women in Technology, etc.

Strategy 2: Promote excellent teaching practices consistent with the Teaching Quality Standard which guide and support student achievement particularly in the area of literacy.

Actions Evidence of effectiveness

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1.Primary level teachers will continue their focus on phonological awareness as an integral part of instruction.

2.Continued opportunities to experience excellent quality books:

• Scholastic Book Fair

• Used book exchange for students

• Continued additions to complement and grow the Learning Commons collection of resources

• Edmonton Public Library presentations on site

1.The Speech and Language Pathologist and Learning Coaches established a program to target early literacy skills. Seven lesson module - intervention program. Teachers and EAs subsequently use the materials in small groups to target struggling learners/readers. All primary level teachers will receive and use the Heggerty Phonological Awareness Books with their classes.

2.High level of student participation:

-visiting Scholastic Book Fair,

-used book giveaways

-Students and families gain awareness of Edmonton Public Library programs (Summer Reading Program, YRCA)

-Student access to free Edmonton Public Library cards

3.Select students will be provided with the opportunity to participate in Young Author’s Writing Conference.

-Increased awareness of author collections.

-Author visit: Sonya Annita Song

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3.Provide students experience to interact with authors, illustrators or literacy/dramatic productions.

4.Personal dictionaries, visual dictionaries, and/or classroom visuals will be used in all classrooms to enhance vocabulary development and to provide easy access for students to support their learning in all content areas.

5.Words Their Way is being used as part of the English Language

and Lois Donovan.

-Alberta Opera: Sleeping Beauty.

-Spring Concert: My Planet, Your Planet

-Student reading at public events such as school celebrations, masses, and morning announcements.

4.Students will use personal dictionaries or other vocabulary tools accessible to them independently in the classroom to support learning and build confidence.

5. Words Their Way supports students learning word patterns to assist them in reading and writing. Students learn how to ‘sort’ words according to patterns and identify words that are exceptions to these patterns. This program is highly differentiated to support students acquiring letter and sound knowledge as they need.

6. Teachers will engage in ongoing professional development in the area of cross-curricular vocabulary instruction with a focus on Tier

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Arts instruction in grades 2 and 3.

6. Teacher professional development in vocabulary instruction.

2 and 3 words.

Strategy 3: Increase the number of students who meet the provincial Acceptable and Excellence levels on the June 2020 writing of the Provincial Achievement Test.

Actions

1. Through CCAT, CTBS and Gr. 6 Pedagogical practices, identify students who are capable of achieving the standard of excellence through targeted differentiation in instruction and assessment.

2.Regularly scheduled staff PD sessions to look at PowerTeacherPro and Assessment.

Evidence of effectiveness

1. Grade Math 6 results on the June 2020 administration of the Provincial Achievement Test.

-ECSD Regression Analysis.

2.Teachers have created and handed in assessment plans and are using them as working documents to match assessments with student learner outcomes. This relationship will be made transparent for parents and students through

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3.Teachers will collaborate with grade partners and create assessment plans for the year.

4.Teachers will work on using assessment practices and timely feedback to help shape direction and to allow students to be more active in their learning.

PowerTeacherPro.

3.Teachers actively collaborate with grade partners and peers on assessment practices to help guide practice.

4.Staff PD is used constructively to help staff understand the purpose of assessment and PowerTeacherPro.

Goal 4: Providing all students with age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Indigenous peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to our local and national society.

District Correlation: In collaboration with our Indigenous communities, we will continue to be at the forefront of developing best practices to ensure the success of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students.

Strategy 1: Increase academic success by promoting successful practices to support FNMI students.

Actions

Supports for students who identify as FNMI to facilitate positive

Evidence of effectiveness

-LSE to provide human and

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cultural experiences. material resources to support at-risk Indigenous students.

-Access to supports through Jordan’s Principle.

- Students learn and sing Indigenous songs as part of the Music program.

-Indigenous consultant read to grade 4 students during Read-In-Week and will return in January 2020 to the grade 4 classrooms to present on Indigenous culture.

Strategy 2: Increase academic success by promoting cultural practices to support FNMI students.

Actions

1)Increased historical understanding and awareness of residential schools and the history of Indigenous peoples in Alberta.

2)Continue to increase the depth of the reading materials for students which have Indigenous themes, or which are authored/illustrated by Indigenous authors.

Evidence of effectiveness

1.-Blanket exercise for grade 6 students. - Indigenous presentation in June 2020.

-Treaty Six Acknowledgement read weekly during morning announcements and at the beginning of public events.

2.Purchase of Turtle Island leveled readers and other texts for the classroom libraries and Learning Commons.

3.Spotlight of books with Indigenous themes in the Learning Commons and on

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3)Book spotlight for announcements during Orange Shirt Day week.

announcements.

1.

Strategy 3: Provide opportunities for on-going professional development for all Division staff in FNMI culture.

Actions

Staff will have access to divisional and school based professional development which promotes FNMI cultures.

Evidence of effectiveness

-Division Professional Development on Thursday afternoons.

-Presentation by ECSD Consultant Lynn Anderson on the Cree Language.

Review Date 1: March 1, 2020

Review Date 2: June 20, 2020

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