LITCHFIELD COMMUNITY SCHOOLS MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL EDUCATION REPORT (AER)

LITCHFIELD COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL EDUCATION REPORT (AER)
September 1, 2012
Dear Parents and Community Members:
We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER) which provides key
information on the 2011-2012 educational progress for the Litchfield Middle and High
School. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and some
requirements of state laws. The school’s report contains information about student
assessment, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and teacher quality. If you have any questions
about the AER, please contact Anne Riddle, superintendent, for assistance.
The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting the following web site
http://www.lcsmi.org or you may review a copy in the superintendent’s office at your child’s
school, 210 Williams Street, Litchfield.
The report contains the following information:
For 2011-2012, Litchfield Elementary School made Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) in English language arts and mathematics. While we are pleased to reach this
important goal, we are continuously working to improve student achievement.
For 2011-2012 Litchfield Middle School and Litchfield High School did make Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP). We were designated a Priority school, which means our scores in the state
assessment of the MEAP (6th-8th) were in the 5% range of the Top to Bottom List based on
student achievement, achievement gaps and student growth over time in the tested
subjects (mathematics, reading, science, social studies and writing; as appropriate for the
school grade levels tested). The dedicated staff of Litchfield Schools met every Monday this
summer and re-wrote the writing curriculum, K-12, as writing was an area of need on our
state assessments. We also piloted Accelerated Math (AM) last year in grades 1, 6, 7 and 8
to address our need to increase math scores. AM uses the CCS and is prescriptive in nature
with mastery as the goal. It supports struggling learners, as well as independent learners
who are not held back and are able to go ahead to the next level. It was so successful we
implemented it fall of 2012 in grades K-12.
State law requires that we also report the following additional information:

The status of the 3-5 year school improvement plan
Litchfield’s School Improvement Plan, compiled by a team of teachers, technology
coordinator, business manager, parents, and administration, has a focus on three
areas of achievement: reading, writing and math. We have determined current
achievement status in each area through the MEAP, MME, ACT, as well as local
assessments; we have set our goals to increase achievement; put strategies in place
to reach these goals; and this year’s assessments will determine if we have met our
goals. A copy of the School Improvement Plan can be found on our district Website
http://www.lcsmi.org

Core curriculum access and implementation
Litchfield Middle and High School (LHS) is a beautiful rural school in the City of Litchfield.
LHS offers a complete educational program to approximately 70 students 6th-8th grades,
and 120 students in grades 9th-12th. The Curriculum of the Common Core Standards is
being built by Oakland K-12 Rubicon Atlas and parents can peruse the curriculum at
http://Oaklandk12-pubic.rubiconatlas.org. Included in the curriculum are the following skill
and subject areas: reading, writing, speaking/listening, foreign language, math, social
studies, science, visual/vocal and instrumental arts, technology and physical education.
Instruction will be based on the current curricular requirements of the State of Michigan.
Parents can view these state requirements at www.michigan.gov/mde. Curriculum
requirements are also available in the Handbook.

Aggregate student achievement results from local common assessments
Litchfield Middle and High School students’ results from local common assessments
are available on our Website by following the link: www.mischooldata.org. Questions
regarding aggregate student achievement results from local common assessments
may be addressed to the principal, Anne Riddle.

Number and percentage of students represented at parent/teacher conferences
The families of Litchfield Middle and High School students are very supportive of their
student(s). This is reflected in the excellent attendance at parent/teacher
conferences, which are held twice a year, once in the fall and again in the spring.
Fall Conference: 131 students represented totaling 69% participation
Spring Conference: 101 students represented totaling 53% participation
Our goal for the district has been to put systems in place so the school functions efficiently
and teachers can spend more time teaching and students learning. Last year we
implemented the Pinnacle Student Information System which allows parents to see their
student’s academics, attendance, behavior and teacher comments, as well as the
curriculum, at a moment’s notice. Our students are empowered learners and are provided
time during the day to access their own Pinnacle account. We implemented Pinnacle
Instruction which houses Oakland K-12 Rubicon Atlas and all teachers are teaching the
national Common Core Standards (CCS). We are now training on Pinnacle Insight which is
an assessment tool with the data flowing into our students’ individual Pinnacle accounts.
To further our communication with parents, we have implemented the Instant Alert System
for school closings and events. Our Pinnacle SIS also generates absence letters upon a third
or sixth absence in a class. We are now implementing an automatic call to parents if their
student is absent as of 9:00 a.m. By having these systems in place, we can better work
with our parent partners to help their student be successful in school.
We have partnered with our local business and industry to create the Litchfield Initiative
which is a group of business people, Litchfield alumni, representatives from Hillsdale County
Economic Development and South Central Michigan Works, and Litchfield Community
Schools (LCS). Litchfield employs over 2,000 people in our industrial park and when we
surveyed our industries, they told us they needed welders, robotic programmers and CNC
operators. With local support we have remodeled our previous shop building into The
Richard E. Krohn Center for Excellence and are running welding classes for dual
enrollment credit for our students who are guaranteed a job with our local industry when
they receive their welding certificate. We have hosted two Litchfield Initiative meetings at
our school which were attended by 65 and 45 business people respectively. On professional
development days LCS teachers have toured local manufacturers and businesses to gain a
better understanding of what employers expect of their future employees. Our goal is that
LCS will become a model school for college and career readiness.
The Litchfield Schools staff has worked to create a culture of high expectation. We have
welcomed the community and industry into our building and have become their partners to
better the lives of our students. We are looking forward to the help of the Michigan
Department of Education and Michigan State University so we can become masters of data
at LCS---because we want to be the best we can be for the children. I welcome comments
and questions from the community, parents and students.
With concentrated efforts in the academic areas, including Hillsdale Workforce Development
Center, dual enrollment in local colleges, classes available on Michigan Virtual High School,
and The Richard E. Krohn Center for Excellence, students have the opportunity to open the
doors of their future post-secondary and/or employment upon graduation from Litchfield
High School.
Thank you for visiting our Annual Education Report and thank you for supporting our most
cherished possession, our children.
Sincerely,
Anne Marie Riddle
Superintendent