Milford Success Academy Newsletter
First Semester 2019-20
First Semester Newsletter
Happy Holidays from the Milford Success Academy.
We are excited to share some of the good things that have taken place with the Success Academy over the course of the first semester this year. Scroll down to read more.
A Brief Description
The Success Academy is an academic team that is associated with Milford High School. We offer Milford's high school students a different placement. These students attend classes in the Success Academy’s building where they rotate through a seven-bell day. They take their grade-level academic core classes with the five full-time teachers employed here. The Success Academy employs personalized learning with a blended learning approach, with students using educational software to complete elective courses and recovery courses.
The Success Academy’s prime focus is on high school seniors who are behind in earning the required course credits for graduating on time. There are currently seventy-six students who attend high school classes via the Success Academy: 59% seniors, 33% juniors, and 8% sophomores.
Milford's high school students gain entry into the Success Academy’s academic team through a referral process that is initiated with the student’s grade-level administrator and counselor. If the referral is agreed upon, the student is allowed to have a trial-day, where he/she will shadow another student and experience the full academic day of the Success Academy. At the end of the trial day, a discussion takes place between the prospective student and the Success Academy principal. Here the decision is made on whether the student should transition to the Success Academy.
An Inside Look
The Success Academy staff constantly seeks ways to both reach and motivate the individual students as well as changing the overall educational environment and culture for all the students.
Tapping into the competitive nature seen in the students this year, the academic team agreed to a house competition among the seniors, initiated by Mrs. Bartlett, the English teacher. This was based on the Harry Potter series with seniors randomly sorted into one of the four houses. The students compete for points, and the winning house is announced on Thursday. The winning house receives their “reward” on Friday, which could be a fast-food lunch, pizza or donuts.
Interestingly, this house competition among the seniors made such an initial impact, that several of the underclassmen wanted to be included. Here is a complaint and request that was made by two of the juniors and the reply given.
Community Partnerships
The Success Academy has been fortunate to develop partnerships with several local entities. We would like to highlight two in this newsletter: Feed Our Flock and La Soupe - Cincinnati Gives a Crock.
The community members who comprise Milford's Feed Our Flock are dedicated to finding ways to meet the wide-ranging needs of all of Milford's students. Their tireless efforts and generous contributions have had an amazing impact on the students in the Success Academy. Success Academy staff members were asked to share their perception of just what this community group means to our students. You can read that narrative here.