• The school has a formal structure whereby each student is well known by at least one adult advocate in the school who supports that student's educational experience. To better meet this standard, LHS will investigate how to implement a formal adult mentoring structure similar to our Academic Support Program run by Mr. Barrs. The school would like to expand this program so more students have the opportunity to connect with an adult mentor in the building; so that no child slips under the radar.

• Professional and support staffs continuously collect, analyze, and apply learning from a range of data sources, including comparison and trend data about student learning, instruction, program evaluation, and organizational conditions surrounding use of data. I know, that's a sentence that will give you a headache, but it points to something important -- that the best teaching practices involve consistent evaluation of the methods and goals of both instruction and assessments. The staff will need to have access to more robust professional development opportunities that address the evaluation and interpretation of various data points, such as standardized test scores, curriculum-based assessments, formative assessments (generally, these are low-stakes and monitor student learning by helping faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately) as well as summative unit assessments (generally, for higher stakes to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against a benchmark, as with a midterm or final exam, project, paper, or senior recital). Training sessions are being planned over the next two years to help teachers craft their assessment practices with greater efficacy. In the simplest terms, the staff of Langley will continue their ongoing efforts to make graded work as meaningful a part of learning as it can be.

• Teachers engage students in their learning through instructional strategies that ensure achievement of learning expectations, by adapting teaching strategies to meet ALL students' needs through differentiated instruction. More project-based learning (National History Day and Science Fair are examples of this) and cross-curricular projects are being discussed by staff and administration. LHS has been in contact with Cooper MS, as they have been a leader in Fairfax County with these types of projects the last few years. Further, LHS has incorporated project-based learning in the School Improvement Plan and has scheduled faculty professional development activities for the next school year.

• Encourage more staff members to participate in a continuous program of professional learning either through FCPS provided programming or individually. Thanks to parent donations, the PTSA is able to offer $5,000 per year (up to $500 per person) to teachers to attend conferences, lectures and classes, so that they may continue to grow as educators. The PTSA will also look into bringing in speakers, giving even more teachers the chance to benefit from training.

• While the school does well in supplying material and support for academic department curriculum teams, they may look at grade-level curriculum teams as well, to even better forge a fully integrated staff.

• Students want to see a relationship between what is being taught and their everyday lives. School staff and the parent community should help illuminate consistently how our students' schoolwork is relevant to their futures.

• LHS will continue to prioritize improved Special Education SOL scores.

This is certainly a lot to digest, but I believe it's important for students, faculty and parents to know that their survey responses, interviews and all of the collected data was taken into consideration during the re-accreditation. The school is completing the 2016-17 School Improvement Plan, which states specific goals and a timeline for reaching them. If you have suggestions on how to assist LHS in meeting these objectives, please feel free to reach out to the Langley PTSA.