Part I: FRIT 7331 Strategic Management Plan

Welcome to my FRIT 7331 Strategic Management Plan!This is a page designated for my FRIT 7331 class. As a student of this course, we were to choose a school library media center, and design astrategic management plan for it. I have chosen to create a strategic management plan for Sugarmill Elementary School (SES).

School Description Sugarmill Elementary School (SES) is located in Saint Marys, Georgia. The town of Saint Marys is a suburban areaestablished in Camden County. The county’s demographics include apopulation of 50,513 people, and a median income of $53,009, accordingto the Joint Development Authority of Camden County. The three majorindustries of Camden County are the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base(8,979 employees), Camden County School System (1,462 employees),and Express Scripts (500 employees). Other major industries includeLockheed Missiles & Space; Camden County Government; Walmart;Southeast Georgia Health System; and two grocery stores. (Camden CountyJoint Development Authority)

Sugarmill Elementary is one of nine elementary schools in the Districtof Camden County. It is a Title I school meaning that it receives federalfunds for having high numbers of poor children that may have difficulty inthe academic achievement standards (found on the Sugarmill Elementary School website). The student population consists ofabout 600 students. The school is made up of grades Pre­K to fifth grade. Sugarmill provides special education services to all eligible students. There are two Speech and Language Pathologists (SLP), twoteachers certified in teaching children with Mild Intellectual Disabilities, and a teacher for the Hearing Impaired. Other services include theResponse to Intervention (RTI) program and Early Intervention Program (EIP) to assist students that are struggling in reaching grade levelacademics. These are some demographics of the student enrollment for the year 2010­2011.

The faculty and staff is a size of 68 employees. There are 36 certified teachers, 3 administrative positions, 3 service specialists, 3office staff, 1 media clerk, 14 paraprofessionals, 6 lunchroom staff, and 2 custodians.

The school boasts to have technology to assist all students in their learning; with SmartBoard and projectionsystems in each classroom, and all computers wired to the Internet. The school also has a technology lab. The schoolalso provides clubs for students such as the 4­H program for the Fifth grade, the Running Club for students in thirdthrough Fifth, the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl team for fourth and fifth grades, and a DARE program for all grades. School Mission Statements and Goals

The mission of Sugarmill Elementary School is: “We will ensure educational excellence in a safe and nurturing environment where all Sugarmill Elementary School students are empowered to reach their goals and become productive citizens.” ­ Sugarmill Elementary School website

The vision for the school is: “All Sugarmill Elementary students have the opportunity to develop and achieve goals to become contributing members of society.” ­ Sugarmill Elementary School website

Some of the beliefs presented on the website are:Everyone can learn.Education is the foundation for success in life.Strength in learning comes from a wide diversity of people, resources, and programs.Effective use of resources provides a quality education for all students.Progress comes from willingness to improve.

The school has created an Action Plan,which can be found on their website, for students and their performance on the CRCT. The objectivesare as follows:

Reading: Increase the percentage of students exceeding standards from 53% to 58% of students in grades 3­5 to exceed standardsin reading.Math: Increase the number of African American students exceeding the standards in math from 40% to 45%.Social Studies: Increase the percentage of students exceeding standards in Social Studies from 33.3% to 38%.

The school also has strategies listed for each subject in the Action Plan.

Reading:

Create a workshop for parents teaching them how to find books based on their child's Lexile level.Teach comprehension strategies and text features of nonfiction text.

Scholastic Standing The most recent scores for Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) that I was able to get a hold of for Sugarmill Elementary School was for theyear 2010­2011; during that year the school Met AYP in both CRCT Reading/English Language Arts and CRCT Math. According to the 2010­2011 Report Card from The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement 87.78% of students met and exceededstandards for that year. The school has consecutively made AYP for 9 years, and has the status of a distinguished school. Below is a graph ofthe students’ performance for the years 2010 and 2011.

Preliminary Planning Statements

Provide more nonfiction resources to students and teachers to build students' understanding of nonfiction text.Provide more reading clubs or incentives for each grade level.Collaborate with teachers and how they want to incorporate more technology into their curriculum.Keep up­to­date catalogs of resources.

The School Media Center The school’s media center is the “hub of learning” at the school. It welcomes both students and parents to it for books and information. The faculty of the school’s media center consists of a media specialist and a media clerk. The collection size of the media center is of about20,000 items and growing; this includes books, videos, CD­ROMs, tapes, and kits. The school participates in the Accelerated ReadingEnterprise program. The media center states they have over 140,000 AR tests. Other incentive programs provided by the media center arethe Reading Stars which is an extension of the Accelerated Reader Program, and Reading is Fun for Kindergartners. The media center alsoallows parents to sign up for a library card to check out materials, and welcomes volunteers to come and help shelve books or assist in othermedia programs such as the book fair. The media center encourages the use of technology with a 25 stationed computer lab, and a morning

news show created by the students. Vision and Philosophy Each school media center needs a vision, a philosophy, and a mission statement. What is the purpose of the media center? What is theclimate like? How are you going to provide access to information? and How does the school media program make a connection to the locallearning community and beyond? Below are my thoughts of a vision, philosophy, and mission statement for what I think of in the school librarymedia center. All students have the opportunity to receive an education. Students should acquire the skills and knowledge to become members of society

(Sugarmill Elementary). The school’s media center can be a hub in which these skills and knowledge can be obtained. As the school’s librarianI hope to bring to the school a media center in which students will come to extend their learning and to teach students how to become betterlifelong learners. The media center should also be a place in which students feel safe to pursue endeavors; do research to develop theirhigher order thinking skills; and gain access to equitable information (Empowering Learners, 2009). As the school librarian, I hope tocollaborate with teachers to create better engaging, enhanced, and extended lessons (Keren­Kolb, 2013) in which students will learn to beresourceful with technology. Students will be taught ethical uses and responsibilities of using technology. Also, as the school librarian I hopeto show leadership with creativity, ideas, collaborations, and empowering others through participation and involvement (EmpoweringLearners, 2009).

Students, staff, parents, and other people of the community may gain access to information through many types ofmedia­ books, internet, pamphlets, workshops, etc. The school and media center will maintain a website that will keepupdated posts of programs, book catalogs, and other resources; a lot of these resources will be publicly availableonline. The staff and students will have access to computers, the internet, and other types of technology such asSmartBoards; Promethean boards; and software which help to enhance learning. Teachers will have access to resourcessuch as math manipulatives (Cuisineaire rods, geometric shapes, and base ten blocks), class sets or collections of books,professional development sources, and learning labs. Students will have access to a plethora of books such as referenceguides, fiction, nonfiction, Lexiled books, and standard aligned books. Parents will have access to workshops such aslearning about their child’s Lexile levels and how to find books for their child. Education is a shared responsibility of the community; it occurs among and through students, staff, parents, and others in the society(Sugarmill Elementary). The school media center will have programs in which the community can be involved. Guest speakers are invited andencouraged to share their experiences with students through presentations. Volunteers are invited and encouraged to help within the mediacenter: reading to students, assisting with shelving books and materials; and setting up for events/activities. Reading programs will be put inplace to encourage a love for reading. Community book drives and other learning events shall also be encouraged. In addition to the localcommunity, a virtual community will be established in which the school can communicate with other schools in the nation and globally.Students and teachers can learn how others around the world are learning, and they could collaborate with those students in projects. Mission Statement: It is my ethical responsibility to ensure that students are encouraged to meet their highest potential to be successful, empowered, andlifelong learners, if this is not done then as an educator I need to inspire creative, purposeful change. ­Inspired by Doug Johnson (The Indispensable Librarian, 2013) More: Part II: A Closer Look at the School Library Media Center: Facilities, Services, and Budget Part III: The SLMC Program: Goals, Objectives, and Evaluation Part IV: References

Written by: Ashley Miller