Executive Summary

The Discovery High School at Newton-Conover

Newton Conover City Schools

Mr. John Robinson, Principal
605 N Ashe Ave
Newton, NC 28658-3120
Document Generated On November 2, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction 1

Description of the School 2

School's Purpose 4

Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 5

Additional Information 6

Introduction

Every school has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and procedures by
which the school makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a school stays faithful
to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder
engagement, the trends and issues affecting the school, and the kinds of programs and services that a school implements to support student
learning.

The purpose of the Executive Summary (ES) is to provide a school with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and
challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the school community will have a more complete picture of how the school
perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This summary is structured for the school to reflect on how it
provides teaching and learning on a day to day basis.
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The Discovery High School at Newton-Conover
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Description of the School



Describe the school's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced in the last three years. Include
demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated
with the community/communities the school serves?

Discovery High School at Newton Conover, formerly the Newton Conover Health Science High School, is located in the city of Newton, North
Carolina with a population of 12,560 according to the last census data. Discovery High School currently has 108 students, and serves all
students from all three Catawba County School districts. The school was originally established in 2005 through a partnership with the North
Carolina New Schools project and a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a "redesigned, small high school." At the core of
that design were 5 design principles that are still very much a part of the school's DNA. These five design principles are: 1) every student
college ready, 2) powerful teaching and learning, 3) personalization, 4) redefined professionalism, and 5) purposeful design. All of the
school's teaching, learning, and programming are designed with these five principles in mind. The school's original, central mission was to
prepare all of its students for college, work, and citizenship. That is still very much part of the school's mission, but with two new caveats: this
preparation is now done through a curriculum that focuses on authentic learning through PBL in a technology-rich environment with a highly
caring and compassionate staff. In a word, Discovery High School seeks to provide a 21st century learning experience in a personalized
environment where all students connect with a caring adult.

In 2011, Discovery High School, which was Newton Conover Health Science High School at the time, dissolved its partnership with the North
Carolina New School's Project. The district chose to continue the school with a focus on a STEM-like educational experience, and as an
alternative, small high school for the students in Catawba County. The Newton-Conover City Schools School Board, district office
administration, parents, students, and staff elected to rename the school "Discovery High School at Newton-Conover" to better reflect the
mission, vision, and core values of the school. With the new name came the central focus of delivering learning through 21st century
educational systems of project based learning and problem-based learning. The entire staff participated in Buck Institute for Education's 3-
day Project-Based Learning training in June of 2012. In the 2012-2013 school year, the school is transitioning to using PBL as the primary
instructional delivery mechanism. The school has also undergone some staffing changes during the current school year as well.

The student body of Discovery High School totals 108 students currently. These students all attend the school by choice and must go
through an application process in order to attend the school. The application process consists of: 1) completed application, 2) 3
recommendation forms of former teachers, 3) transcripts and school records, 4) an interview, and 5) a student completed essay. The criteria
for selection mainly involves selecting students who either have the potential or are capable of engaging in the highly independent work of
the project-based learning process. Currently, the school has the following student demographical composition by gender: 50 male and 58
female. Its current demographics by race include: 1 American Indian, 3 Asian, 14 Black, 12 Hispanic, 83 White, and 7 muti-racial. The school
currently has 3 students receiving regular special education services, and has 20 students classified as AIG.

Discovery High School's licensed teaching staff includes: 2 female and 4 males. Of these, 5 are White and 1 teacher is Black. The school
also employs a female full-time guidance counselor, a male principal, and a full-time female data manager and school treasurer. Of these
staff members, 4 are fully tenured with the other 2 probationary and having been employed at the school within the past year.

The unique challenges facing Discovery High School in its efforts to serve its students and parents is that, unlike Newton Conover High
School (the traditional high school in the district), the school draws students and parents from beyond the immediate Newton and Conover
city communities. Because our students come from other communities in the county, the school must serve students coming from other
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areas in the county with different immediate needs than students within the district. Also, because Discovery High School is a school of
choice, the school must maintain a distinct, mission, vision, and core values that offers a unique learning experience for students of Catawba
County. Each year, the school must recruit students from within Catawba County in order to remain in existence.

While Discovery High School has recently changed its name, and slightly altered its mission, vision, goals and core values, it still strives to
maintain a focus on the 5 core principles on which the school was founded. It continues to strive to prepare every student for college and
work, through powerful teaching and learning that employs project-based learning. It tries to personalize the learning experience of its
students by developing programs and schedules to meet the needs of its students. At the same time, the school strives to utilize a strong
professional learning community with teachers having a great deal of decision-making power. Finally, the school continues to strive to be
purposefully designed to meet the needs of students in the 21st century.

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School's Purpose



Provide the school's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the
school embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students.

Discovery High School's current mission statement is "Every student will be college, citizen, and work ready." This mission is carried out
through a central school vision that is captured in its vision statement: "Teaching lifelong learning through rigor, relevance, and relationships."
At the center of this mission and vision are the school's commitment to provide students with: 1) a personalized learning experience where
every student is known by all staff, and where the school can adapt the meet the needs of the students rather than the other way around, 2) a
technology-rich learning experience where the effectiveness of tech integration is not based on the number of computers and devices, but on
the commitment of staff to equipping students for the 21st century by utilizing these tools to their fullest, and 3) an authentic learning
experience that engages students in problem-solving, creativity, and innovation through the use of school-wide project-based learning.

An additional strong component of Discovery High School's culture is its philosophic approach to character education. Central to its student
behavioral norms and expectations is a strong belief in the Durkheim Dictate which states: "When norms are sufficient, laws are
unnecessary, when norms are insufficient rules and laws are unenforceable." In practice this means that the school takes seriously its
purpose of not only providing authentic learning experiences for students, but also the following: a) the school believes that 21st century
citizens who have an internalized code of ethics are better equipped to be global citizens, b) schools are much more effective if they focus on
helping students develop to be centered ethically rather than merely dishing out punishments and consequences. In order to foster this
internal locus of control, the school strives to emphasize in all places, on campus and off, its 5 student and staff behavioral norms and core
values that focus on being attentive to others, environmental conscientiousness, working hard, and treating others with respect. The school
takes seriously its role in creating 21st century citizens.

Discovery High School continues to take seriously its role in preparing students for the 21st century.

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Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement



Describe the school's notable achievements and areas of improvement in the last three years. Additionally, describe areas for
improvement that the school is striving to achieve in the next three years.

Discovery High School's most notable achievements during the last three years includes the following:

100% graduation rate in 2009, 2010, and 2011. We only had 1 student out of 44 students in 2012 who did not graduate with their class.

School of Distinction 2009-2012 School Year

2009 Innovator of the Year Award from North Carolina New Schools Project

Received a North Carolina Pioneering Schools of Innovation Award from North Carolina New Schools Project in 2010

2010 1 of 28 schools invited to present at International Center for Leadership in Education's Model Schools Conference in Orlando, Florida

School was featured in an ASCD training video entitled "Problem-based Learning for the 21st Century Classroom"

Algebra I Test Scores continue to improve each of the past three years.

Implemented a Bring Your Own Device Policy over two years ago, allowing students to use their own devices to access the Internet

Discovery High School is in the middle of a full transition to using the Buck Institute for Education's Project-Based Learning model. All but
new staff have been trained, and teachers have begun the process of developing long term projects. All of our seniors since the school's
inception have completed a year-long exploration of a topic and the completion of a senior project.

Test scores have moved to an overall proficiency level of 90%, highest in district

School was featured in National Promotional Video for the YouthTruth Survey


Discovery High School is working to improve its preparation of students for college and career based on ACT and PLAN measurements and
college and community college enrollment data. The school is also working to improve student proficiency in the tested areas like Math I,
English II and Biology. As a part of this effort of improvement, Discovery High School is also in the middle of Common Core and North
Carolina Essential Standards implementation.

A final area where Discovery High School is working is increasing both the number of students who apply to the school and the number of
students accepted. This has involved refining the application process and how we market our school to the community at large.

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Additional Information



Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous
sections.

Discovery High School is particularly proud of four things about this school. First of all, the school is proud of the collaborative atmosphere
the school enjoys. Not only is staff included in major decision making processes, students and their parents are included as well. There is a
high level of ownership from each member of the school community because of this high degree of collaboration. Examples of this include:
Parents and students as well as teachers participate fully in school improvement through both the traditional school improvement team, and
also through the school's student senate and student court organizations. In addition, parents, students and teachers also participate on
interview committees that hire new staff. Discovery High School attempts to purposefully involve all its stakeholders in as many decisions as
possible.

A second thing for which the Discovery High School community is proud is a strong culture where students make personal connections with
staff, and where every student has a caring adult who checks with them regularly. The mechanisms the school has in place for this includes a
comprehensive advisory-support program called family. Each student is a member of a family of other students that meets once a week in
order to discuss issues, share thoughts, and otherwise deal with issues they face regularly.

The third thing for which Discovery High School is proud is a staff that is beyond just being tech-literate. All the teachers in the school engage
the students in the use of 21st century tools as rule rather than as an exception. All teachers use Edmodo, an online educational
environment, and they use Engrade, which allows students and their parents to check their progress at any time. Teachers at Discovery High
School are constantly looking for ways to engage students with technology.

Finally, Discovery High School is proud of its ability to adapt and personalize education for its students rather than trying to adapt its students
to existing programs. Students are often able to enroll in online courses so that they can take courses of interest off campus at other
institutions. Our master schedule is modified and changed every year to meet the needs of our students, and staff is always willing to adapt
classes and class sizes to meet the needs of students first before their own.

Overall, Discovery High School is proud of a history of engaging in innovation and experimentation. It values authentic 21st century learning
as a rule.

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