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Annual Education Report

15740 RACHO ROAD ■ TAYLOR, MI 48180 ■ (734) 374-8222

Trillium Academy

School Annual Education Report (AER) Cover Letter

02.15.17

Dear Parents and Community Members:

We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER), which provides key information on the 2015-16 educational progresses for Trillium Academy. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school’s report contains information about student assessment, accountability, and teacher quality. If you have any questions about the AER, please contact Mr. Suemnick in the main office for assistance.

The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting the following web site https://goo.gl/rzXKyl or you may review a copy in the main office.

For the 2016-17 year, no new Priority or Focus schools were named; some Priority or Focus schools did exit their status because they met the exit criteria. New Reward schools were identified using school rankings and Beating the Odds information. A Focus school is one that has a large achievement gap between the highest and lowest achieving 30% of schools. A Priority school is one whose achievement and growth is in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state. A Reward school is one that has achieved one or more of the following distinctions: top 5% of schools on the Top-to-Bottom School Rankings, top 5% of schools making the greatest gains in achievement (improvement metric), or “Beating the Odds” by outperforming the school’s predicted ranking and/or similar schools. Some schools are not identified with any of these labels. In these cases no label is given. Our school has not been given one of these labels.

After reviewing the combined report for the 2015-2016 school year and in comparison to the 2014-2015 school year, we noticed a drop in English Language Arts (ELA) in certain grade levels and sub groups. We specifically saw drops of 9% in 3rd grade ELA, 15% in African- American 3rd grade students, and 11% drop in 3rd grade female students. After further analysis,


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we realized we implemented a new ELA program. The program was just rolled out this year and further training and implementation is required.

In math, we saw a drop in 3rd grade math scores specifically with African American students of 11% and male students in 4th grade of 15%. 7th grade African American students in 7th grade dropped 6%. The school improvement team feels a new math curriculum consistent across grade levels needs to be implemented to increase fidelity across grade levels and increase supplemental materials.

In science, the combined report indicated a 4% drop in 4th grade students with the largest drop coming in 7th grade male students. More dedicated instructional time along with high interest, hands on experiential learning is being incorporated.

In social studies, we saw almost all our scores stay relatively the same. The one exception was a 10% decrease in female students in 8th grade. A new social studies curriculum along with increase supplemental materials was cited. High interest learning specifically for females will be incorporated.


1. Process for assigning pupils to the school:

Trillium Academy is a public charter school and follows the enrollment process set forth by the open enrollment laws in Michigan.

Admission into Trillium Academy
Parents interested in enrolling their child at Trillium Academy first complete an application either from home or in the main office. During the school year it is a first come first service basis for admittance. Each year there is an open enrollment period lasting two weeks. Each application received during the open enrollment period is given the same level of priority for filling spaces. If there are enough spaces available then students at those grade levels are offered the opportunity to enroll at the end of the open-enrollment period. If we receive more applications than space available, the Academy holds an open-enrollment lottery and fills spaces in the order students’ names are drawn. The only exception to this structure is the sibling preference policy. Siblings of students that receive a space are given priority over students without a currently enrolled sibling. That is so that we can try to keep families together. As spaces are filled they continue down a waitlist until all positions are filled. Any

application after the open enrollment period are filled or placed on the waitlist on a first come first serve basis. Parents are notified as soon as there is an opening that they can come and register their child.

2. The Status of the 3-5 year School Improvement Plan

The School Improvement Team has developed goals for all four-core subject areas, which are listed below. Measurement were based on previous MStep results for students in grades 3-9, Michigan Merit Exam (MME) for Grade 11, Scantron Performance Series results for students in grades 2-9, and MLPP/DRA for Grades Kindergarten – 1st.

MSTEP, the Michigan state assessment, is used to measure our effectiveness of our academic success. Evaluation of our goals and progress takes place each year and adjustments are made accordingly in both programming and the plan as we move forward. It is continually our goal to close achievement gaps and provide the very best in education for our students. Our goals for the 2015-2016 school year were as follows:

Goal Statement: All students will be proficient in Math.
Objective 1: 50% of 3rd – 8th grade students will demonstrate proficiency in skills in Mathematics by Spring 2016 as measured by MStep.
Objective 2: A 10% increase of 8th – 12th grade students will demonstrate a proficiency in meeting the grade level target in Mathematics by Spring 2016 as measured by SAT.
Objective 3: 50% of all students will demonstrate proficiency by meeting MiGoal targets in Mathematics by Spring 2016 as measured by Performance Series and on the Explore, Plan, and MME/SAT assessments.
Objective 4: A 10% increase of all students will demonstrate proficiency by reaching the MiGoal Target scaled score in Mathematics by Spring 2016 as measured by Performance Series.

Goal Statement: All students will be proficient in Reading and Language Arts.
Objective 1: A 10% increase of all students will demonstrate a proficiency in comprehension in English Language Arts by Spring 2016 as measured by MStep.
Objective 2: 90% of all students will demonstrate proficiency by meeting growth targets in English Language Arts by Spring 2016 as measured by Performance Series.

Goal Statement: All students will be proficient in Science.
Objective 1: A 20% increase of all students will demonstrate a proficiency in scientific knowledge scores in Science by Spring 2016 as measured by MStep, Explore, and Plan.

Objective 2: A 10% increase of all students will demonstrate a proficiency in scientific inquiry scores in Science by Spring 2016 as measured by Explore, Plan, and SAT.

Goal Statement: All students will be proficient in Social Studies.
Objective 1: A 10% increase of all students will demonstrate a proficiency in economics and civic knowledge in Social Studies by Spring 2016 as measured by MStep.
Objective 2: A 10% increase of all students will demonstrate a proficiency in knowledge of history and geography in Social Studies by Spring 2016 as measured by MStep.

3. A Brief Description of Trillium Academy

Trillium Academy has successfully completed its 14th year of school operation during the 2015-2016 academic year and serviced students in grades K – 12.

Trillium Academy prides itself in having a strong academic program. The curriculum promotes academic excellence for all students in mathematics, reading, language arts, social studies, and science. In addition, all students are provided experiences in technology, art, music, physical education, drama, and world languages. Trillium Academy works to provide students a path that sets them up for success beyond high school graduation. Trillium has 4 pillars to create this pathway for our students; college focused academics, strong character values, arts and student passions, and an engaged school community. Through our college-focused academics Trillium uses student data to prepare students academically while implementing an alumni success program to support student in a growing college mindset.
Through character education and our PBIS program, students learn practical life skills, respect, responsibility, and resourcefulness to help them grow to be good productive citizens. Through the arts and student passions, our program encourages students to not only become well-rounded individuals, but to grow in 21st century career market skills being able to creatively problem solve, innovate, and gain employability skills through disciplined artistry such as public speaking and articulate communication. Finally, through our engaged school community, we will provide the support our students need to be successful through the voices and assistance of high quality and dedicated teachers as well as involved parents and students throughout the school program. In addition to our program pillars, we are

focused on providing best practices in implementation and instruction for all of our programming.
The support systems, goals, and programming of Trillium Academy make it unique from other schools in the surrounding area. Incorporating the structure of our four pillars into the Michigan Common Core Standards of curriculum, while continuing to incorporate developing research based best practices of instruction such as Doug LeMov’s Teach Like a Champion, has developed the characteristics of Trillium.

4. Core Curriculum and Implementation:

Trillium Academy utilizes the following process to develop and align its curriculum to ensure that all Michigan Standards and Benchmarks are met.

• Research appropriate development levels for academic skills
• Implementing the Common Core Curriculum
• Research Michigan Common Core Standards and Benchmarks
• Research other state and school curriculum frameworks
• Consideration of MStep and other performance indicators including MLPP
• Consider modes of instruction, i.e. Teach Like a Champion, Experiential, Multiple Intelligences, small group, and large group
• Consider multiple assessments
• Work in reverse (Grade 12 – Kindergarten) to set exit skill criteria for each grade level based on research findings
• Integration of 21st Century skills into Core Curriculum
• Review forward K to 12 and backward for ease transition
• Receive approval from authorizer, Central Michigan University
• Choose necessary materials

Trillium uses multiple modes of instruction to ensure all students have the same opportunity to learn the core curriculum, including a strong focus on Multiple Intelligences, data-driven instruction for whole class, small group, and individual student plans for growth, and best practices in top teaching strategies including Doug LeMov’s Teach Like a Champion.

Trillium Academy follows the Common Core and Michigan Curriculum Framework while incorporating the four pillars of Trillium’s program to accomplish its’ mission and vision in preparing students for success in college, work and life. Parents can access a copy of the school’s curriculum in the school office.

5. Local Student Achievement Results:

Performance Series is an assessment that is taken in grades 2-8 three times per school year. It measures individual student progress in Reading, English Language Arts, and Math. Additionally, we incorporate the Science portion of the assessment for improvement of curriculum overall.

The first two tables below show us the average scaled score for each grade level from the fall of 2015 and the fall of 2016 compared to where students from the fall of 2015 ended in the spring of 2016 against the college readiness benchmark shown as a line on the graph. The third graph represents our historical trend of fall data for the entire school in each reading and math from 2010 to 2016. It also compares all students in the Fall of 2016 to students that have been at the Academy for 3+ years in the Fall of 2016.

(For an alternate format of the graphs, please contact Phil Maurey, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., for the graph representation.)

Students Represented by Parents at Parent-Teacher Conferences:

In 2015-2016, Trillium Academy, we had 91% of our parents attend Parent
-Teacher conferences. This was out of a total of 629 students. In 2014- 2015 Trillium Academy, again saw a high rate of attendance at Parent- Teacher Conferences with more than 90% of parents attending conferences, 92% (630 students) parents attending at least one conference in 2013- 2014, and 93% (645 students) attending in 2012-2013. We attribute this high rate of attendance to policy factors requiring parents to attend conferences in order to receive their student’s report card as well as creating a culture of parent/family engagement in the education process.

High School Data:

In 2015-2016, Trillium Academy had 10 students enrolled in dual- enrollment which was approximately 7% of high school students. All ten students received a score leading to college credit.

In the 2014-2015 school year, Trillium Academy had 7 students approximately 4% of high school students enrolled in dual-enrollment,

college courses receiving high school credit. All 7 students received a score leading to college credit.

Historically, in the 2013-2014 school year, Trillium Academy had 12 students (6%) enrolled in post-secondary courses (dual enrollment). All 12 students (6%) received a score leading to college credit. In the 2012-2013 school year, Trillium Academy had 10 students (6%) enrolled in post secondary courses (dual enrollment). All 10 students (6%) received a score leading to college credit.

For the 2015-2016 school year, Trillium Academy did not offer any Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes. Therefore, there were no credits issued for those classes and no credits earned towards college for those classes.

In 2015-2016, we spent a great deal of time and focus on preparing students for college readiness and beyond. Last year was the first year that our students took the SAT. As mandated by the state of Michigan, this change gave us a baseline score of 962, which puts us above our composite peers. It is just below the state and national averages. In 2014-2015, Trillium Academy had an overall average of 18.12 on the ACT. The overall average on the ACT for all 11th grade students in the 2013-2014 school year was a score of 19.04. The previous school year of 2012-2013, the overall average on the ACT for all 11th grade students was a score of 19.1. 

Closing:

The Administrators and staff of Trillium Academy encourage all parents and community members to review the information provided in this cover letter and attached data report. Administrators, staff, and students are encouraged by the mostly positive results contained within, while acknowledging that we have improvements to make and are not where we want to be in regard to student data. We have several interventions and strategies in place from instruction practices, to professional development, to curriculum and assessment protocols. With our continued research and efforts we look forward to even more success in the future.

Sincerely,

Ms. Angela Romanowski Superintendent, Trillium Academy