North Campus

Cycle Of Inquiry - Working with our BASRC facilitators, Brian Simmons and Cliff Thompson, we are using the Cycle of Inquiry to try and focus on all students, but an emphasis on African American and Latino students in terms of literacy.
PTSA - For the first time in its existence, North Campus High School has generated enough parental and community involvement to establish an active Parent Teacher Student Association. We are the only alternative school in WCCUSD that has been able to overcome the difficult challenges in doing so.
Assessments - Actively established the regular use of assessments to place and monitor student achievement. In the writing assessments 36 out of 79 students (45%) showed an improvement of 4 points or above between this semester and last semester’s assessment. This improvement was out of a total of 50 points on the Gates-McGinitie writing assessments. On the vocabulary section, 36 of 107 (34%) scored a grade level or above on the repeated assessment. 26 of 107 (25%) scored a grade level or above higher on the comprehension part, than their first semester assessments showed. Overall 31 out of 60 (52%) who took both the fall and winter assessments improved overall score by 3 or more points.
Attendance - North Campus has analyzed our attendance patterns and established a program to help reduce the number of suspensions. We found that many absences were the result of suspensions. Most were for minor incidents like not attending a detention for being late or for other minor infractions of the rules. A system where students had to return with their parents when they were suspended has shown significant promise in the early days of the program.
Close-up - Five students raised enough money ($1400 each) to attend the Close-up trip to Washington D.C. They left Saturday, Feb .7, 2004, and will return Saturday, Feb. 14, 2004. They will attend sessions of Congress, meet with senators, and learn about politics.
Read 180 - This program is in its first year at North Campus. Although it was difficult getting adequate materials and sorting out the technology problems, it has shown great promise. In the one semester students have shown gains in the program’s assessments of up to three grade levels in comprehension and other areas.
School-to-Career - We are participating in the Job Shadow Day and have 47 students scheduled to visit different facilities to learn more about job opportunities.
Guest Speakers - We have had guest speakers speaking about different professions on our Wednesday home room. Speakers have shared experiences in football and nursing. There have been motivational speakers discussing the evils of drugs and negative things as a result of the same. More are scheduled.
Professional Development - Our entire staff has attended professional development with one or more in-service providers. Trainers include: Dr. Sharroky Hollie, Dr. Kate Kinsella, and Glenn Singleton. Most of this training and focus has been on closing the achievement gap emphasizing literacy.
Cohesive and Supportive Staff - While there were some bumps early in the year, teachers, staff, and administration work together in a supportive and collaborative manner.
Students in Class - Students are not wandering the halls during the school day. All students are in class or out with an appropriate pass.
Discipline - Student discipline is always handled with a firm emphasis on appropriate behavior, but also included is a counseling approach to alert the students to behaviors that could avoid the discipline.
School Web Site - The North Campus High School Web Site is being updated for the first time in three years.
Social Interaction Groups - Our counselor has taken some of the more challenging students and is holding social interaction group meetings on a voluntary basis. There is one male and one female group.