Standard 1 -- Core Values, Beliefs, and Learning Expectations York High School has developed and has been

engaged in a dynamic and inclusive process based on best practices to identify and commit to its core values and beliefs about learning. York High Schools philosophy for the past ve years has been Personalization, Academic Rigor, and Success for Every Student. Students and staff can recite this powerful philosophy verbatim and it is collectively believed that YHS is a place that will do anything for its students. This philosophy has been evaluated and revised on a regular basis during the Summer Leadership Team Retreat and our conversations are centered upon this idea. In addition, as a school we have adopted the following mission in the fall of 2010. Personalization, Academic Rigor, and Success for Every Student The YHS community does whatever it takes to help students succeed. Each person is valued as a meaningful member in this community. Our school is built upon intellectual honesty, high standards, and a commitment to open inquiry fostering lifelong learning. This mission blends nicely with the philosophy that we live by as an institution. From this mission statement and philosophy, YHS adopted the following core beliefs in early 2011: integrity, perseverance, responsibility, citizenship, moral courage, and respect. York High School involved a variety of stakeholders beginning with a meeting in the fall of 2010 with local business leaders, parents, and faculty members. Students were involved throughout the process and had representation on the Leadership Team and Student Government. Students also had the opportunity to ll out surveys (i.e. Endicott survey). Throughout this process every person had a vote. York High School has identied challenging and measurable 21st century learning expectations for all students which address academic, social, and civic

competencies, and are dened by school-wide analytic rubrics that identify targeted levels of achievement. As required by the State of Maine Department of Education, the framework for our academic, social, and civic learning expectations for the 21st Century is based on the Parameters for Essential Instruction and Maine Guiding Principles. YHS curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices are structured such that all students have access to varied and challenging programs. The staff is actively developing tools by which to measure degrees of success and are determining acceptable levels of achievement. York High School has adopted academic, social, and civic expectations for the students in a lengthy process that began in early March and was subsequently completed in April of 2011. During the spring and summer of 2011 a group of staff members developed analytic rubrics for classroom teachers to assess a variety of expectations. These rubrics were voted on and approved by the steering committee to pilot for the 2011-2012 school year. The rubrics will be up for formal adoption by the faculty in the spring of 2012. York High Schools newly developed core values, beliefs, and 21st century learning expectations are becoming more reected in the culture of the school, are beginning to drive curriculum revision and assessment in every classroom, and to guide development/revision of the schools policies, procedures, decisions, and resource allocations. " The belief that all the new learning expectations and values are clearly

embedded in the culture of the school is strongly supported by the Endicott survey data. YHS completed the rst phase of syllabi prior to the adoption of our core values and the syllabi will be revised to reect them. There continues to be an effort to align curriculum

content areas to assure that all students have sufcient opportunities to meet 21st century learning expectations. Instructional practices and assessment strategies are ne tuned regularly by individual teachers and content area teams. " YHS utilizes a Professional Learning Communities model to address professional

development, encourage interdisciplinary dialogue between staff, and address concerns about students utilizing Response to Intervention. Also of note, a portion of the academic schedule (10 minutes daily) has been devoted to Advisory time for students and teachers to develop positive relationships, review student achievement, and plan for the future. NEASC has recognized YHS as a showcase school for our work with Advisory (or TEAMs). Additionally, exams such as the NWEA, PSAT, SAT, and AP strongly inuences school-wide decisions and instruction. This data has led to the development of Math Lab, English Support, Math Support, Guided Study, 9th and 10th Grade combined General English class, credit recovery, In-School Suspension, Alternative Education, and a Writing Center. " The 21st century learning opportunities, including cultural enrichment and global

awareness, are available to students at YHS. They have multiple options for travel and exploration, both to foreign countries (Costa Rica and Germany) and local institutions via eld trips. Moreover, YHS uses available technology, including e-mail, Skype, PowerSchool, turnitin.com, staff web pages and blogs, DiLL Language Lab software, SmartMusic, Naviance, and Facebook. York High School has devised a supporting process for regularly reviewing and revising its core values, beliefs, and 21st century learning expectations based on

research, multiple data sources, as well as district and school community priorities, but the plan has yet to be put in full scale operation. " This plan is reviewed and revised as necessary at annual Summer Leadership

Team Retreats and bi-weekly Leadership Team meetings and faculty meetings. The YHS staff plans to use these times to review core values and beliefs on an ongoing basis to maintain accuracy and appropriateness to the beliefs, culture, and values of the school. The Leadership Team is comprised of elected members, students, and the administration and the process is a shared leadership model because of its beliefs, philosophies, cross-curricular and multi-faceted approach. As part of Response to Intervention, the York High School Data Team will periodically provide data for the school to review. " According to the Endicott survey data, the great majority of parents (88.5%) and

students (83.3%) are aware of the schools core values and beliefs, although the groups are slightly less familiar with the 21st Century Learning Expectations (parents 87.1%, students 75.6%, and staff 74.6%).

STANDARD #1 CORE VALUES, BELIEFS AND LEARNING EXPECTATIONS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY " York High School is exemplary with respect to the standard for Core Values,

Beliefs, and Learning Expectations. The school community does engage in a dynamic, collaborative, and inclusive process involving administrators, staff, students and the community at-large. YHS is informed by current research-based best practices in order

to identify and commit to its core values and beliefs about learning. A new core values document has been developed and truly reects both the new terminology for the 21st century learning expectations as well as the existing culture and beliefs in the school. " York High School has identied challenging and measurable 21st century

learning expectations for all students that address academic, social, and civic competencies; these are dened by school-wide analytic rubrics being developed through a collaborative process and based on the belief of Personalization, Academic Rigor, and Success for Every Student. Because the 21st century expectations are newly dened, YHS faculty are piloting these rubrics to collect data which will then be measured to identify the next steps. " York High School has established a process for reviewing and revising its core

values, beliefs, and 21st century learning expectations, based on current best practices, and targeted needs and priorities set forth by the school, district, and community. These are reviewed during the summer retreat and periodically throughout each school year. The ten year history for The summer Leadership Team retreat has been well-attended (100% each year) throughout its ten year history by cluster leaders, team leaders, administrators, support staff, member at-large, chair, and facilitator. This shared leadership model is ingrained in the culture of the school and has provided continuity, structure, and vision. NEASC has recognized York High School as a showcase school in 2010 for this leadership structure. " The schools core values, beliefs, and 21st century learning expectations are

exemplary. This is reected in the culture of the school, and the drive of curriculum,

instruction, and assessment in every classroom. These guide the schools policies, procedures, decisions, and resource designations. " Based on the CPSS Rating Guide, York High School believes its compliance with

Standard #1 on Core Values, Beliefs, and Learning Expectations is EXEMPLARY.

Commendations: * The collaborative creation of core values, beliefs, and 21st century learning expectations. * The continuity provided by the YHS structure of shared leadership and a framework for ongoing dialogue and discussion of best practices. * The creation and piloting of school wide rubrics. * The visibility of the YHS core values and mission. * The use of data to support curriculum decisions. * The continued evolution of TEAMs Advisory Program to support core values, beliefs, and 21st century learning expectations Recommendations: * Continue to evaluate and adopt the newly developed rubrics. * Continue to align syllabi to our core values, beliefs, and 21st century learning expectations.