August 15, 2013

Dear Parents and Community Members:

We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER) which provides key information on the 2012-2013 educational progress for the Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy (GRUPA). The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school’s report contains information about student assessment, accountability and teacher quality. If you have any questions about the AER, please contact me (Daniel Williams) for assistance.

The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting the following web site www.grps.org or you may review a copy in the main office of our school. Look for “University Prep Academy” under the listing of Centers of Innovation. Or you may review a copy in the main office of our school.

The state has identified some schools with the status of Reward, Focus or Priority. A Reward school is one that is outperforming other schools in achievement, growth, or is performing better than other schools with a similar student population. A Focus school is one that has a large achievement gap in 30% of its student achievement scores. A Priority school is one whose achievement and growth is in the lowest 5% of all

schools in the state.

Our school has not been given one of these labels. However, we are implementing the district’s Academic Plan that focuses on creating a learning culture to advance students’ thinking, promote effort based education and help students achieve College- and Career-Readiness by the time they graduate!

Read on to learn more about our school…

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About The School Grand Rapids University Prep Academy is focused on each student achieving academic success, graduating from high school and going on to college. We do this through a personalized approach that includes a small school of less than 72 students per grade and 18 students per class and a model that is project-based with lots of off-site opportunities to enhance classroom learning. Mission Statement The mission statement of Grand Rapids University Prep Academy is to provide an environment where urban children can aspire to great things, achieve academic success, and realize their dreams through a rigorous college preparatory curriculum, a unique school design, and the support of parents and the Community. Points of Pride Continued high school 6-week internship

program where students were placed at local law firms, restaurants, research institutes, etc.

Continued one-day Job Shadows for 8th graders where students visited 29 businesses, including law firms, the zoo, ballet, restaurants, etc.

Launched Reverse Job Shadow for 6th and 7th students in partnership with Junior Achievement.

Continued annual college visits for 8th graders and older.

Parent-Teacher Conference Attendance

Fall Spring

During the 2013/14 school year, GRPS will…

Align curricula to Common Core State Standards and College and Career Readiness Standards.

Provide a variety of Professional Development options that support the Academic Plan.

Assess student learning throughout the school year to provide teachers an accurate picture of overall student achievement and individualized student achievement.

Define individualized student targets, school-wide targets and district achievement targets. Use this link to access copies of the CCSS Curriculum Guides for Parents:

http://grps.org/CCSSparentguides

Michigan School Accountability

Top-to-Bottom

Designation Accountability Scorecard

Yellow – attained at

least 60% but less than 70% of possible points

Student Achievement Results

Locally Administered, Nationally Normed Assessments Objective: The percentage of students meeting or exceeding their typical growth targets in Reading and Mathematics will increase by a minimum of five percentage points from 2011/12 to 2012/13 as measured by NWEA’s MAP assessment.

Middle School

High School

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2011/12 2012/13

59%

44%

Students Meeting/Exceeding Typical Growth Targets - Fall to Spring

Reading

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2011/12 2012/13

57%

38%

Students Meeting/Exceeding Typical Growth Targets - Fall to Spring

Math

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2011/12 2012/13

61% 58%

Students Meeting/Exceeding Typical Growth Targets - Spring to Spring

Reading

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2011/12 2012/13

64%53%

Students Meeting/Exceeding Typical Growth Targets - Spring to Spring

Math

Postsecondary Enrollments

If you have questions about our school, please contact me or go to our district’s website: www.grps.org.

I am looking forward to a fantastic new school year for all of our students and staff. Thank you for your interest in our school!

Sincerely,

Daniel Williams Principal, Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy

Year Total             

Popula on 

Advanced Placement (AP) and Interna onal Baccaulare e 

(IB) Courses Dual Enrollment Courses  Earned College Credit 

Number  Pct  Number  Pct  Number  Pct 

2012‐13  146  0  0%  2  1%  0  0% 

2011‐12  99  0  0%  0  0%  0  0% 

School Improvement Goal

All students will be proficient in Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.

A copy of our full School Improvement Plan can be found at: www.grps.org/schoolimprovementplans

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires that all schools in Michigan report out on several different components. A list of each compo-nent along with a link to the reports is detailed below:

Results of MEAP, MEAP-Access, MI-Access and MME

Teacher Quality Data

NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress)

http://mischooldata.org/grupa