Continuous Improvement
The students served at Serendipity struggle with diverse challenges to learning. Traditional measures of educational attainment or school improvement are incongruent with the ways in which our students display progress. Holding our students and ourselves accountable for making continuous improvement is an approach consistent with our needs. Tracking continuous improvement allows us to begin measuring progress from whatever current level of performance a student displays, and then guided by regular assessment and feedback, find successful strategies for moving forward. Our strategies for supporting the continuous growth of our students and evolution of our program include continuous professional development, our Quality–Continuous Improvement Plan, and our continuous improvement team meetings.
Professional Development Plan
A robust program of professional development is necessary in a Therapeutic School. This is due to number of disciplines and practices being integrated into the structure of a school day. Priorities are set annually and include mandated trainings as well as those selected to promote continual skill development and refinement among staff members. The plan begins with a two-week In-Service, offering intensive immersion in Serendipity’s core philosophy and approaches. Trauma-informed practices are studied, along with any planned updates or changes to the structure, routine, assessments, or interventions utilized within the program. This process continues weekly throughout the school year, with professional development sessions for staff happening each Wednesday after early student release.
School Improvement Plan (SIP)
Serendipity’s SIP consists of goals established collaboratively by both educational and clinical teams within our program. On a quarterly basis, staff representatives, Board members serving on our Program Advisory Committee are invited to reflect on documented progress and offer input that could advance improvement in all areas. Specific targets are established annually in the fall, based on results achieved in the previous year, current student profiles, and anticipated outcomes of newly added practices or approaches.
Continuous Improvement Team Meetings
Minimally, each classroom team meets weekly with support from Clinical Case Managers, our Speech & Language Pathologists, our Tier I Coaches, and Behavioral Interventionists. These teams review the academic and behavioral data tracked daily on each student. The purpose is to determine if our interventions are effective and to adjust interventions as needed. Through these related processes, all staff members are continuously adjusting their practice to meet students where they are and promote student growth.