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Annual Education Report 08-09
Mission: Frontier International Academy promotes lifelong learning by nurturing academic excellence, positive character, and an appreciation of cultures.
Belief Statements
The foundational beliefs that the board holds which drive the mission and vision for the school are: • All students are entitled to reach their highest potential through a meaningful educational experience. • It is important that the academy provides a respectful, safe, orderly, and positive learning environment providing a school climate that is welcoming for staff, students and the community at large. • Parents are partners in the learning process and educational success is most often achieved when schools provide opportunities for parental involvement and support. • Learning is a lifelong process that empowers individuals to succeed and contribute to society. • All employees have the right to have a safe and supportive environment in which to effectively perform their work. • Although it is important for staff to be highly qualified on paper, it is equally important for staff to be highly qualified in their practice. • High expectations for students from parents, from teachers and from administrators will help students to succeed. • Well-defined goals and objectives are essential to a quality educational program. • Each and every employee functions as an integral member of the school personnel team and makes a highly significant contribution to the educational program.
Board of Directors Asm Rahman, President Syed Hoque, Vice President Ali S. Alhamdi, Secretary Yunus Wasel, Treasurer Dr. Naji A. Jaber, Liaison School Principal Dr. Harun Rashid Dr. Harun Rashid has been in the field of teaching and educational administration since 1978. He received his M.A. from University of Waterloo, Canada, and his Ph.D. from Wayne State University. He has been involved in training K-12 teachers since 1988. As a trainer he provides educators with strategies necessary to foster an emotionally engaging classroom where students feel connected to school, learning, and one another. He also provides educators with necessary tools to eliminate unselfresponsible student behavior and empower them to achieve personal power, positive mental model, and sense of self-responsibility. He explores with other educators basic thinking styles, learning style preferences, and dominant multiple intelligences, and designs curriculum and school-wide reforms based on them. Dr. Rashid has been in school administration since 1989. He has been in charter school administration since 1997. He was a principal in Dearborn before he became principal at Frontier International Academy in 2005. Frontier International Academy is authorized by Bay Mills Charter Schools Office, and was established in fall of 2005. It is one of the many Public School Academies serviced by Global Educational Excellence.
EDUCATIONAL SERVICE PROVIDER GEE is an educational service provider founded in 1998 in Michigan, with the mission to empower schools of choice by nurturing academic excellence, positive character traits and an appreciation of cultures. Mohamad Issa, Director of GEE, and Said Issa, Associate Director of GEE, ensure that GEE provides the following services to the school: recruit and engage personnel, best suited to the school and its community, facilitate the development and implementation of a curriculum fostering growth among all children, supervise the maintenance of the school’s physical facility and environment, and manage all record-keeping and financial aspects associated with the operation of the school. The staff of Global Educational Excellence have a wide variety of backgrounds
and experiences which makes the team unique in its ability to serve the Global Academies. The departments at Global Educational Excellence have over 15 years experience in handling Federal and State Grant Reporting requirements and Board Policy. They also handle all No Child Left Behind Requirements, including Site Manuals and Administrative Guidelines for the buildings and school board. As an Educational Service Provider, Global Educational Excellence is prepared and equipped to handle any educational needs of the Academies requested by the School Board. Through their mission, GEE has worked with communities throughout Southeastern Michigan and Northern Ohio to provide a strong educational program specifically developed to meet the needs of the English as a Second Language student. Global Academies, through the Educational Service Provider GEE have been recognized state-wide in Michigan as well as nationally for the academic achievements of their academies’ students.
OUR ACADEMY Frontier International Academy opened in Fall of 2005 and received Michigan North Central Association accreditation in 2007. The academy serves sixth through twelfth grades, having a school enrollment of 285 and an 96% attendance as well as 100% student graduation rate. The retention rate is currently over 74%. The academy offers adult classes in small class sizes with an average of 19 students and full-day kindergarten classes. Computer use and English as a Second Language are offered to parents and other adults in our community. The basement level includes a full auditorium with an attached stage. There is also four large maintenance and storage areas, which includes the boiler room. There is a spacious girls and boys restroom, and four classrooms. The first level offers three office areas, a library, and nine classrooms. This gives the school a total of 13 classrooms at their disposal.
TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS Teachers at Frontier International Academy are highly qualified, holding at least a Bachelors Degree and Teaching Certification from the state. At this time, approximately eight teachers hold a Master’s Degree.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT In accordance with School Board recommendations, the academy holds parent-teacher conferences to permit two-way communication between home and school. About 65% of our parents attended parent-teacher conferences in 2008-09, which is a slight increase over the previous year. In addition there are meetings of staff members and parents of those students having special abilities, disabilities, needs, or problems and an open house to provide parents with the opportunity to see the Academy facilities, meet the faculty, and sample the program on a first-hand basis. Research indicates that the leading predictor of student success is parental involvement. As such, the academy includes parents in every aspect of the education program. The school governance structure relies on significant parental input and cultivates a close working partnership between staff and parents. For the benefit of children, the Board believes that parents have a responsibility to encourage their child’s career in school. To that end, the academy has a parent/student coordinator that conducts parent meetings and workshops in addition to informational meetings with the principal. This motivates parents as well as the community to get involved in a variety of ways and gives the opportunity for them to voice their opinions. Frontier International Academy offers events and activities that encourages parents and educates them in ways they can help to increase academic achievement for their children. The academy has an “open door” policy where parents are always welcome to visit.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN GEE Academies, including Frontier International, understand that measuring academic success requires more than just looking at grades on a report card four times a year. As such, all of our schools participate in administering standardized tests for their respective state. These tests serve to measure our students’ performance against state curriculum standards to ensure our students are receiving the proper instruction. They also serve as a good way to measure year-to-year progress and compare school performance across an entire state. The data from the state standardized testing is closely evaluated by each school’s administration teams to assess areas of strength and weakness enabling us to continually tailor instruction as needed. The School Improvement Plan prepared initial guides developed to help our school in the process to improve student achievement, develop goals and analyze our
achievement results. It helps to produce a baseline by which to set and achieve goals to ultimately meet AYP standards. Current Improvement Goals By June 2010, students plan to show an improvement for achievements in: - Reading: Address students’ literacy needs on a daily basis in every classroom. - Writing: Increase students’ understanding and conceptualizations. - Mathematics: to make the State-set threshold of AYP, based on MEAP test results. - Science: An increase students’ capacity to reason and inquire.
ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS AYP Status (Adequate Yearly Progress)
Met AYP
Composite Grade
C
Percentage not tested in Grades 3-8 MEAP were 1% or lower.
FINANCES 2008-2009 Foundation Allowance Fund Balance Fund Balance % of Expenditure Instruction % of Expenditure
$7,580 $923,868 36.17% 49.7%
Frontier International Academy School is audited yearly by Plante Moran, PLLC, of Michigan in the summer of 2009. The current audit of 08-09 reported no findings and reported this to the Academy School Board at a school board meeting in the fall of 2009.
CORE CURRICULUM The Board of Directors provides a comprehensive core curriculum to serve the educational needs of students of this Academy. The curriculum is in line with the curriculum that was adopted by the State of Michigan School Board and is consistent with the Michigan School Code. The Educational Service Provider and School Leader prepare guidelines for the description of the core curriculum as well as the sequence, in grade clusters, in which such courses will be taught. The curriculum is intended to provide a basic framework for instruction and learning. Within the framework, each teacher uses the curriculum in a manner best designed to meet the needs of the students for whom s/he is responsible.
ARABIC LANGUAGE PROGRAM The goal of the Arabic language and culture program is to educate students in Arabic language and culture in order to help make them knowledgeable and active members of a global society. Students will learn to use Arabic language for meaningful communication in both spoken and written form. The Arabic language program emphasizes language as it is used in real-life situations that students are most likely to encounter. Through Arabic language and culture study, students develop sensitivity to the cultural and linguistic heritage of other ethnic groups, understand their influence on other cultures, and become prepared to participate in a society characterized by linguistic and cutural diversity.
INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) is a model that works well with the English Language Learners served by Bridge Academy. This model was developed by the National Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence funded by the US Department of Education. The theory behind this model is that language acquisition is enhanced through meaningful use and interaction with the English language. Through the study of content, students interact with the English Language Learners in a meaningful way with material that is relevant to their schooling. All content lessons incorporate activities in the language processes; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The teachers make the content comprehensible for all students through techniques such as the use of visual aids, modeling, demonstrations, graphic organizers, vocabulary, adapted texts, cooperative learning, peer tutoring, and native language support. All professional staff members are trained on this instructional model and through its use, students are able to master the state-required expectations for yearly improvement.
MEAP Proficiency Score Percentage by Grade State
Frontier Academy 08/09
Frontier Academy 07/08
Hamtramck
English 100
89.9
90
88.8
83.2 71.871.7
67.9
70
76.7
67.6 63.9
65.666.7
62.8 60
90.7
80.1
79.5
78.2 75
76.6
80
91.9
90.1
87.8
64.1
60
52.2
50
40 30 20 10 0
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
Math 100
90 80
96.3 91.3 87.5
94.3 86.5 87.9
75.6
74.4
91.9 85.4 76.8 69
70
92.8
90.5
79.9
74.5 68.3
70.3 66.7 58.8 56.1
60
87.8
82.6
52.2
50 40
30 20 10
0 3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
Science 90 80 70
Social Studies 83.1
75.9 65.9
60
83
76.3 60.9
54.8
77
90
73.6
80 70
60
50
50
40
40
30
30
20
20
10
10
55.9
56.1
5th
8th
5 34.6
0
0
74
6th
MEAP Disaggregated Proficiency Data 08/09
7th
Grade Male Female Asian White Black Disadvantaged ELL
8th
Grade Male Female Asian White Black Disadvantaged ELL
9th
Grade Male Female Asian White Black Disadvantaged ELL
English
Math
91% 100% * 93% * 96% 91%
45% 83% * 60% * 65% 55%
English
Math
Science
58% 82% * 68% * 71% 47%
47% 54% * 59% * 51% 43%
63% 67% * 63% * 65% 52%
Social Studies 52% 68% 46% 67% * 59% 50%
* = Fewer than 10 students included
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2619 Florian Street Hamtramck, MI 48212 Phone: (313) 887-7500 www.frontier-academy.net