Whole Child Education with AJ Stich Transformative Principal 582

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  • What we teach and how we teach
  • PK-8th grade over a quarter million devoted to students
  • Small class sizes, 2 teachers in a class of 20. Started at 85 students
  • Incredible amount of individual support
  • Transportation is 7% of the budget. 
  • Breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day
  • Wraparound services
  • On-site partnership with Dayton’s Children's Hospital - full-time mental health, doctor, and other services for kids.
  • Startup year - be naive about what starting a school entails. 
  • Temporary site - Fire marshall
  • Working with a local Medicaid provider
  • 30% higher in every category than every other child on Medicaid
  • Looking at lots of data for whole-child outcomes
  • 51% at grade level at the start, and 85% at grade level at the end of the year.
  • Not all roses and sunshine
  • Screenings for character, mental health, etc. 
  • Age 27 goals. 
  • How they teach - Tried finding instructional strategies that really moved the needle. 
  • Influenced by Hattie’s work - prioritized by effect size.
  • Teacher quality matters
  • Benjamin Bloom’s Research - Acton Academy
  • Using personalized tools in a smart way. 
  • Zearn math program - typically used as supplemental
  • Thrown the idea out the window
  • Mixed-age classrooms. 
  • Start teaching at the instructional level, not the age or grade level.
  • Personality and character benefits
  • Looking at Age 27, and how that reflects in 1 year. 
  • Hire in the top 10% of teachers. 

About AJ Stich
Adam J. Stich (A.J.) is the founding principal of The Greater Dayton School.  Prior to starting in this role, he spent nearly seven years as a principal in Chicago Public Schools, where he drove strong outcomes for students and teachers.  You can hear his first interview on Transformative Principal at this link.


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Whole Child Education with AJ Stich Transformative Principal 582