Ocean View High School: Monday Morning Wins
How do you provide structured, intentional support for all staff?
SCHOOL FACT BOX
Ocean View High School, located in Huntington Beach, California, serves more than 1,400 students, with 54% identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged and just under 23% in programming for English Learners. The demographic profile reflects that 61% of the students are Hispanic/Latino; 25% White; 8% Asian; 1% Filipino; 1% African American; >1% Hawaiian Native or Pacific Islander; and >1% American Indian or Alaska Native.
What Was the Need?
When Ocean View High School expanded the implementation of a Multi-tiered System of Support schoolwide, Principal Courtney Robinson identified a need to help the school community, specifically the school’s staff, see what on-the-ground examples look like on the Ocean View campus. For example, teachers asked for specific examples of what First Best Instruction (FBI) looks like in classrooms throughout the campus.
What Did They Do to Address the Need?
To address this need, Ms. Robinson developed a weekly newsletter called Monday Morning Wins, where she ties what is happening in the school, both in and out of the classroom, to the MTSS schoolwide initiative. The newsletter includes pictures as well as instructional strategies to reinforce for the school staff the work being done in the classroom. This newsletter is helpful for staff new to the concept of MTSS by providing them with examples of student engagement and the many teaching methods that are already happening every day on campus. Themes highlighted in the newsletter include the following:
- A focus on what is positive that is happening in the school
- Specific examples of FBI in the classroom
- Examples of what is happening to support students in co- and extracurricular programs
- Being explicit about attaching everything to school values
How’s It Working?
Monday Morning Wins has given the staff a better understanding of what MTSS looks like on a daily basis and a better understanding of how to support all students. Building on this momentum, Ocean View High School leadership was able to continue to support the school’s MTSS work in the following ways:
- All of the staff professional development were organized around MTSS.
- Leadership continued to find ways for students to be better known by staff, including implementing grade-level, cross-curricular collaboration meetings.
- Leadership identified and operationalized student outcomes throughout the school day so that both students and the staff now have a clear understanding of the skills students need to be prepared when they graduate from Ocean View.
Download a .pdf version of this snapshot: OVHS-Monday-Morning-Wins.pdf (1166 downloads)
