School environment narrative

The Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) covers a large area in the south-eastern

Phoenix Metropolitan area. Its boundaries run from Warner Rd. to Hunt Highway in the West, all

the way East from Price Rd. to Recker Rd. in Gilbert. The district reaches and is able to serve

just under 50,000 students in 45 schools, with an increase of 1,400 students in the past

enrollment year. Approximately 47.09% of the student population is non-Caucasian.

I am a 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts teacher at Legacy Traditional Charter

School’s Chandler Campus. Legacy Traditional Chandler is a Pre-8 school is a “campus of

champions”, providing students a back-to-basics, traditional learning environment where they are

challenged and guided by our dedicated and qualified staff ("Chandler | Legacy Traditional

School", 2018)

Legacy’s test scores are above the state average by 20% in English, Math, Algebra I and

Science tests ("Explore Legacy Traditional School - Chandler in Chandler, AZ", 2018)

.Legacy’s students excel above the state average in every grade and subject save 7th

grade English Language Arts. In an analysis by Stanford University, CUSD was revealed as the

“second highest educational growth rate amongst large school systems in the nation” ("Tableau

Pages / Student Demographics", 2018)

Approximately 32% of the school is non-Caucasian, 14% of the students are low income

students, and 22% of the students have exceptional learning needs (ELNs) ("Explore Legacy

Traditional School - Chandler in Chandler, AZ", 2018)

I am one of two ELA teachers, and four 7th/8th grade teachers at Legacy Traditional

Chandler. I teach six hours a day, two 8th Literature periods, two 8th English periods, one 7th
English, and one 7th Literature class. I teach the majority of the junior high students by their

graduation, but there is a small percentage that I do not get to teach for logistical reasons. The

class periods are approximately 55 minutes each. There are anywhere from 25-30 students in

each class. ELA teachers work closely with the other ELA teachers to coordinate units and

homework for the week. Teachers are unable to develop or vary any of the assessments for the

curriculum so many teachers try to come up with creative ways to check student comprehension

during the week. For example, I have them take quizzes is which they answer a particular prompt

in whatever format best suits them (drawing, poetry, essay, bullet points etc.) to get a better idea

of where they are with the curriculum. I try to include various forms of assessment so that I can

engage my students in the various different ways that interest them and include them. They have

a consumable textbook that is rather dull so I explore various websites and find various ways of

presenting the material to them so that they can hear the material, read the material and engage

with the material in other ways besides silent reading.

Legacy Traditional Chandler is a Back-to-basics, desks-in-a-row, learning environment.

There is very little technology integration in the classroom.

Legacy Traditional Chandler has the following technology available for teachers and

students:

 An overhead projector and screen in every classroom.

 A photo-overhead that captures whatever is put under it and projects it on the

screen. This can be used for bell-work worksheets, to save paper, to show-and-

tell, etc.

 A single computer for each teacher to use at their desk.

  A computer lab with 30 computers that students can use when taking standardized

tests. Note: I very rarely use this as my class is focused more heavily on

practicing handwriting and analytical structures of writing.

 A computer on wheels that a teacher can check out and bring into the classroom

for various needs. Students are not allowed to use any “technology” in the

classroom besides, dictionaries, thesauruses, pens, pencils, and paper.

 Study Sync is an online curriculum with vocab, quizzes and extra info about the

poems and stories that we are studying throughout the semester.

 I have a website for my parents and students where I post PDF links to books and

other information that parents/students need throughout the semester.

 The school uses PowerSchool to handle lock downs and log students/faculty as

present.

 The school uses DriveLine to manage dismissal. Students are only able to leave

when their parents punch in a number, and their name shows up on the screen

with a color that coordinates to a particular pick-up location.

Many faculty members at Legacy Traditional Chandler have been pushing for greater

technological use in the classroom. The students are taught to write in MLA, but have very little

experience with an actual computer and very little typing skills. I allow my students to type their

responses at home if they wish, but not everyone has that option. We hope the school better

recognizes the ever increasing need for technological skills in the classroom and changes their

policy to integrate more and more to better prepare its students. While technology is scarce, I

will do my best to facilitate my students learning and engagement in ELAs.