Hillview Middle School
1100 Elder Avenue
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-326-4341

Principal: Michael Moore

2000-2001
ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORT

SCHOOL DESCRIPTION

Hillview Middle School, with a current enrollment of almost 600 students, is the single middle school for sixth through eighth grade students in the Menlo Park City School District. After having been named a California Distinguished School six times, in 1999-2000 Hillview was recognized by the United States Department of Education as one of the nation's Blue Ribbon Schools. The school staff includes 36 full- or part-time teachers, 1 counselor, 1 librarian, 2 part-time student activities directors, 4 aides, 8 classified staff members, 1 vice principal, and 1 principal. The student body is 80% white and 20% minority, with Asians and Hispanics the largest minority groups.

The Hillview community values education very highly, and this is reflected in daily attendance rates, with over 96% of our students present on an average daily basis.

The goals of middle-level education in Menlo Park are to maintain a strong educational program and to meet the needs of preadolescent students. The Hillview Mission Statement reads as follows:

Hillview Middle School offers a challenging academic program in a safe, caring environment. We encourage students to master basic skills, sample a variety of educational, social, and cultural experiences, and begin assuming more responsibility for their learning and their citizenship. We recognize and address the needs of individual learners, and provide integrated, active, innovative, and exciting learning experiences. Staff, parents, and students work together to create an educational community whose members treat one another with concern and respect. Our goal is to provide students with the skills and opportunities necessary for them to make a direct contribution to their community. Hillview honors educational achievement and excellence at every level.

Support from the community, and especially from parents, combined with the availability of sufficient funding, are critical factors that influence the success or failure of any school. Without this support, schools cannot be expected to produce the results desired for students.

A. Community Involvement and Support

Community support for Hillview is demonstrated in many ways. Back-to-School and Open House evenings routinely draw the parents of almost all of our students. The Hillview PTA, with membership of almost 70% of our families and teachers, raises thousands of dollars for school programs, contributes over a thousand hours of volunteer time, runs an extensive after-school sports program, organizes weekly hot food days for students, sets up frequent parent network meetings, and makes many other contributions. The Hillview Site Council is responsible for writing the School Improvement Plan and manages its annual budget for enhancement of the school site and curriculum.

Hillview receives additional program support from the University of San Francisco Psychology Department, the Menlo Park Police, Fire, and Recreation Departments, and from Mid-Peninsula Tennis Patrons. Special mentor relationships between Hillview students and community members are arranged by our counselor.

B. Expenditures and Funding

In November, 1995, the district community renewed a parcel tax for eight years to maintain class size and support academic programs. Additionally, a $22 million bond measure was approved to upgrade all district facilities. Hillview's campus is in the middle of construction and renovation that is scheduled for completion in June, 2002. In April, 2000, the local community approved a new $298 per year parcel tax. These funds are being used to reduce class size ratios; provide extra support for students; enhance programs in art, music, physical education and middle school electives; expand learning opportunities for teachers; and continue to implement the district's Technology Plan. The 2000/01 parcel tax income for the district was approximately $2,951,250.

The Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation continues to play a vital role in supporting all of the district's schools, making possible the continuation of special math and science programs, instrumental music, library programs, and reduced class sizes. The Foundation contributed $625,000 toward district programs in 2000-2001.

The district's 2000-2001 funding came to approximately $8160 per student, which includes Foundation income, and of which $60 per student was allocated for instructional materials. Additional program support came from state school improvement funds (approximately $47,000 in total), state library funds ($2000), and local PTA funds. Individual teachers have applied for and received special grants (Jeanie Ritchie and Peninsula Community Foundation grants, among others) to fund programs for students.

The programs and resources of the school provide the educational conditions in which the school accomplishes its goals for students.

A. Leadership and Instructional Support

The total Hillview program is designed to meet the varied needs of pre and early adolescent students. A strong academic program is distinguished by the focus on core grouping and English/reading/ social studies integration at all grade levels. Specialist teachers teach math and science. Elective and exploratory classes, student activities, and after-school sports (through the PTA) augment the academic program. Academic advice and counseling are offered and/or coordinated by the school's counselor. A full range of services to special-needs students is provided by the district's special education team as well as by district-supported TEAM teachers. All special education students, including those in our Special Day Class, receive the district core curriculum and are completely integrated into Hillview activities and programs. A specialist teacher and volunteers work with students with limited English abilities.

Leadership is provided by the principal, working with the School Site Council, the PTA, and the faculty and staff. The Superintendent, the Director of Curriculum, and the business manager offer district direction. The four principals in Menlo Park meet weekly with the Superintendent, Director of Curriculum, business manager, and the Director of Student Services to discuss, evaluate and coordinate instruction programs at the schools. School curriculum planning groups meet weekly to coordinate and plan programs. The Child Study Team, composed of the counselor, regular classroom teachers, and special education personnel, meets regularly to plan ways to accommodate some individual students' needs.

B. Conditions for Teaching and Learning

Student involvement in school life is encouraged under the leadership of the Student Activities Directors, the Hillview Student Council, and the school staff, who sponsor a variety of spirit building, incentive, and recognition programs. Recess and lunchtime activities also occupy students. Activities are organized through homerooms, which meet daily, and which compete all year for a special spirit prize. Many students participate on service squads, performing a variety of tasks necessary for the school's smooth functioning. For their efforts, these students receive points toward a "Block H" award, a school letter emblematic of achievement and contributions to Hillview. Block H winners, Honor Roll students, and other award recipients are recognized quarterly. School talent, music, and drama assemblies serve to showcase students' co-curricular abilities. Record keeping for Block H purposes indicates that all Hillview students participate in student activities.

Hillview students are held accountable to a high standard of responsible behavior and, for the most part, meet that standard. The schoolÕs discipline plan is described in the Student Handbook. Consequences for misbehavior include warnings, parent/student conferences, campus cleanup, detentions, Saturday School, and suspension. The average suspension rate for the past three years has been .13%. One student has been formally expelled for serious misbehavior during the past three years. Students are encouraged to discuss their personal concerns with teachers or the counselor. General student concerns, of any sort, may be addressed through the Student Council.

At Hillview academic classes average 23-25 students. Hillview's resource program classes average eight students. The Special Day class has nine students.

All classes are taught by teachers who possess appropriate credentials or who are eligible to teach those classes according to the state Education Code. Efforts are continually made to recruit qualified substitute teachers.

By district contract, all permanent teachers are evaluated every two years, and every non-tenured employee is evaluated at least three times each year. Administrators participate in ongoing inservice training to refine skills in supervision.

The district values teachers' and administrators' professional development as a source and stimulant of student growth and achievement, and as an ongoing process of personal growth, learning, and satisfaction for individual staff members. Professional development opportunities provided by the district include Staff Development Days, attendance at courses and conferences by individual teachers, opportunities for collaborative planning and curriculum development, and systematic programs of observation and analysis of teaching. Additional support and services are provided through the state-funded Peer Assistance and Review program. The School Site Council also supports staff development programs with SIP funds.

C. Material Resources and Support

The Hillview campus is in the middle of a three year renovation project with funding from the bond measure passed in 1995. When completed, the campus will include:

• A new library/media center
• A new, larger multipurpose building
• New drama/music facilities
• New/renovated science labs
• A new computer lab
• A new industrial technology room
• Renovated administrative offices
• Renovation of all classrooms

All classrooms are wired for Internet connections.

Textbooks are generally purchased to coincide with the state curriculum cycle, which in turn is being impacted by new and recently developed state curriculum content standards in math, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. The Menlo Park City School District places a high priority on providing sufficient textbooks and other materials necessary for teaching and learning. Through district and SIP funds, many sets of novels have been purchased to implement the state's literature-based language arts curriculum. The Hillview library currently has approximately 12,000 titles in its regular collection.

Other instructional and curriculum needs are met through various funding sources. The PTA, the Student Council, the Site Council, and the Education Foundation have all supplied grants to provide for major core events such as Greek Week for 6th graders, the 7th grade Renaissance Faire, and the week-long Decades Project that is part of the 8th grade U.S. History curriculum. The Education FoundationÕs Jeanie Ritchie grants to teachers have recently funded projects such as rocketry, fetal pig dissection, and writing workshops with professional authors. The schoolÕs computer lab was equipped with PTA and SIP funds. Other computers and equipment have been obtained through donations and district, SIP, and PTA funding, including a massive, district-wide project called Computers for Our Schools Initiative (COSI). A state technology grant funded the acquisition of a variety of video equipment. The library/media center, known as the Barbara Miller Library and Technology Center, is fully automated. This automation has been accomplished through major fund raising efforts on the part of our librarian and volunteers.

Continued school effectiveness and improvement are contingent on the identification of student/school needs and on suggestions for ways to meet the stated needs.

Menlo Park's middle grade students receive an excellent education at the district's single middle school. The School Site Council coordinates self-improvement and participates in the Program Quality Review process. Faced with projected enrollment growth to 650 students in the next six years, the school and district staff are currently planning program and facilities changes that will allow Hillview to offer a world-class education to middle school students well into the 21st Century.

Parents and community members continue to play an important part in the development of the Hillview Middle School program. We will continue to invite participation through school and district committees, the PTA, the School Site Council, and various classroom volunteer activities.

The outcomes or products of the school are, to a large extent, a product of the support and input to the school from outside resources and parents, in combination with internal functioning of the school itself.

One measure of the product of a school is through standardized testing. According to California Assessment Program (CAP), California Learning Assessment System (CLAS), and State Testing (STAR) results in recent years, Menlo Park's middle school children have been achieving extremely well. In fact, Hillview students generally scored at or above the 80% level in reading, language, and math on the 99-00 STAR exams. On the stateÕs Academic Performance Index (API), tied to the STAR exams, Hillview ranked in the top 3% of all California middle schools. Last year, 70% of Menlo Park's algebra students earned honors on the Golden State Exam, as compared with 28% of the state's test takers.

Another way to evaluate a school is through regular input of the parents and students. According to surveys conducted by the Hillview School Site Councils in recent years, a Menlo Park middle school education is highly valued by both students and parents. Last year, 90% of the parents and 74% of the students found the overall Hillview experience excellent or very good. The survey had a 68% response rate from parents and 86% response rate from students. The survey also included very detailed input about the HillviewÕs academic, student and extra-curricular programs as well as the learning environment. The results have been carefully evaluated in an effort to continue to improve the school.

External benchmarks and awards are another outcome and measure of a school. As mentioned earlier, Hillview was named a national Blue Ribbon School last year after having, in 1998-99, become the only California school to have been six times honored as a California Distinguished School. The Blue Ribbon Schools program is designed to recognize schools that "excel in all areas of academic leadership, teaching and teacher development, and school curriculum. In addition, they exhibit exceptional levels of community and parental involvement, high student achievement levels and rigorous safety and discipline programs within their schools."

In her written report to the national review panel for the Blue Ribbon Schools program, the site visitor to Hillview concluded, "Hillview Middle School represents an educational environment for middle level students that is rigorous and challenging to all students, but where students are nurtured, highly motivated, and feel a sense of family." In addition, she noted, " In a community which demands excellence in education, it appears this staff is more than meeting the challenges and expectations that parents set. This is evident in their daily teaching which brings a variety of rich, hands-on, project-based learning to students, the extra time devoted to tutoring and after school activities, and by the direct comments received from parents and students."

The staff at Hillview has also distinguished itself. Hillview teachers have been honored as recipients of the San Mateo County School Board Association's prestigious Kent Award for many programs, including Photojournalism and Greek Week in the sixth grade, Writing with Writers and Service Learning in the seventh grade, and the Biography and Decades projects in the eighth grade. Kent Award winning cross grade projects have included Peer Tutoring, Systems Thinking and Innovation (STASI), and, most recently, Camp Hillview.