IMPROVEMENT PLAN PART 2 2
Improvement Plan Part 2: Data and collection analysis
During the 2018-2019 school year, 13,553 of the students who attended Sunnyside
United School District (SUSD) 80% received free or reduced lunch, 2, 688 (17%) are classified
as English Language Learners, 142 (9%) are identified as homeless, 2, 098 (13%) are classified
as Special Education, and 988 (6%) are qualified under Serving Unique Needs (SUN) gifted
program (SUSD, 2020). While looking at data from my school's Strategic Plan, I formulated
some great ideas for improvement. By involving the community, stakeholders, parents, and
students, my district can gain a wide range of information from all involved—one of the
strengths of my district deal with our school board meetings. Currently, our school board meets
once a month. The board goes over many issues ranging from the hiring of staff, school issues,
budget concerns, and building needs. This is one of the strengths of my school. The entire board
is there and has a question-and-answer session for all who attend. Meetings are announced in
advance, and all are invited to participate. This allows for all community partners, stakeholders,
families, students, and guardians to attend and voice their opinion.
Another strength of the district is the inclusiveness of the diverse learners that represent
the district. We have students from cultures that are unique to Arizona. Students from two
different Native Nations (Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui), as well as students who speak
American Sign Language (ASL), Apache, Arabic, Cantonese, English, Filipino French, Hopi,
Lingala, Maay, Navajo, Pueblo, Punjabi, Sioux, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese. To
meet the diverse needs of my school district, the district has created a district framework that
allows the capture of "summative experiences that mark each student's learning journey, so that
personalization in the classroom is less about technology and more about each student's ecology"
(SUSD, 2020).
IMPROVEMENT PLAN PART 2 3
One of my district's weaknesses deals with chronic absences; the district has tried several
pans, but nothing has helped. During our monthly board meetings, the School Board has
addressed this issue with parents, families, community partners, and stakeholders. As a group,
they came up with the current plan. My school uses incentives for students who attend school
(students who arrive on time every day in a given week, are given Ram-o-grams that they can
spend at the Ram Shack on different items, candy, toys, pencils, pen, etc.), to having our School
Resource office and School councilor make home visits to encourage students to come to school.
Unfortunately, this has not significantly increased the school's overall attendance.
Goals
Since attendance is an issue for all grades two through eighth grade, the school needs to
address this issue in all grades.
Goals:
For grades 2-5, the goal is to reduce students with chronic absenteeism by 15% for the
next school year.
For grades 6-8, the goal is to reduce students with chronic absenteeism by 10% for the
next school year.
Attendance training for all staff, staff will report students with three or more absences to
the Councilor, who will intervene.
Councilors will produce a list of all students who have three or more absences in a
month, each month and what has been done to reach out to the families.
After a student has six absences, the Councilor and the School Resource Officer will
make phone calls and home visits and formulate a plan with the family to increase
attendance.
Relation to Vision
SUSD's school motto is "Every child... College, Career, and Community Ready" (SUSD,
2020). These goals tie directly into this motto, if the child is not present at school, they cannot
be college, career, or community ready. While stakeholders and families will play a
predominant role in these goals, community members can also assist. Parents/community
IMPROVEMENT PLAN PART 2 4
members who can take students to school and pick them up can alleviate transportation issues for
many families. Those families who don't have transportation, have to work odd hours and
cannot take their children to school, as well as parents who are unable to get their children to
school on time, these parents would be able to assist the school with these goals there for playing
a vital role to both the student and to the school. Since my school district has monthly school
board meetings, at these board meetings, the board can address those who attend (in person and
virtually) and pass the information that way. Schools would be able to help those families in
need and also use the community members to help.
