Executive Summary

Herbert A. Ammons Middle School Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Ms. Maria Costa, Principal 17990 SW 142nd Ave Miami, FL 33177-7774

Document Generated On March 17, 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1

Description of the School

2

School's Purpose

3

Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement

4

Additional Information

5

Executive Summary Herbert A. Ammons Middle School

Introduction Every school has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and procedures by which the school makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a school stays faithful to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder engagement, the trends and issues affecting the school, and the kinds of programs and services that a school implements to support student learning.

The purpose of the Executive Summary (ES) is to provide a school with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the school community will have a more complete picture of how the school perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This summary is structured for the school to reflect on how it provides teaching and learning on a day to day basis.

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Executive Summary Herbert A. Ammons Middle School

Description of the School

Describe the school's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced in the last three years. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the school serves?

The award winning Herbert A. Ammons Middle School (Ammons) is located in suburban southwest Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is composed of 16 double-wide portables housing the classrooms, cafetorium, media center, main office and locker rooms. Ammons is a full magnet school of choice providing an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) to a culturally diverse population of 1,219 students in grades 6 - 8. Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) utilizes a random selection process designed to systematically eliminate racial and ethnic isolation. Miami-Dade County school board rule 6Gx13-6A-1.461 underscores a goal of recruiting students whose unique language abilities, socio-economical circumstances, race, ethnicity, gender, and exceptional education needs are underrepresented in the magnet school population. To that end, Ammons capitalizes on an expansive recruiting and transportation area that stretches a 27 mile radius from the school site itself. Ammons is a school of choice with no boundaries, meaning that some students live far beyond the 27 mile radius. Students are afforded free bus transportation to accommodate those students who live in areas of the county that would normally not be able to articulate to Ammons. Within this transportation zone are many neighborhoods of high, medium, and low socio economic levels.

From a cultural diversity standpoint Ammons is home to approximately 1,219 students in grades 6-8. A recent diversity survey revealed that Ammons has students with family backgrounds from 30 different countries including Guyana, Turkey, Haiti, Panama, Venezuela and India. The student ethnicity demographics of the school is 67% Hispanic, 16% White, 13% Black, 3% Asian, and 1% Multi-Racial. Staff member's countries of origin include Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. The most recent School Climate Survey revealed the staff demographics to be 42% Hispanic, 36% White (Non-Hispanic), 17% Black (Non-Hispanic), and 5% Multi-Ethnic. The goal of Ammons is to reach as many different types of families as possible regardless of socio economic status, gender, and ethnicity.

In the past, the Ammons school day consisted of 8 periods. However, due to a decrease in state funding, Ammons had to shift to a 7 period day. Teachers voted on a waiver to their contract that allowed them to teach the additional period without a supplement. This schedule allows for all the IB requirements to be met, maintaining fidelity to the IB program. Ammons is currently working towards IB reauthorization.

Over the past three years, Ammons has increased its student enrollment by approximately forty students.

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Executive Summary Herbert A. Ammons Middle School

School's Purpose

Provide the school's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the school embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students.

Mission Statement: The mission of the Herbert A. Ammons community to engage students in developing their intellectual, emotional, and social talents while promoting responsible citizenship in a global society. Engaged in a holistic approach to education, students grow in intercultural awareness, becoming compassionate, independent, life-long learners.

Vision Statement: Action through Global Awareness

Core Values: The core values stressed at Herbert A. Ammons Middle School come from the attributes of the International Baccalaureate learner profile. Students are encouraged to be inquirers who are knowledgeable thinkers and communicators, principled, open-minded, caring risk-takers who are balanced and reflective.

The goals, objectives & educational activities at AMS coincide with the general themes of the International Baccalaureate program. One goal of the International Baccalaureate Program at AMS is for students to develop a better understanding of the world around them.

Objectives include: -Improving student academic achievement by emphasizing connections across the curriculum through interdisciplinary units. -Partnering with the community to help students become active and compassionate lifelong learners.

Teachers at AMS are provided ample common planning time to create interdisciplinary units (IU). The educational philosophy at AMS highlights the benefits of using (IU) which include promoting critical thinking, recognizing biased opinions, tolerating ambiguity, and acknowledging and appreciating ethical concerns. For example, a developing IU explores civil rights. The proposed essential question is, "How did the different civil rights organizations affect life in society in the United States during the late 1960's?" During this particular IU, the Art teacher and students will read the book, "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams Garcia. The significant concepts in the book include ethnicity, loyalty, parenting, and politics. The American History teacher will promote discussion by teaching a lesson that compares and contrasts different types of civil rights organizations in the United States during the 1960's. It is through these comparisons that students will be exposed to tolerating ambiguity and recognizing biased opinions. One of the assessment products of this unit will be the creation of a quilt that highlights key aspects of the different chapters and themes in the book. The creation of the quilt will address ethical concerns while fostering critical thinking. Finally, the Mathematics teacher will instruct the students on how to measure perfect squares for the creation of the quilt. IU's such as these increase student motivation and helps AMS achieve its goal of students developing a better understanding of the world around them.

As part of the IB program, students are required to complete community service hours. In sixth grade students must complete ten hours. In seventh grade students must complete fifteen hours and in eighth grade students must complete twenty hours. This is a required component in order to receive the IB certificate at the end of eighth grade.

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Executive Summary Herbert A. Ammons Middle School

Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement

Describe the school's notable achievements and areas of improvement in the last three years. Additionally, describe areas for improvement that the school is striving to achieve in the next three years.

AMS has been recognized at the state and national level on many occasions. In 2007, AMS was the first International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program authorized in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. In 2009, Ammons was awarded the national Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Additionally, since 1998, AMS has received the Five Star School Award recognizing community partnerships, student community service and parent involvement as well as the Golden Apple Award, in recognition of the volunteer program.

During the 2013 school year, AMS received the Merit School of Excellence Award in Tulsa, Oklahoma for being ranked one of the top five magnet programs in the United States. AMS has also been rated an "A" school by the state of Florida for thirteen consecutive years (20002013). AMS ranks #8 in the state, in total points, when compared to all middle schools.

For the past two years, students at AMS have been recognized by Algebra Nation, a computer-based instructional tool that uses video, text, and social media to deliver Algebra instruction, for being the highest performing middle school student in the state of Florida. To date, four students have won an iPad for this accomplishment.

AMS became the first middle school in Miami-Dade County to receive the Varsity and Junior Varsity Middle School All Sports award for housing the #1 ranked sports program in the county. This year, the JV Boys and Girls Volleyball teams won the County Championship. The Varsity Boys and Girls Track and Field teams and the Boys Cross Country team, have won the County Championship for the past three years.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations visited AMS to personally thank the students and staff for their efforts in promoting safe Internet use and awarded Ammons the FBI Safe On-line Surfing Award for the past three years. We are currently the national champions for the USASOS program. We are currently implementing a blended curriculum of New Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Within the next three years we will be in full implementation of the CCSS. Professional development will be a key part of this transition to ensure teachers feel comfortable using data to drive instruction while infusing the CCSS.

In addition, there are significant changes to the IBMYP that will be in effect for the 2014-2015 school year. The school is in the process of training staff, students and parents to ensure compliance with the new requirements.

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Executive Summary Herbert A. Ammons Middle School

Additional Information

Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections.

As part of the International Baccalaureate focus on community and service, Ammons strives to form a partnership with Miami Dade College with the purpose of inviting speakers into the school to expose students to prominent national and international issues like bio diversity, deforestation, disease, clean water and global poverty. This effort is known as the "Global Speakers Initiative." After hearing the experts speak on the various issues, AMS students complete "Global Speaker" reflection forms to digest the material, apply what they have learned, and develop an action plan. The Global Speakers Initiative helps AMS connect to the global society that encompasses their lives.

As part of the IBMYP program, all students are required to take a World Language class in 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Students can earn up to two high school credits in either course. AMS received 1st place in both the MDCPS Spanish and French World Language competition for the past two years.

While at AMS, students must also take a fine arts elective. Each year, students receive awards in art, photography, chorus, band, drama and yearbook. Student artwork and photography are displayed at the Miami International Airport in the American Airlines terminal, at the Gardens Exhibit in Pinecrest Gardens, and at the MDCPS School Board building. In 2013, the Eagles' Nest received an outstanding achievement award for the Most Creative Theme. AMS has consistently had a number of students selected to participate in the All State Choir. The selection process involves a vocal audition, sight reading, and a test in music theory. At the annual Music Performance Assessment, AMS has consistently achieved superior ratings. In addition, for the past two years, chorus and guitar participated in out of state music competitions and received first place. The advanced Drama students are consistently recognized with Superior Ratings and Critic's Choice Awards for Best in Category in the District Thespian Festival.

AMS offers an iPrep Math class where students are able to participate in a 21st century learning environment and mathematics instruction is delivered in a personalized and highly technological setting.

AMS has been able to consistently maintain parent involvement as evidenced by having over 1600 PTSA members each year.

Student attendance is a contributing factor to student success. Hence, AMS is proud to have a consistent attendance rate of over 98% each year.

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