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P.S. 721R Hungerford School,
Staten Island, NY
School Type: Public
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School Setting: Suburban
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Level: K-12
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School Design: Alternative
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Content Presented By:
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National Awards Program for Model Professional Development
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Summary
The practice: Professional development should provide learning opportunities that relate to individual needs but are, for the most part, organized around collaborative problem solving.
- Students are considered medically fragile, severely retarded, or emotionally disturbed
- 80% increase of staff who meet with colleagues at least weekly for professional discussion/development.
- 40% increase of staff who meet with colleagues at least monthly for professional discussion/development.
- 82% increase of classroom teams (teachers, paraprofessionals, and related service providers) who meet at least weekly.
- 100% increase of classroom teams (teachers, paraprofessionals, and related service providers) who meet at least monthly.
- Parents provide special training to the school's staff on how to care for their children
- Collaboration includes parents, physical therapists, learning specialists, nurses, doctors, and community service agencies as well as special education professionals
- Parents are actively involved through PTA nights, parent workshops, and the site council.
- Students, parents, professionals, and paraprofessionals all attend staff transition meetings.
- Eight community work sites resulted from partnerships with community businesses
At Hungerford, every student is everyone's
student. The uniqueness of this school and its
students creates a culture in which collaborative
problem solving is basic to the students'
well-being. Since the students at Hungerford are
classified as medically fragile and severely to
profoundly retarded, collaboration includes
parents, physical therapist, occupational therapist,
learning specialists, nurses, doctors, community
service agencies, and other special education and
mental health professionals. It is common for
parents to provide special training to the school's
staff on how to care for their children or to find the
school staff working with community agency
helping them place students in appropriate jobs.
Collaborative problem solving at Hungerford is
constant. Staff, parents, students and community
members have established a governance structure
that provides opportunities for involvement of all
stakeholders. This school-based management
team serves as the planning team for the school.
Other school-based committees provide
opportunities for staff members to share ideas and
solve problems related to student success. The
school has committees to work on school-wide
initiatives including technology, literacy,
math/science, behavior management, and
school-to-work.
This site also exemplifies the following practice(s):
- Professional development should incorporate evaluation of multiple sources of information on (a) outcomes for students and (b) the instruction and other processes that are involved in implementing the lessons learned.
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