Academics

Our Core Belief

All students will succeed in an inclusive, equitable and positive learning environment which includes:

  • High quality, inclusive academic instruction based on standards
  • High expectations for academic achievement
  • Personalized learning opportunities to meet each student’s unique needs
  • Opportunities to think critically and creatively
  • Inclusive behavioral and social-emotional instruction and support
  • A safe and caring learning environment
  • Decisions informed by data

In 2017, Darnall was awarded the California Scale-Up MTSS Statewide (SUMS) Grant. The California Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) is a continuous improvement framework that ensures that students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs are being met through differentiated levels of instruction and support. Within this structure, universal supports (Tier 1) are provided for all students in academic, behavioral and social emotional instruction. Supplemental supports (Tier 2) are provided to some students and intensified supports (Tier 3) are directed toward the few students with the greatest needs. We use this framework to align our strength-based needs and monitor success using multiple data points. We continue to build and refine our educational program around the MTSS framework.

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN EDUCATED PERSON IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Darnall Charter School believes that children in the 21st century must become literate and articulate, mathematically competent, and technologically adept. Darnall further believes that all children should have the opportunity to develop their social-emotional health, creative and physical abilities, curiosity and love of learning. Darnall recognizes its responsibility to generate enthusiasm and excitement for the lifelong process of learning by providing a curriculum that is relevant, integrated, and age appropriate, and that, at the same time, is aligned to the California state standards, which include the Common Core State Standards (“CCSS”), Next Generation Science Standards (“NGSS”), English Language Development (“ELD”) Standards, History-Social Science Framework, and all other applicable state content standards (hereinafter, collectively “State Standards”).

At Darnall, students in TK-8 engage in a challenging learning program that is tailored to their individual needs and is focused on equipping them for success in the 21st century. The Darnall curriculum and instructional programs emphasize core subjects in the timeless fundamentals such as reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies; learning skills required for lifelong, continuous learning; and communication skills necessary to interact with adults and children of all ages.

Darnall also believes that the individualized and supported personalized learning educational program facilitates the development of self-direction and personal responsibility among its students. In these ways, Darnall will meet the objective of forming students who are self-motivated, competent, lifelong learners.

HOW LEARNING BEST OCCURS

Darnall Charter School believes that children learn best in an inclusive, equitable and positive learning environment in which they are respected, accepted, valued, nurtured as unique individuals and challenged to achieve their full potential. From this, it follows that students learn best when their instruction is tailored to their unique needs and when they are supported by a Multi-Tiered System of Support and by adults who are committed to their success.

Family and community members are seen as partners and are given opportunities for meaningful involvement in students’ education and the school. Studies also show that learning best occurs when parents actively participate in the educational program and are supported by a school that responds to family involvement in a culturally responsive manner. When parents are knowledgeable and informed by the Charter School, they are able to help their children and also be a part of the school community. This adds to the team and builds a strong supportive network. Strong family and community engagement is achieved through trusting family and community partnerships.

In addition to family and community support, student learning best occurs in a fully integrated educational framework that fosters a strong and positive culture in schools; with strong and engaged administrative leadership and solid educator support systems; under an inclusive policy framework that removes barriers to student access, combines multiple initiatives and fosters a collaborative relationship between the school and the Board of Trustees.

High Quality Instruction

Based on the MTSS framework, all students receive universal support through high quality academic, behavioral and social-emotional instruction. Instruction, curriculum and assessments are research and evidence based. Instruction is data driven and, at this foundational level of our Multi-Tiered System of Support, provides multiple sources of data used to determine if students need supplemental or intensified support (see the Plan For Below Grade Level And At-risk Students for more information regarding these supports).

Darnall Charter School has developed and will continue to refine an instructional program that provides optimal support for our students based on the expectation that students will develop skills and abilities that will prepare them for college and the workforce. Using early identification, consistent progress monitoring, and through differentiated materials, instructional and learning strategies, and the use of adaptive software, the learning needs of individual students are supported. Our program is built on the premise that learning occurs best in supportive learning environments that foster active engagement.

The following are essential components of the Darnall’s academic, behavioral and social-emotional instructional programs:

Differentiated Instruction

Instruction is adapted based on the assessment of students’ strengths and needs. Various differentiation strategies may be used to adapt the presentation of curriculum, materials used, learning activities, student grouping or the instructional setting.

Universal Design for Learning (“UDL”)

At Darnall, we continue to refine our teaching methods to remove any barriers to learning and give all students equal opportunities to succeed. By building in flexibility we adjust instruction to every student’s strengths and needs. We are working toward structuring all lessons and assessments around the three UDL main principles which include; offering information in more than one format (representation), giving students more than one way to interact with the material and to show what they’ve learned (action and expression) and looking for multiple ways to motivate students (engagement).

Evidence-Based Instructional Practices

Darnall Charter School uses and will consistently implement evidence-based instructional practices to meet the needs of all students including, but not limited to:

  • Flexible and strategic grouping
  • Flexible seating (at some levels)
  • Collaborative learning such as pair share and partner talk
  • Peer assisted learning
  • Interactive notebooks
  • Incorporating student choice
  • Student presentations and debate
  • Small group direct instruction or guided practice
  • Differentiated small group or one-on-one instruction based on student needs
  • Project-based learning
  • Cross-age support
  • Independent practice
  • Systematic use of adaptive software

Grade Level Grouping

Although TK – 6th grade classes are self-contained, or single subject in Middle School, it is our practice to provide flexible grouping within grade level teams in order to best meet the needs of our students. Just as we expect teachers to provide focused small group instruction within their classrooms, we support collaboration among grade level teams to provide focused instruction to homogeneous groups. The flexibility to reconfigure for specific purposes such as intervention or ELD ensures that teachers are able to collaborate on behalf of their students.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Culturally responsive teaching is used to ensure students feel a sense of belonging. Students are more engaged in the learning process when instruction is presented in the context of their personal experience or perspective.

1:1 Technology, Instructional Technology and Resources

Darnall’s primary goal for the use of technology, consistent with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), is to support the learning needs of all students. Technology is another option for providing students with a means to access the curriculum. It allows for the flexibility and responsiveness that UDL aims to facilitate for students in the classroom. This power and flexibility greatly enhances the ability to individualize and customize the learning experience and provide students with multiple avenues for learning: multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement. The following are some of the ways teaching and learning are enhanced with technology:

  • Personalized Learning and Differentiated Instruction – Students do not learn the same material at the same pace or in the same way. Technology makes it possible for teachers to differentiate content delivery and student assignments, using a variety of teaching methods and tools.
  • Enhanced Student Engagement and Ownership for Learning – The learning shifts from the more traditional instructor-led model to a more student-centered focus. Accessibility to online learning tools gives students options that naturally engage them in the learning process.
  • Enhanced Opportunity For Collaboration – Students have access to resources beyond the classroom walls or the school day. Students are able to collaborate, communicate and problem-solve with their teachers and peers through a variety of tools.
  • Improved Student Workflow – Students experience greater independence, greater task completion, and more efficient workflow with the ability to electronically manage and share tasks in a single environment.
    Ongoing Formative Assessment – Teachers are better able to monitor student work and progress. This facilitates ongoing feedback to students from teachers and formative assessment opportunities.

We are committed to the acquisition and support of effective educational technology that provides teachers and students with real-world contexts for learning, connections to larger learning communities, and opportunities to individualize and apply learning.

Inclusive Academic, Behavior and Social-Emotional Instruction

INCLUSIVE ACADEMIC INSTRUCTION

Darnall provides inclusive academic instruction supported by California State Standards and Frameworks, Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtI2) and MTSS. Darnall Charter School is committed to meeting the needs of every child. Darnall Charter School has developed and will continue to refine an instructional program that provides optimal support for our students based on the expectation that students will develop skills and abilities that will prepare them for college and the workforce. Using early identification, consistent progress monitoring, and through differentiated materials, instructional and learning strategies, and the use of adaptive software, the learning needs of individual students are supported. Our program is built on the premise that learning occurs best in supportive learning environments that foster active engagement.

INCLUSIVE BEHAVIOR INSTRUCTION

Darnall has implemented PBIS, restorative practices, character education and a digital citizenship education program to provide inclusive behavioral instruction to all students. We will continue to develop our behavioral program to provide universal, supplemental and intensified supports based on student needs identified through comprehensive assessments.

INCLUSIVE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING INSTRUCTION

Social-emotional instruction teaches student to “effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions” (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2018). Darnall uses the California SEL Principles as a guide and Second Step and The Zones of Regulation curriculum to provide SEL instruction. Darnall uses a comprehensive assessment system to plan and provide universal, supplemental and intensified supports based on student needs.

Academic Standards & Access To A Broad Course Of Study

Reading/Language Arts

Communication is key to the next generation of learners and Darnall Charter School is committed to fostering speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in all learners and across all curricula. Our TK-5 program emphasizes Foundational Skills as described in the CCSS. In all grades, we will strike a balance between fiction and informational text for reading and writing knowing that student literacy needs to be well-rounded. Text and media provide the common experience from which teachers will draw to create learning opportunities that authentically engage students in collaboration and communication. We understand the value of student discourse in face-to-face settings and through the tools of social media. We believe that through discourse students will develop a deeper understanding of concepts as well as the ability to think creatively and critically, construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, and develop social and cross-cultural skills. Likewise, a focus on student discourse authentically supports the academic language development of our ELs.

Mathematics

Implementation of the Eight Mathematical Practices provides the foundation of our mathematics instruction while fostering the 21st Century learning proficiencies of communication, and critical and creative thinking.

History/Social Science, Science, and Technical Subjects

In Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 5 History/Social Science and Science are integrated in the Reading/Language Arts curriculum. Students engage in literacy instruction and experiences that develop their skills and abilities to comprehend content material while learning about important events and people in history and foundational concepts in science. In grades 6-8 students engage in deep exploration of the State Standards in History/Social Science, Science, and Technical Subjects.

Science

Darnall Charter School has begun transitioning to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for California Public Schools. Students are asked to make sense of phenomena and problem-solve using the three dimensions of science: crosscutting concepts, science and engineering practices, and disciplinary core ideas. Darnall Charter plans to adopt a new Science curriculum for the 2019-2020 school year once the CDE issues its list of new Science adoptions.

Bilingual Education – Spanish and English

Darnall Charter School has a transitional Bilingual Program, more fully elaborated later in this petition. The Bilingual Program utilizes the student’s primary language to teach academic content in order for students to access the core curriculum. The main goal of Darnall’s Bilingual Program is English proficiency, while building upon unique cultural and linguistic attributes of our Spanish speaking students.

Physical Education

Introducing fitness at a young age raises youth’s awareness of the important role fitness plays in living a healthy lifestyle. At Darnall Charter School, all TK-6th grade students participate weekly and 7-8th grade students daily in standards-based physical education classes guided by the California Physical Education Framework and California Physical Education Standards. Our physical education program strives to provide instruction that increases fitness, develops physical skills, cognition, sport, and affective domains of attitude, interest, and cultural acceptance. Darnall Charter School’s master schedule ensures that students receive the minimum number of physical education minutes recommended by the state.

Visual and Performing Arts

Darnall Charter School students are given opportunities to think critically and creatively beyond academic areas. We offer students exposure to the visual and performing arts through weekly Art and Music classes. Students work independently and collaboratively on a variety of artistic endeavors and performances.

Art: Many TK and kindergartners arrive at school knowing how to operate tablets and smartphones before they can read. This phenomenon emphasizes the importance of learning through visual representation and our comprehensive art program provides this opportunity. Through lessons based on the California Visual and Performing Arts Standards, students learn such concepts as line, color, and composition and work with a variety of media while fine tuning their motor skills. Our art program enhances students’ development of 21st Century learning by engaging students in creative expression, communication using artistic language, and decision making. Students study and are inspired by the work of classical and contemporary artists and have many opportunities to express themselves. Our students will develop an understanding and appreciation of art as a form of communication and its relationship to the outside world. We believe that it is important to foster a child’s artistic creativity because creative thinking, problem solving, and questioning foster the development of a creative individual and prepares them for success in tomorrow’s world.

Music: Our general music program is designed to expose students to the power and passion that listening to and creating music can ignite. Music lessons are based on standards for the Visual and Performing Arts and executed with an understanding and consideration of developmentally appropriate instruction. Students will develop rhythm and an understanding of melody and harmony through singing and instrumental lessons. They will learn basic skills for percussion, keyboards, and string instruments, while developing the 21st Century skills of collaboration, communication, and creativity. Students will deepen their understanding of music as a cultural phenomenon through listening to music from around the world and engaging in the study of music history. Further, students will have the opportunity to develop confidence and presence when performing for family and friends at school events.

Middle School Program

Darnall’s educational program for seventh and eighth graders was developed based on CDE’s Taking Center Stage Act II: Middle Grades Success. We continue to refine and develop the program we provide to students based on the following twelve recommendations from Taking Center Stage Act II:

  1. Rigor – Hold high expectations and provide numerous avenues of support so that each middle grades learner succeeds.
  2. Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention – Engage middle grades students with challenging lessons and opportunities to think critically and demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
  3. Time – Institute flexible schedules that provide the recommended and required instructional minutes for core academic classes and accelerated interventions.
  4. Relevance – Meet the needs of middle grades students by developing a rich set of courses and enrichment opportunities that infuse learning with technology, visual and performing arts, career/real-world connections, service- and project-based learning, and multicultural experiences.
  5. Relationships – Foster close relationships for accountability and engagement among students and with adults who share extended time through grade-level, subject-area, or interdisciplinary small learning communities.
  6. Transitions – Work with elementary and high schools to inform students and families about academic and behavioral expectations and to promote seamless, articulated transitions.
  7. Access – Provide all middle grades students equal access to a well-prepared, qualified, caring staff and a rich learning environment that includes grade-level standards-based instruction; academic interventions; learning resources; leadership and recognition opportunities; exploratory programs; sports, clubs, and enrichment activities; and, to the extent possible, placement in heterogeneous classes.
  8. Safety, Resilience, and Health Evidence – Create and sustain a fair, safe, and healthy school environment through a policy of positive discipline; civic and character education; safe and engaging facilities; access to adult mentors and counseling; and school and community health and social services.
  9. Leadership – Foster distributed leadership, collaborative decision making, and regular data analysis to realize and sustain a middle grades vision for focused learning and continual improvement.
  10. Professional Learning – Build and sustain professional learning communities through recruitment, training, coaching, and interdependent collaboration.
  11. Accountability – Organize all school and community stakeholders to hold high academic and behavioral expectations for all middle grades students.
  12. Partnerships – Engage families, businesses, local and state agencies and organizations, higher education, and community members as partners in supporting middle grades student achievement.

The following are some of the ways we have implemented the recommendations:

  • Sixth Grade Transition Classes – Self-contained sixth-grade classes begin to prepare students for the transition to seventh and eighth. For example, students are grouped together for school activities and teachers modify instruction and classroom procedures to highlight the change students will experience in the next two grades and high school.
  • Middle School Courses – Students attend core classes and a core subject support class four days per week and electives and academic support the other day. Electives are planned every year to offer students a variety of choices.
    • Core Subjects – English Language Arts, Mathematics, History, Science, Physical Education and Health, Core Subject Suppor
    • Electives – For example, in the past students have been offered Band, Choir, Guitar, Media Arts, STEAM, Newspaper, Yearbook, Basketball and Track and Field, Leadership and Computer Science
  • Academic Support – After school Extended Learning Support, Summer school, Saturday support. For more, see Plan for English Learners, Plan for Below Grade Level and At-Risk Students, Plan for High-Achieving Students and Plan for Students With Disabilities.
  • Behavior Support – PBIS – For example, some students are matched with other staff members to check-in and check-out regarding their day. Students also participate in Restorative Practice circles.
    Social-Emotional Learning Support
  • Counseling – Darnall maintains a low counselor to student ratio. Counselors provide specific support to students in areas such as matriculation to high school, suicide prevention and individualized counseling.
  • Associated Student Body
  • Organized Sports Leagues such as soccer, volleyball, basketball, cheer and flag football
    Clubs such as chess, sustainability club, cheer, volleyball, Girl Scouts and PBIS Film Crew
  • \Middle School Only Events – select assemblies, achievement awards, dances and social events

Data and Accountability

DataQuest is an online data reporting system developed and maintained by the California Department of Education. DataQuest provides data from many different sources in a single location; making it easier for parents, teachers, administrators, and other interested individuals to get demographic and performance information about particular schools and school districts, or California education in general.

The California School Dashboard is an online tool designed to help communities across the state access important information about K-12 districts and schools. The Dashboard features easy-to-read reports on multiple measures of school success. The Dashboard is just one step in a series of major shifts in public education, changes that have raised the bar for student learning, transformed testing, and increased the focus on equity.

Ed-Data offers educators, policy makers, the legislature, parents, and the public quick access to timely and comprehensive data about K-12 education in California.

The most recent SARC for Darnall Charter School is attached below and available as hard copy upon request.
SARC Online – Since November 1988, state law has required all public schools receiving state funding to prepare and distribute a SARC. A similar requirement is also contained in the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The purpose of the report card is to provide parents and the community with important information about each public school. A SARC can be an effective way for a school to report on its progress in achieving goals. The public may also use a SARC to evaluate and compare schools on a variety of indicators.