Lourdes Graduate Profile

Celebrations, Opportunities for Growth Recommendations
Celebrations at Lourdes Academy: Based on observations of 31 classrooms throughout Lourdes Academy, multiple conversations with building administration and spending time getting a feel from the
culture of the buildings, there are many celebrations to share regarding the overall educational experience for students attending Lourdes Academy. The students are incredibly respectful and almost
always engage in what is asked of them by their teachers. There is a strong sense of school community throughout the building and the students tend to get along with each other. It’s a true feeling of the
school community. In almost all classrooms, students are very compliant with the task or activity expected of them and often showcased excitement for their learning taking place. Teachers were very open to welcoming me into the classroom to observe the instruction and often had students welcome me into their classrooms. There was also a feeling from teachers throughout both buildings that all kids are “our kids”. This sense of collective commitment to working together as a system enhances efficacy and leads to a higher chance of sustainable improvement throughout all of Lourdes Academy.

With Lourdes Academy having a strong Catholic focus, it was continuously observed that faith was interwoven in the education in every classroom. Between morning prayer, religious statements on the
wall and the frequency of Mass, Lourdes Academy clearly has Catholic teaching as part of the focus and clearly hits the mark on that focus.

The administration was very open to any and all feedback to help improve as a building and system. There was never a feeling that the building was not open to improvement, professional growth and
learning and expressed a desire for coaching to help them grow as leaders. This is often not the case in other schools we have worked with and having a willingness to grow and improve leaders will have a
direct impact on improvement in the building.

Opportunities for Growth: After looking at all aspects of this report, the following areas have been identified as the greatest opportunity for growth at Lourdes Academy. When asking the question
around the profile of a learner at Lourdes Academy, it became clear that work has not been addressed up to this point. In order to have a clear vision at Lourdes Academy, it’s vital to know the aiming point
with ALL students that attend each school. Having a profile of a learner (often called profile of a graduate) helps create a clear understanding and common focus from classroom to classroom. This will
be highlighted in the recommendations moving forward at Lourdes Academy.

Students are very willing and able to engage in the tasks that are being asked of them, but it was much more task oriented versus proficiency oriented on the skills and outcomes needed in their classes. In
order to prepare our students for a successful transition after Lourdes Academy, they need to have a clear understanding of the academic and behavioral outcomes they are proficient with and the ones
they can continue to work on. There greatest area for growth comes from having clarity in learning and assessment. Schools that have clear learning goals that are highly visible to students are able to more 
effectively provide feedback around the learning to students and to families. This includes both academic goals and behavioral goals in all buildings.

Once there is clarity in the learning and behavioral goals, there should be a focus on assessment and ensuring the assessments used internally are fully aligned with those goals. This will allow for a clearer
pathway of support for students that are not meeting those academic or behavioral outcomes. It’srecommended that assessment conversations are not started until clarity in learning goals has been
clearly identified. Concurrently in the assessment conversation would be the need to examine grading practices within each classroom throughout Lourdes Academy.

Based on conversations and discussion around data, there is a clear need for improvement in math instruction across Lourdes Academy, but more importantly at the high school. The instructional practices observed were highly traditional in the teaching of math and having some support around how to slowly change the approach used both instructionally and via the math resources used is warranted.

Finally, both principals indicated they would like some support to ensure their leadership practices are having the highest impact on the staff and students they serve. Having coaching from some sort of external consultant can provide new perspectives to the existing structures at Lourdes Academy and ultimately will help create sustainable school improvement at all levels.

Recommendations and Next Steps: Based on all information provided in this report, here are the top priorities recommended for Lourdes Academy moving forward. Please note that I do not believe it’s needed to hire a curriculum director at Lourdes to accomplish these goals, rather look at some ways to receive some external support to accomplish these goals. Whether that support is provided by the team at FIRST Educational Resources or other external organizations, having these areas of focus can and will improve all aspects of the educational experience and success at Lourdes Academy.

The number one focus to work on is Clarity at Lourdes. This includes focusing on the following areas
as a system:

• Clarity around the Profile of Learner through PLC Process
• Clarity around Academic/Religious Learning Targets and Success Criteria through PLC Process
• Clarity around Behavioral Targets and Success Criteria through PLC Process
• Clarity around Assessment Practices and Data Analysis (including grading conversations in 23-24) through PLC Process
• Clarity around Best Practices in Math Instruction at the High School
• Administrative Coaching at all levels

This summary was provided by Dr. Garth Larson, Co-Founder and CEO, FIRST Education Resources