Areas of Strength

Evidence

The school’s mission is to proclaim the gospel message, to build faith communities, to celebrate through worship and to serve others without distinction.

This strength earned the highest ranking on the NSSE/FCC survey.

The Mission Statement and Belief Statements clearly define the desire to build a faith- filled community

The teachers are role models for the students through their participation in the school masses as Eucharistic ministers, lectors and choir members.

There is school-wide participation in masses. Grades 2-8 attend weekly mass, and grades K-8 attend all school masses monthly.

The holiday programs ( Thanksgiving prayer service, Christmas play, The Living Stations ,and the Living Rosary) are other ways we celebrate as a school community.

Grades K-8 have a Patron Saint which they are looking to as role models.

The presence of a crucifix and statue of Mary in each classroom represents the Catholic faith.

Most teachers have prepared prayer areas in their classrooms for the students to use for daily prayers or special prayer intentions for themselves, family members, friends, or strangers in need.

Areas of Strength

Evidence

The school develops a shared vision, beliefs, and mission that define a compelling purpose and direction for the school.

This strength ranked high on the NSSE/FCC survey

All stakeholders shared in the development of the Mission and Belief Statements.

The faculty has representatives on the parish council, school advisory board, principal’s council, and the home and school association to insure strong communication among the school, parish, and community.

Every faculty member has contributed to the accreditation process.

The mission statement is posted in each classroom and is displayed in the school newsletter and parish bulletin.

Each Unit has a faculty member serving on a school committee (safety, spiritual, social, etc.)

Areas of Strength

Evidence

The school’s curriculum furnishes instruction in Catholic truths and moral values that are an integral part of the school program

The level of Student Achievement in Faith Formation scored at the fully competent level on the NSSE/FCC Survey of Seven Goals for Student Achievement in Area III of the SIP.

Comments on the open-ended response items support this strength.

All teachers are certified as religious educators by the Diocese after completing the Echoes of Faith Program.

The religion curriculum is developed at the Diocesan level with local teacher representatives serving on this curriculum committee.

Religion texts are updated on a six year cycle, and purchased from Sadlier (K-5) and Loyola (6-8).

Areas of Strength

Evidence

Daily planning activities incorporate developmentally appropriate instruction in Catholic truths and moral values.

This strength ranked high on the NSSE/FCC survey.

There is daily prayer for grades PreK-8 in the morning, before lunch and at the end of the day.

Students participate in school liturgies both on a weekly and monthly basis. Many students are actively involved in the church as lectors, choir members, and alter servers.

The guardian angel program allows the students in grades 7 and 8 to serve as positive role models for students in grades K and 1.

The advisor program encourages the 7^th and 8^th grade students to serve others. Each advisor group selects a service project for service day. This program provides the students with a valuable service experience.

The school participates in service through the Thanksgiving Food Drive, Project Rice Bowl, Christmas Toy Drive, and

Project Clean Your Desk.

Areas of Strength

Evidence

School leadership- pastors, principal, teachers, and parent advisory group- foster community building conditions within the school, and share responsibility for the mission of the school.

This strength ranked high on the NSSE/FCC survey.

Monday morning prayer and announcements for faculty keep teachers abreast of the week’s events.

Unit meetings allow for communication between teachers.

Faculty meetings allow for communication between grade levels and administration.

The email and voicemail systems assist teachers in communicating with other faculty members, administrators and parents.

The newsletter and monthly calendars are excellent information sources for the parents, faculty and staff.

Administrators meet monthly with the Home and School Association to collaborate.

The School Advisory Council of parents meets monthly with the pastor and principal to collaborate and share the leadership role.

The Mission and Belief Statements were developed by all stakeholders.

1b. Assessments – The student learning assessment system provides for the collection of a comprehensive and representative sample of student performance that is sufficient in scope to permit confident conclusions about student achievement and yield generalized results.

Open-ended responses on the Area IV Survey indicated improvement is needed in many areas of assessment.

Upon reviewing teacher testing materials, many assessments of student learning are not based upon the development of reasoning and problem solving abilities, demonstration of performance skills, and the creation of products. (authentic assessment)

Student assessment often fails to monitor student progress and improve student learning according to teacher surveys and discussion.

The school has not developed a shared professional development plan for teachers and teacher assistants.

The school community has not ensured that the focus of staff development is to improve student learning and instructional effectiveness, as noted on the survey.

The school has not maintained a constant and steady focus on improving student learning through improvement of instructional practices.

This item tied for second lowest on the NSSE/FCC Survey for level IV, although it was rated fully functional on the survey scale.

There is not a shared vision of successful student learning so that teachers, parents and students know what good performance looks like, based upon Area IV survey.

The school does not review and analyze national assessments for the purpose of curriculum planning and increasing student achievement.

The school does not use assessment data for planning student programs as noted on the open-ended survey.

There is little evidence of the school using assessment data to diagnose program and student weaknesses.

Teachers and assistants comment on the open-ended survey that there is a concern regarding the number of struggling students being accepted into St. Anastasia.

A review of teacher schedules reveals that some teachers have only 20 minutes of planning time on certain days.

Teachers comment on the open-ended response survey, that there is little time to plan within curriculum departments, especially in the area of technology.

Cleanliness and hygiene are topics of discussion at certain unit meetings as of late.

The need to incorporate more technology into teaching and learning, and the lack of sufficient hardware and software are mentioned numerous times by teachers and teacher assistants in the open-ended survey for Area IV.