Executive Summary

Newcastle High School Weston County School District #1

Mr. Tracy Ragland 116 Casper Avenue Newcastle, WY 82701-4

Document Generated On October 13, 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 Newcastle High 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 Newcastle High 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?

Newcastle High School is a small 3A (classified by the state based on student population) in northeastern Wyoming on the western edge of the Black Hills. Its student population hovers right around 250 students--at times just over, other times just under. The student population has a very large number of college-bound students; for these students, NHS offers many classes for concurrent-enrollment credit (both high school and college credit) through a Wyoming community college. There is also a population of students who have difficulty in classes or with attendance; for these students, many recovery programs are provided so this population receives the needed assistance and credit to graduate from high school.

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Executive Summary Newcastle High 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.

Newcastle High School's mission is to provide all students with a well-rounded educational program that allows students to acquire knowledge in the basic content, career, and technology areas in order to transition to post-secondary education or vocation and ultimately be a successful and productive member of society.

NHS embodies this purpose through its diverse course offerings. These offerings begin with concurrent-credit classes (students receive both high school credit and college credit through a Wyoming community college) for college-bound students. Next NHS offers remedial classes in math and English for those who haven't met the state standards. Finally, recovery programs are also available for those students who are behind on credits toward graduation. Classes are offered in the core curricular areas of math, English, science, and social students; however, numerous opportunities are also available for classes in technological, vocational, and fine arts areas: business, family and consumer science, choir, band, art, shop, humanities, agriculture.

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Executive Summary Newcastle High 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.

The first area of achievement is the many opportunities given to struggling students to pass classes and recover credits in multiple programs such as our school-within-a-school program, recovery sessions, and remedial classes. These options keep students in school after they have struggled, but also give extra attention and instruction while they are struggling.

The next area of achievement is the increasing number of classes available for college-bound students to take for concurrent credit (both high school and college credit). These classes range from college level English, math, psychology, government, and physical education. Because of these class options, NHS students have the opportunity to leave NHS with a high school diploma and an associate's degree from Eastern Wyoming College at the time of high school graduation.

Finally, students who are on the vocational or career track instead of college bound have many training options. Woodshop, family and consumer science, welding, and agriculture classes give important skill sets to students who are going into the world of work. The internship program through the business department also give many chances for students to learn job skills and lead straight into jobs.

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Executive Summary Newcastle High 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.

Data shows that stakeholders for our school see communication as a weakness for NHS. Due to this, our school has worked to find options to communicate with parents and the community. Our constantly-updated web site is one way to have instant news for stakeholders. Our district also uses an e-mail and phone call alert system to notify families and students of important information.

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