From Promise to Practice: Introducing Our 2026–2027 School Improvement Plan

Phoenix International School of the Arts | Cycle 1

Every year, PISOTA makes a set of promises to our scholars, our families, and Charles County Public Schools. Those promises live in a document called the Accountability Plan — the goals we commit to in reading, mathematics, science, student services, family engagement, governance, and school climate.

An Accountability Plan tells you what a school is aiming for. It does not tell you how the school will get there.

That is the work of the School Improvement Plan (SIP) — and we are excited to share ours with the Phoenix Family today.

Why the SIP matters

A goal without a method is a wish. Our SIP is the method.

It takes each annual goal and translates it into something a teacher can act on: a professional learning cycle, a change in classroom practice, a data review calendar, a walkthrough schedule. It names who is responsible, what evidence we will look at, and when we will stop and ask ourselves whether it is working.

Continuous improvement rests on three ideas we take seriously here:

• Change takes time and collective effort. No single teacher, administrator, or family can move a school alone.

• Change is context-specific. What works at another school may not work at ours. We have to test, watch, and adapt.

• A series of small, evidenced changes produces large-scale results. We are not chasing one big fix. We are running disciplined cycles.

That is why the SIP is organized into cycles rather than a single year-long plan. Cycle 1 has begun. At its conclusion, we will report what grew, what we are celebrating, and what we are changing — and then we will build Cycle 2 from that evidence.

Where we are starting

We believe families deserve the real numbers, not just the encouraging ones.

In English Language Arts, our scholars made meaningful gains. Schoolwide ELA proficiency on MCAP moved from 30% to 42.5% in a single year (from SY24-25 to SY25-26). Sixth grade nearly doubled, from 22% to 43.7%. Seventh and eighth grade both climbed.

In mathematics, we did not see the same movement. Schoolwide math proficiency remained below 5%. This is our most urgent instructional priority, and we are naming it plainly.

In school culture, the picture is mixed and instructive. Incident referrals dropped 35.9% — a real achievement by our staff and scholars. But suspensions rose 19.1%. Read together, those two numbers tell us something specific: fewer situations are being written up, but the ones that do escalate are escalating further. We need stronger early intervention, not more discipline.

In staffing and retention, we held steady. PISOTA retained 89% of staff and 89.5% of scholars — the foundation everything else is built on.

What we are committing to in 2026–2027

Our SIP goals are drawn directly from the Accountability Plan, tightened into measurable targets:

Academics

• A 4% increase in stretch growth for Reading on the iReady assessment from SY2025–26 to SY2026–27

• A 4% increase in stretch growth for Math on the iReady assessment over the same period

Culture and Climate

• A 10% reduction in student suspensions from the SY2025–26 baseline

• A 10% reduction in incident referrals from the SY2025–26 baseline

How we will get there

Cycle 1 focuses on standards-aligned instruction. Our teachers are engaged in a professional learning cycle built around a single, honest diagnosis: too many scholars were performing below proficiency because the delivery, monitoring, and implementation of standards-aligned instruction was inconsistent.

Over this cycle, teachers will unpack grade-level standards and name clear learning targets and success criteria. They will plan collaboratively, designing tasks and questions that require scholars to demonstrate mastery — with particular emphasis on Writing to Inform. Administrators and peers will conduct brief, focused classroom visits. Teachers will sit down together with actual scholar work to determine whether scholars are meeting the standard, then reteach the gaps.

The cycle runs: learn → practice → implement → observe → analyze → adjust → improve. Then it runs again.

On culture and climate, we are teaching and reinforcing schoolwide behavior expectations rooted in our R.I.S.E. values, offering restorative conversations and conflict-resolution strategies before behaviors escalate, reviewing discipline data monthly to find patterns by behavior, grade, location, and time, and conducting regular walkthroughs so that expectations are applied consistently by every adult in the building.

What this means for your scholar

You should start hearing a more specific vocabulary at home. Ask your scholar: What are you learning? Why does it matter? How will you know when you've got it? If our work is landing, they will be able to answer all three.

You should also expect clearer communication from us about progress — and clearer invitations to be part of it. Family engagement at PISOTA is not a hospitality function. It is an academic strategy, and this year we are committing to demonstrating the connection between family partnership and scholar outcomes with actual data.

Our commitment to transparency

We will publish Cycle 1 outcomes when the cycle closes — growth areas and celebrations both. If a strategy is not working, we will say so and tell you what replaced it. That is what a continuous improvement plan is for.

Thank you for reviewing our plan, and thank you for your partnership. This work belongs to all of us.

Together, We Will R.I.S.E. to S.O.A.R.

Questions about the School Improvement Plan? Contact the principal or reach out to your scholar's teacher directly.