Martin Luther King, Jr. College Preparatory High School 1530 Dellwood Ave. Memphis, TN 38127

Contact Information: Dr. Bobby White, Jr.

Founder /CEO- Frayser Community Schools 901-567-9224 (phone)

901-567-9225 (Fax) bwhite@fraysercs.org (email) www.fraysercs.org (website)

School Name: MLK College Prep High School Type of Charter: Public Charter Year School Opened: We took over the school in 2014-2015 Age of School: School Hours: 8:00am to 4:00pm (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri.) 8:00am to 2:00pm (Wednesday) Grade Levels Served: 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Current Enrollment: 517 Maximum Enrollment: 600 Number of Instructional Days per School: 180 days Name of Executive Director: Mr. Brett Lawson Executive Director’s Email: Brett.Lawson@fraysercs.org Name of School Leader: Mr. Marcus Shead School Leader Email: mshead@fraysercs.org School Leader Phone Number: 901-288-5912 Mission Statement: Our mission is to cultivate the gifts of each student, producing critical thinkers, upstanding citizens, and transformational leaders who are prepared for success in college, career, and in their community. We do this through advanced academic rigor, exposure to college and career opportunities, and a heavy focus on leadership and community.

Section I – Progress toward the charter school’s goals (must include academic achievement)

Describe the progress made during the last year toward the goals outlined in the current charter agreement

(use tables and data, as appropriate). This may include the performance framework agreed to by the school

and the chartering authority, a written response to data provided by the chartering authority, and additional

school specific goals from the charter application.

Frayser Community Schools (FCS) operates three schools under the Local Educational Agency of the

Achievement School District (ASD) for the State of TN. As such, success is gauged by the ability of the school

to meet the benchmarks of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). An original

aspirational goal for the ASD was to move schools who were in the bottom 5% of schools in the state to the

top 25% of the state.

Martin Luther King College Preparatory High School (MLK) is in the fifth year of operation in the FCS network.

During that time, the school has moved from a graduation rate of 48% to 69.5% with improvement each year.

Additionally, the TVAAS Growth Measure showed a dramatic increase from a Level 1 to a Level 4 in the 2016

School year.

Although the school remains in the bottom 5% of schools in the state, progress has been made in improving

achievement as a whole.

The chart below shows a 3 year trend of scale scores and performance levels for Science classes at MLK.

Overall, the scale scores have improved slightly. Additionally, the number of students scoring at the lowest

scale score has decreased slightly. Tennessee has adopted new science standards and the first test will be

given this year as a field test. There is an expectation that scores may change dramatically as a result of this

new assessment model.

The chart below shows the performance of MLK students in English I, II, and III for the past three years.

Although it is not evident that significant change has occurred, the underlying TVAAS data is slightly

more positive than is evident from looking at the achievement data.

The following chart shows data for Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry for the past three years. As can

be clearly seen, High School math continues to be a challenge for MLK. There are fewer students

proficient or advanced in math than in any of the other content areas.

TVAAS Growth measures show how students did in comparison to their predicted results based on all

previous performance. The chart below shows the cumulative effect of all subjects on the overall TVAAS

of the school. In 2016, the school was scored at level 4. In 2017 and 2018 the school was scored at a 1.

As a result of looking at the data in this way, the school has a much better understanding of how

individual student relationships with their teachers connect to overall TVAAS data. The school also has a

much better model to improve in targeted areas, such as Geometry, that have remained consistently

low.

II. FCS Mobility Report

Humes Middle School and Martin Luther King College Prep High had a total of 47 and 148

students respectively to transfer during the 2017-18 school year. The number one reason for

leaving our schools by an overwhelming margin was moving. This number was offset by the

number of students that enrolled. Being the zoned neighborhood school we enrolled 64 students

at Humes and 160 at King over that same period of time.

With this knowledge, FCS has implemented strategies to reduce this data point. Our schools

focus on monthly touch points with all families to keep abreast of any circumstances that would

cause the family to move to another community. We work with families around housing

concerns, transportation issues and other barriers.

Also, FCS works with the community stakeholders around issues that affect the community and

collaborate on initiatives and programming that would transform the communities we serve into

choice neighborhoods.

Data

Humes

Total Transfers – 47 students

Moved – 32 students

Moved out-of-state – 5 students

Other programming – 8 students

Other – 2 students (withdrew without completing documents)

MLK

Total transfers – 148 students

Moved – 120 students

Other programming – 28 students

Section III – Operations and finance

Frayser Community Schools did not face any operational or fiscal challenges last year. Fiscal

responsibility and sustainability is a priority for Frayser Community Schools. The organization

has no future plans of incurring debt for facilities or operations, and currently has no outstanding

debt. The recent audit did not have any findings that Frayser Community Schools needed to

address. There were no significant deficiencies, material weaknesses or instances of

noncompliance.

In addition to state funds, funds are received from federal grants, and donations from the

philanthropic community. The federal grant funding received is listed below.

CTE Equipment grant $100,686.00

CTE Perkins grant $100,094.25

Facilities grant $120,000.00

IDEA grant $245,177.82

Priority School grant $219,686.74

Safe Schools grant $20,010.00

School Improvement grant $9,000.00

Title I grant $433,324.08

Title II grant $43,091.00

Philanthropic funding support received is listed below.

Charter Growth Fund $100,000.00

Community Foundation $178,000.00

Crawford-Howard Foundation $75,000.00

Hyde Family Foundations $77,333.34

Poplar Foundation $78,000.00

Reed Foundation $25,000.00

Grant received from the City of Memphis and Nike

MLK50 grant $6,000.00

Nike grant $10,000.00

Section IV. Leadership changes

We replaced the former Head of Schools position with a new position and person more aligned

to the expertise needed with where we are in our growth. Chief of Strategy/Head of Schools was

the position added.

Section V. Parent and Community Involvement

FCS is a neighborhood community school. At the core of our mission is ensuring that we

provide our staff, students, and community partners opportunities to engage and collaborate

consistently. Additionally, research shows parent engagement has a positive effect on student

achievement. For this reason, FCS regularly seeks to find ways to engage our parents in their

child’s learning.

Below are strategies we use to incorporate community and parent involvement in our academic

and social model.

Community Involvement:

Community Service Hours: Our students are required to perform at least 100 hours of

community service before graduating. Students learn the importance of community

beginning in the 9th

grade as we introduce them to volunteer opportunities. Community

service hours are tracked through our parent engagement counselor.

Tuesday Talks: Community partners and other community members are invited in the

schools to speak with students regarding specific pre-determined topics to assist them

academically and/or socially. Topics have included: gang awareness, bullying, sexual

assault, and college ACT preparation.

Community Partners: Across the FCS network, we work consistently with more than 20

community partners. These partners include: Memphis Music Initiative, Frayser PTSA,

Stand for Children, Agape, and Neighborhood Christian Center.

Community Partners Luncheons: We host two community partners luncheons each year

to invite local businesses and organizations into our schools. We provide lunch, school

tours, and allow time for a Q & A with school leaders and student ambassadors. We

hosted more than 40 current and prospective community partners during the 2018-19

school year.

Parent Involvement:

Our parental involvement strategy is guided by four goals:

Welcome all families into our schools.

Community effectively with parents through a variety of communication

mediums.

Provide parents with multiple opportunities to support their student, academically

and socially.

Highlight both student and parent success.

Below is our process to ensure success for parental involvement.

TN PARENTAL

INVOLEMENT

STANDARD

FCS SCHOOLS

MANDATE

RATIONALE

FOR MANDATE

RESEARCH

BASED

STRATEGIES

FCS

FACILITATING

GUIDE TO

(MENU) HELP SCHOOL

CREATE

PARENT

ENGAGEMENT

STRATEGY

Standard 1;

Welcoming all

families into the

school

community

Standard 2:

Communicating

effectively

Creating a

welcoming and

engaging

climate with

strong

relationships

and

communication

between

families and

school staff.

Touch point

mandate –

All families

receive a touch

point from

teachers at least

once a month.

Shows the family

that the school

values families as

important partners

in their students’

education.

Shows the family

that

School staff have a

strong, mutually

respectful

relationships with

families.

The school

provides a positive

customer service

experiences for

families.

The school provide

clear, consistent

information on

school and

classroom policies

and processes.

Touch point

rationale – to build

a strong

partnership with

parents and to

discuss their

student’s success

and address any

questions/concerns

that a parent might

have.

Face to face

interactions

Positive phone

calls at least

monthly

throughout the

year

Teacher- parent

communication

at pick-up and

drop-off

Meeting times

scheduled

around parent

availability

Home visits

Parent teacher

conferences in

the community

Responses to

parent outreach

within 24 hours

Bulletin board

in lobby for

parent

information

Parent Resource

Center or

designated place

for families to

use

Principal office

hours

Principal

greeting

families at drop

off and pick up

School

newsletter

Agenda books

Robo-calls

Success:

School staff

believe that all

families can be

effective partners

in their student’s

education if given

the necessary

tools.

The school works

to ensure that

every student’s

family is engaged

in the success of

their student.

Families’

concerns or

questions are

responded to in a

timely and

respectful way.

All school staff

are welcoming

towards families

both in person

and on the phone.

The principal is

visible to families

and seek to create

opportunities to

interact with

families

frequently

throughout the

year.

Schools have

consistent

homework,

discipline and

other policies,

and families

School website

and Facebook

Page

know what they

are.

School

communication is

streamlined so

that families can

easily understand

its relevance for

their student.

Standard 3:

Supporting

student success

Standard 4:

Speaking up for

every child

Partnering with

families to

support student

achievement

Touch point

mandate – at

least 2

additional data

reports to

parents about

their student’s

academic

performance

each 9 weeks.

Suggested

timeframe: 2

weeks before

progress reports

and report cards

are scheduled to

go home.

The school

provides the

information and

guidance for

families to

effectively and

regularly monitor

their student’s

progress on

academic goals.

The school

provides supports

for families to

reinforce and guide

their student’s

learning.

The school’s

programming and

communication for

family engagement

are student and

learning centered.

Touch point

rationale: To

ensure parents are

kept fully aware of

their student’s

academic

performance.

Literacy Nights

Data Sharing

night

Families

supporting

reading in

classrooms

Parent-teacher

conferences

Data-sharing

reports for

families on how

their student is

performing on

all assessments.

Weekly

classroom

communication

about upcoming

classwork and

homework.

Classroom

observations

Math Night

Science Night

Success:

Families receive

frequent

information about

how their student

is progressing

relative to their

goals and grade-

level standards.

Teachers

regularly check

for families’

understanding of

whether their

student is on

track.

School staff

communicate

regularly with

families about

what is being

taught and how it

is being taught in

the classroom.

Standard 5:

Sharing power

Standard 6:

Collaborating

with the

community

Investing

families and

community in

school success.

Touch point

mandate –

The school informs

families about the

state of the school

and the plan for

improvement and

invites families’

feedback.

Data Walls

State of School

forums

Annual School

Improvement

meeting

PTA/PTO

Success:

The school is

transparent and

honest with

families about the

school’s

performance.

Live parent and

community

listening

sessions once a

semester

Principals’

touch points –

Minimum: 10%

of families

monthly

Big Goal: Every

family receives

a touch point

from the

Principal during

the school year.

The school ensures

that families

participate in

collaborative

strategic planning

for school

improvement.

The school

encourages

families and the

community to take

initiative and

contribute to

school

improvement

priorities.

School staff work

closely with

community

partners to

strengthen the

school and make

resources available

to students,

families and school

staff.

Touch point

rationale –

The live listening

sessions

Will allow the

schools to hear

from parents about

the school and use

the feedback to

make adjustments

if necessary.

The Principals’

calls are customer

service calls to ask

parents about their

thoughts about the

school –

suggestions,

comments,

School Based

Decision

Making Council

School staff

attendance at

community

events

The school shares

information about

the school’s goals

and what

strategies it is

using to improve.

The school is

responsive to

families’ ideas for

improving the

school.

concerns, etc.

Section VI – Promising practices Describe 3-5 operational practices that have had the most impact on student achievement.

Operational Practice 1: Network staff will have much readier access to crucial operational data

such as student behavior, attendance, discipline, and completion of assignments. This objective is

accomplished through the implementation of Microsoft PowerBI reports and dashboards. This

information will be provided in a targeted format to partners who work directly with students

around behavior and academic achievement or who provide wrap-around services to the

student’s families.

Operational Practice 2: The school has engaged the services of both Instruction Partners and

Achievement Network to gain a greater understanding of teacher practices and behaviors around

Standards Based Instruction and the impact that instruction has on student performance.

Instruction Partners focuses on the use of Instructional Practice Guides to gauges teacher ability

to deliver instruction that is based on the standards and reaches the depth of rigor that the

standards call for. They also do in-depth Module internalization sessions with the ELA and Math

teachers to better prepare them to deliver top quality instruction. Achievement Network focuses

on instructional priorities that are derived from looking at achievement on individual standards

as seen in the previous year’s assessments. They also provide question banks, Schedules of

Assessed Standards, and Interim Benchmarks.

Operational Practice 3: During the 18-19 school year, there has been a significant investment in

high quality curriculum materials. Expeditionary Learning workbooks, teacher editions, and

novels were purchased for ELA. Eureka Math materials were purchased for all math classes.

HMH Science materials were purchased for Middle School Science classes. The High School

science classes received new materials from a mixture of publishers.

Operational Practice 4: Additional staff have been hired at the network level to support the

growth of the network from 1 to 3 schools in the past two years. The network now serves Martin

Luther King College Preparatory High School, Humes Middle School, and Westside Middle

School. The staffing model at the middle school level added an Assistant Principal an

Instructional Coach/Dean of Instruction and an ISS Coordinator. The Network staff also became

more robust and defined to meet the 3 schools and almost 1200 students. The new positions

include Director of Communications and Development, Director of Fine Arts, Director of HR,

Director of IDEA Compliance and Monitoring, Community Engagement Coordinator, and Chief

of Strategy/Head of Schools.