Joseph A. Foran High School
Accomplishments
2008 - 2010
Accreditation: Received full NEASC Accreditation
Curriculum/Instruction/Assessment
SRBI/RTI Behavioral updates- Professional Development (proactive and responsive)
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Consistent expectations across the school
Celebrate student success- Paw Points, Strive & Thrive
Committee formed to address mentoring/ advisory needs
SRBI/RTI Numeracy Literacy- Professional Development
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Committee formed to develop and implement Study Center which will be implemented as part of
Tier II intervention next year
School wide focus on researched based Instructional Strategies (summary, Note Taking,
Similarities/Differences)
Elective courses are now Level 2 instead of Level 3. This lowered the number of students requesting to
contract up and validated the rigorous programs in these departments
Collapsed Level 4 courses to be included with Level 3
Professional Growth/Continuous Improvement
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HS Renewal, Cross District Team developed three committees to support continued
improvement at both high schools
Data Team training for the Leadership Team is underway and training will be for all faculty next
year
All faculty participating in major curriculum development (UbD)
Completed the CASCIAC Athletic Audit
Student and Faculty Leadership
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Chaperones, Advisors, Coaches, High School Renewal Committee members, Data Team
Members, Faculty Leaders for our Professional Learning Communities
Drama Club productions held annually
Leadership Academy has been revitalized
Natural Helpers taking on a great leadership role:
• Red Wagon Fair
• Relay for Life
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Folks on spokes
Milford All Reunion, Oysterfest
Mentors and tutors
Raised $2,000 in scholarship money for graduating seniors
Freshman orientation
Open House
8th Grade orientation
Facilities
1. Completed Phase I and II of the Five Phase Renovation Plan. Phase III - 20,000 sq. ft. addition
project
2. Stairwell updates completed
3. Installed new elevator
4. Renovated Media Center
5. Renovated English wing
6. Renovated Science labs
7. Abated and installed new tile on entire first floor/ painted entire first level walls
8. Gym floor replaced, new score boards
9. Softball field fence
10. New gym storage room
11. Renovated girls locker room and P.E. office
12. Abated and replaced pool ceiling
13. New Chillers and Boilers
14. Blue Hall will have lead and asbestos abatement and new tile installation this summer
15. This summer the entire school will have updated sprinkler system
16. AED machines installed
Technology
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Smart Boards in the science and math rooms
Wireless- The entire school will be wireless for September 2010
Naviance- Electronic College Application process
Power School: grade book, parent portal
New lap top cart
IEP Direct
Adobe CS4 throughout the building
Program Improvement
By Department
ART
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All classes being offered at Level 2
Complete heterogeneity in our courses
All electives are being offered each year for increased student selection of course offerings
Adobe CS 4 available to all art students
Increased enrollment in art courses
Increased number of students attending prestigious post-secondary art schools
Two new large format flat scanners
Two new digital cameras
BUSINESS
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The Lion’s Eye. The store has run successfully for the entire 2009-2010 school year. This is the
first time students can purchase sweatshirts and sweatpants off the rack within the school since
the old school store closed in 1995.
Plans are to expand and relocate to a permanent spot in the school for the 2010-2011 school year.
We officially reinstated our DECA Chapter. DECA (Delta Episilon Chi) is an international
association of Marketing students.
We attended the CT DECA Convention in March and won three major (two second place and
one third place) awards – one in each category we competed in. This is practically unheard of
for first-year participants.
Our Entrepreneur students were invited (one of only four schools) to attend the CT Young
Entrepreneurs conference at Gateway Community College in November.
We applied for and received a small grant from The DeLuca Foundation (Subway) to assist in
furthering the study of entrepreneurship at the high school level.
We also received a grant from DECA National for free Personal Finance software valued at
$900.
ENGLISH
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Realigned the junior year course expectations so that the students must take a writing elective
or a full year course with a writing focus.
Bolster CAPT preparation through materials for grades 9 and 10 in reading
Identified students receive supplemental reading service alongside their required English
Offer a practice SAT essay writing prompt that is timed, scored and given extensive feedback
The Language and Lit students won an award by using Edublogs to publish voice thread critiques
on novels they read throughout the year in ssr. Using a student’s presentation as a model, we
won a national award and a free year’s subscription to an Edublogs pro account.
http://theedublogger.com/2009/03/07/and-the-winners-of-the-edubloggers-birthday-celebrationcompetition-are/
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In the Fall of 2009, six of the scholars from the fall creative writing class were selected to have
their poems published in an anthology called “A Celebration of Poets”.
http://turtola.edublogs.org/2009/01/15/winning-isnt-everything-but-doesnt-it-feel-good/
Teachers from both high schools have collaborated to develop the Antigone Facebook Project:
http://mspmrtantigonepage.wikispaces.com/ and http://cewiki.wikispaces.com/Antigone+Scholar+Wikis
Journalism- Revitalized school newspaper
Participation in MSG Varsity student journalism program
Instituted the RFI test as a literacy requirement and have raised the scores to show proficiency in
literacy.
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCE
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All FCS courses are now level 2.
There has been a 47% increase in the number of Child Development students taking the Career
and Technical Education Assessment over the last 2 years.
Child Development students have consistently scored in the top 14% of the 155 schools
participating in the Career and Technical Education Assessment.
Students taking Cooking for a Healthy Living classes are now using technology to set goals and
plan lifestyle changes in order to avoid obesity.
In Exploring Food and Nutrition classes students are using technology to evaluate recipes for
important nutrients and calories.
GUIDANCE – A Comprehensive Guidance program is being written with plans to be implemented
2010-2011 school year. Faculty, parents and students were surveyed to elicit their needs/expectations
from the guidance department.
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PLC- a stakeholders community group to review needs assessment and the continuous
improvement of the guidance program
Several new processes for academic, career and personal skill development for all students
Responsive Services for community collaboration and outreach, post secondary planning, and
crisis intervention
Career Seminars
Business and College field trips
Communication- Newsletter, Naviance emails, Connect Ed, Bulletin Board, BOE Meeting Reports
HEALTH
• New course- What’s new in health
• Smoking Cessation program
• Community-School Partnership
MATH
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White boards/ LCD’s and Interactive boards were installed and used in most math rooms
AP Statistics was added as a new course
Math courses were realigned
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Increased the number of students taking 4 years of math
The number of students taking AP Math has quadrupled;
New course– Pre-Calculus that meets the tech credit;
Housatonic Community College reports that our students tested higher on the college math
placement test than many other high schools in the area.
MEDIA CENTER
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December Book Fair- The media center with the assistance of 16 students held a three day book
fair in the media center in December. The students chose the books themselves by meeting
with the library media specialist at Barnes and Noble on a Saturday to choose the books. We
sold over $1000.00 worth of books.
Student Book Club- 16 students met with the library media specialist at night for a pizza dinner
and discussion of Jodi Picoult’s novel, Nineteen Minutes. Presently, they are reading John
Greene’s novel, Looking for Alaska. They will be meeting in June for our final pizza and
discussion. Books for next year’s group are being bought now after students made
recommendations.
June Book Fair at Barnes and Noble - Students will be helping with a book fair at Milford’s
Barnes and Noble in June to promote summer reading. In addition to the students promoting
the books, student artwork will be displayed, and members of the Foran jazz band will perform.
Community Service- The media center sponsored the first giving tree at Foran. In December,
National Honor Society students helped collect gifts for needy families. Students and staff chose
cards from the tree that described the presents that families needed.
After the earthquake in Haiti, the media center sponsored a drive to help the Haitian people.
For three months, the boxes continued to mount, filled with medical supplies, clothes, and food.
Eventually, all of the goods were delivered to local charities to distribute.
New Reading Area for Students- Six comfortable chairs, some of them beanbag , and some of
them rocking, were added this year to create a comfortable space for students to read. The
area is always in use!
Laptop Use- Classes have been utilizing the laptop carts in the media center this year; instead of
bringing the carts to the classrooms, the classes have been coming to the media center to use
the large tables to make collaboration more manageable.
MUSIC
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March, 2010 – 1st Community Based Concert with the Foran Band, Choir, Milford Concert Band,
and Voices of Praise Special Projects Choir
Band & Chorus have consistently earned first place ratings at annual festivals including best
overall ensemble (chorus) and best high school concert band and jazz band
Consistently placed an average of 10 students into regional honors ensembles and two in the All
State concert band for the last three years.
The Concert Band performed at the WW II Memorial in Washington, D.C., March, 2010
Chorus and band students have been invited to perform in the Jay Rowe Smooth Jazz for Scholars
Benefit Concert for each of the last three years.
The Chorus has been invited to perform in the last two Mayoral inauguration ceremonies.
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Completed HS chorus curriculum in the summer of 2008
Complete four units this year for concert band and implemented two as part of early release
Wednesday work.
Guitar II was offered – and ran – for the first time this spring.
We have acquired a new tuba, vibraphone, and chimes for the band in the last two years through
fundraising efforts and community support.
Started the “Pasta & Jazz in the Courtyard” event to support the Foran Band Program in 2009.
P.E.
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CT Physical Fitness Test Scores have increased by over 20% of students passing all four
components of the assessment. This increase is attributed to pre and post testing and personal
goal setting.
More students are now fully participating in P.E. classes (participation rubrics)
The department has completed the writing of 11 units of study
NEASC has commended our P.E. department for the common assessments developed
SPECIAL EDUCATION
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Appropriately selected students are utilizing programs such as Quickwrites, Rewards, SRA
decoding, SRA writing and SRA comprehension.
• Community outreach to organizations such as Milford Rape Crisis, DECO, local banks, job
experiences for students through Costco and Hometown Buffet. There have also been field trips
to Adams and other sites in the community for application of skills.
• The read 180 program not only takes and provides funds for students to visit and shop at local
book stores but the last two years also provide online shopping exposure for students.
• Revising the learning center with a new model to be implemented this fall.
• The Extended School Year program has developed more social skills as a component of its
curriculum.
• AIMS Web for collecting data on student reading performance to inform instruction
• Hosted numerous student teachers and held observation hours for SCSU students
SCIENCE
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New course - Introduction to Meteorology
Reading for Success program in ninth and tenth grade science classes
Renovated science labs, with boards/LCDs in 7 rooms
Teachers trained on EasiTeach software
Small computer lab on the fourth floor
BioConnections was used in some science classes this year.
Installed a weather station that is collecting data for records and the possible use of a wind
turbine
Establishment of the “Sci-Lions” for 2009-10 school years; the Foran Science Olympiad Team and
club
SOCIAL STUDIES
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Review of curriculum and development of UBD Units for two courses, US History and Modern
World
Created and ran a new AP Course, Government
Completed TEAM Pilot for the CT State Department of Education
Became a member of district TEAM Committee
Student Government organized Faculty Appreciation Breakfast & the Thanksgiving Food Drive
Organized Second Annual Foran Leadership Conference
Created the anti-bulling club , BEAST
Hosted numerous student teachers and held observation hours for SCSU students
TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
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Implemented a complete TE program for the middle schools.
Expanded the Robotics program at Foran to include Robotics 2
Increased involvement in the Robotics club with advanced programming.
Major additions to the software
WORLD LANGUAGE
SPANISH
CURRICULUM
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2010-2011 Program of Studies: New Spanish course was added to accommodate the 8th graders
entering the high school that did not complete Spanish 1. This course was designed so that
these students could finish Spanish 1 as a freshman in a Level 2 class and will then transition in
to a Spanish 2 class at the end of the school year.
New curriculum guide written 2009 and new materials for the Spanish 4 L3 class.
Curriculum Revision: Spanish 1L2 (2008), Spanish 2L1+2 (2009), Spanish 3L3 (2009)
Summer of 2010: UbD work and possible revision of Spanish 3L1+2 curriculums.
Common Performance Based Assessments are now being integrated.
UbD work for Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 are in process and are being worked on by all teachers of
Spanish.
TECHNOLOGY
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Updated the SANAKO Lab with the 1200 version of the SANAKO Study software.
Spanish and French teachers have a subscription to Quia.com and Yabla.com
PROFESSIONAL
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6 out of 8 language teachers now belong to the CT Council of Language Teachers.
JAF teachers created, hosted, and judged the 2010 CT State COLT Poster contest. Committee
included the following teachers: 1 Latin,1 French, 2 Spanish, 1 Art and 1 Business.
PROMOTING LANGUAGE STUDY: 21st Century
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The number of students taking the National Spanish Exam form 2008 increased from 24 to 44.
o 19 students medaled in 2008
o 34 in 2009
o 38 in 2010
The number of students entering the CT COLT Poetry contest has increased as well as the # of
medals and the diversity.
3 students participated in 2008. (1 student in the Greek category and 2 students in the Latin
category) We won Gold in Greek.
4 students participated in 2009. (CATAGORIES: 1 in Spanish, 1in Polish, 1in Greek and 1 in Latin)
We won Gold in Greek.
6 students participated in 2010. (CATEGORIES: 1 student recited in Spanish, 1 in Polish, 1 in
Hindi, 1 in Arabic, 1 in Portuguese, 1 in Latin. We won Silver in Polish and Hindi this year.
Spanish National Honor Society students are teaching Spanish once a week to the children in
the JAF Learning Center and also to several 5th grade classes at a local elementary school.
Interdisciplinary lessons with Consumer Sciences
WORLD LANGUAGE WEEK: Inclusion of the Foran Band, Choir, Foran High Step team, and the
JAF Food Service.
Promotion of the importance of learning languages for the 21st century to the JAF community
through assemblies and activities such as:
Travel organizations, the Milford Rotary Exchange programs and foreign students, the Army, the
Peace Corp, JAF intern and student travels, salsa, meringue, zumba lessons, and professional
groups such as Hip Hop Dimensions, and an a capella group called Blue Jupiter.
FRENCH
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French teacher went from part time in 2008 to full time in 2009 due to increased enrollment.
French Club and French National Honor Society rules and regulations are being established
(2009-2010) Full implementation of both organizations will take place next school year.
JAF and Jonathan Law French students went to the MET Museum in New York City this school
year. (2009)
Inclusion of French Day presentation was included in the 2010 World Language Week. (African
Dance and Drumming)
French 4 L1 and L2 were revised (2008)
UbD work for French 1 is in progress. (2009-2010)
LATIN
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New curriculum and textbook series for the Latin 1 and the Latin 2 levels.
Latin 1 L1 +2 written in 2009.
Latin UbD work is in progress. (2009-2010)
Latin Day