NEW PARENT ORIENTATIONBeacon Charter High School for the Arts

2015-2016

OBJECTIVES FOR THIS ORIENTATION

Meet members of the school’s administration and their roles

Learn about the school’s parents’ group Become acquainted with the school’s

history Learn about the school’s organizational

structure Learn about the school’s academics and

testing Have opportunities to ask questions and

have concerns addressed (mainly student support issues)

ADMINISTRATIONMichael Skeldon, Ed.D. – Chief Executive Officer

Overall school leadership, strategic planning and vision, fiscal management, Department of Education and Board relations, employee oversight, lobbying and public voice, and ultimate compliance responsibility. Has previously served as social studies, film, and capstone teacher as well as Academic Dean and Principal. Twelfth year at Beacon.

Tina Go – Admissions and Family EngagementOversee recruitment and admissions process, liaison with parents and outside agencies regarding student life (transportation, Federal lunch program, crisis management, neighborhood partnerships) and works in close conjunction with the Dean of Students and main office staff. Mrs. Go is a founder of the school.

ADMINISTRATION, CONT.

Robin Murphy – Dean of StudentsCollege planning, scheduling, report cards, transcript analysis and generation, data reporting, student discipline. Thirteenth year at Beacon.

Amanda Turcotte, M.Ed. – Academic DeanFaculty leadership and professional development, curriculum oversight, academic calendar development, testing administration, test data analysis, and portfolio implementation. First year with the school.

ADMINISTRATION, CONT.

Brian Hickey, M.Ed. – Dean of the ArtsOversees the three arts programs as well as the senior capstone project at Beacon, creates linkages between arts and academics for students, plans professional development for teachers, and workshops/classes for adults including parents; serves as curator, archivist and chief exhibitor. First year at Beacon.

Karen Rameaka, M.Ed. – Special Education DirectorSupervises the Special Education Department. Coordinates services, facilitates IEP meetings with Special Education teachers. Ensures compliance. First year at Beacon.

PARENT ENGAGEMENT

Flo Stevens – Chair of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA)

There are many ways parents can be involved in the school:

Join the PTSA Committee work: SIT, LAC, Board of Trustees Attend workshops Volunteer at the school (traditional activities

such as field trip and dance chaperones, spaghetti dinner type events, or supporting an after school club)

Attend the parent-teacher conferences, Arts Nights, plays, gallery nights, and film festival

A LITTLE SCHOOL HISTORY …Started in 2003 by the late Jack Lawhead to

BringEducationalAlternatives to theCommunity through Occupational Nurturing.

Tenth charter school to open in Rhode Island in 2003 Moved to 320 Main Street in 2006 Have grown from 114 students in 2005 to 231 students in

2015. Have grown from 13 employees in 2005 to 38 employees in

2015 Became the first “district” in Northern RI to obtain a

Regent’s approved PBGR diploma, 2008 US News and World Report “Best High Schools” list in 2008,

2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

OUR FACULTY

• 100% Highly Qualified, passionate educators

• Beacon fully participates in Rhode Island Teacher Evaluation Program

• Beacon has had three finalists (and one winner!) in last four years for RI Teacher of the Year

• Founders and Beacon faculty plan and work together to ensure seamless transition from middle to high school

CURRENT STATUS Just finished the ninth fiscal year in a row

with a surplus Purchased this facility in 2011 Charter renewed in 2012 by the Board of

Regents through 2018 Single greatest improvement in state

testing results of any school at any level, 2007-2012

Received “Commended” status in 2014 and 2012, the highest rating possible by the RI Department of Education

Approved to expand in February 2015, resulting in Founders Academy, starting with 6th grade this fall

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Governance – Board of Trustees with higher education officials, parents, nonprofit and for profit business representatives and arts organization representatives

Administration, faculty and staff – very similar to a traditional district or public school (certified, in state pension fund, pay prevailing wage but non-union)

School Improvement Team (SIT) – the most important “committee” of all. SIT action determines new policies, initiatives and programs and makes recommendations to the Board for adoption of those policies and programs

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

Board of Trustees

Chief Executive

Officer

Dean of Students

Counselors

Beacon Academic

Dean

Academic Faculty

Director of Admissions

& Fam. Eng.

Office Staff

Dean of the Arts

Arts Faculty

Director of Special

Education

Special Education

Faculty

Founders Academic

Dean

Founders Faculty

Business Manager

Business Office Staff

COURSEWORK34 courses needed to graduate …

8 Art 2 Senior Research/Capstone4 Math (year-long) 2 Health/Physical Education4 English (year-long) 2 Computers/Business4 Science 3 Additional Courses from:3 History/Humanities -English, History, Math,

Health, 2 Foreign Language Foreign Language, Art, or

ScienceThis program of study meets or exceeds state guidelines and has the

proper courses in the proper sequence to allow any student to attend any post-secondary institution. See beaconart.org for a complete list of postsecondary schools that have accepted Beacon graduates.

All teachers have aligned their courses to the Common Core Standards and/or content-specific standards.

All teachers provide a syllabus and use the same grading formula (percentages) and base grades on basis of 100 points.

ASSESSMENTS

STAR and PARCC

STAR Assessments (Renaissance Learning) – given three times per year to track the longitudinal growth of each student. Online test aligned with Common Core standards, externally scored and with instant feedback. The tests are in reading and mathematics.

ASSESSMENTS, CONT.

New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP)

Given once in the 11th grade year in Science.

Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)

At Beacon, students are taught using Common Core Standards. Students in grades 9 and 10 are assessed using the PARCC assessment each spring.

INTERVENTION BLOCK Starting in 2015-2016, the school has a new

schedule that includes a 30-minute daily intervention block.

The IDEA Block (Intervention, Discussion, Enrichment, Achievement) is the sixth block of the day and includes time for remediation and enrichment activities.

Students are scheduled in activities for six weeks, then reassessed (based on attainment of skill, change of interest, etc.) prior to being scheduled for the next six-week period.

Students are in class from 8am to 2:45pm daily.

COURSEWORK AND GRADES

At Beacon there are two semesters with five courses each. Math and English are year-round courses, but all other courses are completed within the semester. Additionally, there is an advisory period and a Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) program in place.

Grades are issued on a quarterly basis. Grades are updated regularly on PowerSchool. Report cards are only mailed upon request to the guidance office.

PERFORMANCE BASED GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS (PBGRS)

Our portfolio requirement is managed by a Digication website customized for Beacon. The link to the Beacon portal can be found at www.beaconart.org. Student artists present their portfolio at the end of each school year and are required to earn a passing score in order to be promoted to the next grade.

Our senior project is done through a yearlong course in Film studies and filmmaking. Each student writes, produces, directs, shoots, edits and presents a short film. Some films are very literal and others are very metaphorical.

BEACONART.ORG

Please, become acquainted with …

www.beaconart.org&

www.facebook.com/beaconart

Primary tools for communication and distribution of resources needed to succeed at Beacon.

By September, the site will be updated with new information, handbooks and calendars for the 2015-2016 school year. The site contains information on curriculum, faculty and board biographies, colleges that have accepted our students, a calendar of events updated constantly, links to our calendar, Facebook, Digication, and PowerSchool resources.

Q AND A

What needs to be clarified?

What other questions do you have?

Mrs. Go: Transportation, Application Issues, Lunches

Mrs. Murphy: Transcripts, Student Behavior, Guidance

Mrs. Turcotte/Mr. Hickey: Academics/Arts

Dr. Skeldon: Other Issues