Replicable Practices

• Teachers throughout the school employ common pacing guides, district benchmarks, white board protocol and measurable period by period goals.

• The school has successfully implemented 1:1 Chromebooks for every sixth grade student provided by the district, and a Chromebook cart for student use in every 7th and 8th grade classroom. Extensive staff development has supported this technology integration.

• Teachers and students benefit from a “late start” one day per week to facilitate collaboration and professional development among teams and departments.

• Students receive social-emotional support from a full-time counselor and mental health therapist. Students are further supported by the “Bridge Builders” afterschool program offering mentoring by local high school and college students.

• Parent communication is extensive and varied including: website, school loop grade system, remind.com, Parent Education Nights, School Site Council, and Home and School Club.

• In addition to differentiated instruction and a highly evolved collaborative teaching program for struggling or special education students, the school offers intervention classes for both English and mathematics, math clinic, homework center, and English/language arts clinic.

• Interactive instructional programs are utilized to motivate students and meet the needs of all learners including Read 180, Kahn Academy, Google Classroom, MemBean, and Accelerated Reader.

• Parents are actively involved in the school through such programs as “Quality Quad Time,” Art Vistas instruction, and parent led “mPower” presentations that engage students in Project Cornerstone’s 41 Developmental Assets activities.

• To best inform teachers about the needs of students, Union utilizes an “IEP/Interventions on a Page” database where teachers can quickly see students’ accommodations, goals, strengths, key data points, and parent concerns. 

• To enhance the growing use of technology in instruction the district has supported the “Union University” classes for teachers emphasizing collaboration and creativity in the utilization of technology in the classroom. Teachers are also hired as Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 “Tech Level Certification teachers” to provide in-service and support to other teachers.