CONNECTS ADVISORY TEAM:

Gerald McAnally, Assistant Principal
Scott Daniels, High School Counselor
Rachel Hobbs, Elementary Counselor
Philip Gilman, Educational Administrator
Justin Ridgeway, High School Teacher
Lee Payne, High School Teacher

Creating Opportunities NOW to Nurture and Enlighten by CONNECTING Teachers with Students

Brief Description:
The purpose of the CONNECTS program is to connect all 6th - 12th grade students to an adult within the school. The goals of the program are for each student to: 1. Experience a special relationship with the advisor, which is characterized by warmth, concern, openness, and understanding. 2. Decrease failure rates by monitoring academic progress at regular intervals. 3. Have an advisor who serves as an advocate for students with teachers and parents.

The CONNECTS groups will meet twice a month for 30 minutes sessions to participate in lessons aimed toward meeting the advisement program goals.

REACH PROGRAM

Excel High School
2013-2014
Program Directors:
Gerald McAnally, Assistant Principal
Scott Daniels, High School Counselor

REACH

Revitalizing Effort in Academics by Creating Hope

The purpose of the REACH program is to increase student effort in regards to academic progression. Students assigned to REACH have failed (1) or more classes and according to the latest comprehensive progress report, continue to fail to meet academic expectations in multiple classes. Students are initially referred to the program by regular classroom teachers. However, the program directors evaluate students' academic progress at the end of each nine weeks grading period and assign students based on the information from these reports.

Students assigned to the REACH program are required to attend tutoring after school on Wednesdays for the duration of (1) full nine weeks grading period. Peer tutors and faculty tutors will be made available to the students assigned to REACH. REACH will be held in the high school building from 3 p.m.- 4 p.m. every Wednesday beginning the 3rd nine weeks grading period. The first meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, January 8.

Here at Excel, we focus on the principles of quality instruction, intervention and assessment within a Tiered program called Response to Instruction (RTI). The three Tiers of Instruction are Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III. The Tier instruction is designed to meet the needs of students in varying degrees of educational abilities.

Tier I is designed to cover the General Education classroom and serves all students. This Tier is encompasses quality teaching in each classroom every day and incorporates quality instruction and class management to reach all students. Typically speaking, 80% of students generally grasp the concepts in this setting and the classroom teacher uses the best practices scenario to fulfill the teaching and learning to all students. During Tier I we use STAR testing as our universal screenings and progress monitoring tool to make sure that students are learning and progressing with grade level expectations.

Tier II is designed to meet the needs of the 15% of the class that did not grasp the concept in class and may need some type of intervention. The interventions are things that can take place in class from small group settings to one on one instruction. Teachers have also made themselves available to meet in after school settings for tutoring as well. The interventions used are targeted to the audience either individually or to a whole group that needs extra services to help them become successful in their educational growth. Tier II is designed to help at risk students and also to provide more rapid and in depth progress monitoring from the classroom teachers.

If students are not successful in Tier I or Tier II then they fall into the Tier III category. Research has shown that not over 5% of students within a classroom should fall into the Tier III category. Within this category, students are pulled out of their regular education classes and placed onto an intensive intervention research based program, and for Excel that program is Successmaker. This Tier is designed for intensive interventions for individual students that is high intensity and provides immediate growth feedback for the students involved.

We at Excel School make every effort to provide students with an awesome education. In doing so, we provide students with interventions and support needed to grow and become strong community leaders. The interventions we offer are of researched based studies and have been effective in student achievement.

Excel High School is PROUDLY: A+ College Ready School

The Alabama State Department of Education officially announced that Excel School is now an A+ College Ready School. Excel High School is 1 out of 20 schools statewide chosen to receive the AP Grant. Research strongly shows that a schools participation in an AP program greatly benefits students in their preparation for college. The AP program will be another tool used to ensure that Excel School is one of the best academic schools in Alabama. The AP Team is working extremely hard to build the basic foundation of the program. Our AP and Pre AP teachers have each spent over 120 hours during the past two summers in workshops and professional development to implement our AP classes. With the addition of the AP program we are confident that our students will leave high school with the knowledge and skills to highly achieve in any postsecondary institution.

Members of the AP Team
Marty Hanks, Principal
Scott Daniels, AP Coordinator
Randall James, AP English
Johanna Manning, AP Lit.
Charie Hanks, AP Biology
Wes Overton, AP Stats