Seton Academy

Kansas City, Missouri

A White Paper for Charter Development

Seton Academy is in transition from a contracted alternative school site for the Kansas City
Missouri School District to a small learning community of 80 students equipped to exceed the
academic requirements of the State of Missouri. The coursework is a blend of direct-teacher
instruction and cooperative learning where, because of our small size, individual student
attention is both possible and critical. Students in this environment develop authorship of their
own learning process and instructors provide opportunities for inquiry. The combination of
these approaches develops self-driven learners who understand their context as well as their
abilities.

We have developed a unique modified block schedule for the 2010-2011 school year where
students have three 90-minute blocks that rotate daily. They have the ability to take courses
within the academic core (Math, Science, Social Studies, and English) as well as Health/PE,
Business, and World Language. After the block rotation each day, students’ extended block of
visual arts, computer repair, vocal music or service-embedded internship begins. The ArtsTech
program partnership allows Seton Academy students access to KC Art Institute talent and
resources. This spring, students are being offered dual-credit courses through Metropolitan
Community College.

As we continue transitioning from our current non-profit hybrid model to a charter, many
changes are taking place. The Seton Center Board of Trustees has approved the formation
of the Seton Academy Board of Directors, which functions now as a traditional public
school board. This establishment of governance marks a vital step completed to developing
subsequent statutory responsibilities for charter status.

Our hybrid block schedule and afternoon student calendar is designed to allow the core staff of
teaching professionals time for daily collaboration. Meeting for 90 minutes each day puts Seton
Academy in the top <1% of schools nationwide for cross-curricular collaboration time. Our
weekly time together allows us to do the following:
a. Forming a Professional Learning Community – currently doing a book study on
Personalizing the High School as well as working with the Greater Kansas City Writing
Project teacher consultants to incorporate writing school-wide and as professionals.
Staff journals are being channeled into an online reflective journal, designed to be
provisionally published on demand and shared. This is a key goal for transparency and
accountability.

b. Professional Development – we work with child psychologist and learning researcher,

Dr. Jan Roosa on creating a “brain friendly” school and culture as well as integrating the
tools such as his brain-based decision-making model. Our partnership with Dr. Roosa
ties our practice strongly to research and inquiry and drives our journaling reflections.
 c. Student Intervention – at least one day each week we look at students experiencing
difficulty both academically and behaviorally. Interventions are at the core of our
academy design base don individual learning needs; they can be determined and put in
place very quickly. We also use this time for parent conferences, as needed.

d. School Improvement – weekly time is dedicated to school improvement, planning,

and discussion as we work on our school improvement plan and ready ourselves for our
North Central Accreditation visit in December, 2010. Conversations from these meetings
share our spirit of cultural inquiry and transparent reflection about our identity as a
school and our place in the community.

Very few other schools are able to devote this extensive amount of time for staff collaboration
and discussion; that is why we will be able to establish a strong culture that promotes learning
among staff, students, parents, and the community.

Seton Academy has doubled in size from the 2009-2010 school year. We have an approximate
enrollment of 80 students in grades 9-12. To serve these students we have the following
staff: 1 administrator, 1 credentialed teacher-administrator, 1 administrative assistant, 1 para-
professional, 1 full-time teacher for each core academic area (Math, Science, Social Studies and
English), 5 part-time teachers (PE/Health, Business, Vocal Music and Visual Arts), and a network
of skilled volunteers. This staff is highly educated with 6 holding advanced degrees or multiple
advanced degrees, 4 currently enrolled in a Master’s program with completion dates within one
year, and 2 with a Bachelor’s degree with additional coursework, and one in application for a
PhD.