School Transformation Office: Coaches in the Corner
By Lauren Roth
Being assigned to the School Transformation Office may sound scary. But it’s more like having coaches in your corner, said Rock Lake Principal Melanie Simmons.
Joining the School Transformation Office is an opportunity for schools to harness professional support and resources to improve the culture and performance at a school in a school-specific way, she said.
“It’s layers of support,” SImmons said. “I don’t want to leave STO. They’re always at the ready.”
Schools are assigned to the STO based on their overall school performance as measured by the State of Florida Grading System. The office was established in 2013 to provide strategic, centralized support above and beyond what a larger learning community can provide for an individual school. The office has 10 schools this year.
“The School Transformation Office helps OCPS ensure that every school gets the level of support they need so they can help their students learn and perform their best,” said Dr. Shelia Windom, executive area director for STO.
The STO team includes an associate superintendent, executive area directors, senior administrators - including one who observes and shadows the principal - program specialists and instructional coaches.
Simmons worked with STO first as an assistant principal at Ivey Lane ES, and now at Rock Lake ES, where she has been principal since March 2021.
She said she knows the help is working because the work is deeply data-focused. Collaborative review of data with the STO team has led to placing students based upon their needs and teachers based upon their strengths. “It’s very fluid action. We wait and see what’s happening and then decide,” Simmons said.
Rock Lake, which is 100% free and reduced lunch and has a 98% mobility rate, moved from a C to a B with the support of the School Transformation Office,” she said. STO coaches provide coaching to individual teachers and work collaboratively with the school-based coaches to support their efforts in working with students in small groups to improve student achievement.
With the support of the STO, Ivey Lane has shown significant increases in all subject areas. That includes a 24% increase in math in the 2021-22 year, bringing the school to a total of 56% proficiency. In addition, math learning gains by the lowest 25 percent rose by 33%. Science proficiency scores grew by 25%.
The partnership with STO does not come at the expense of emotional supports, however. The school continues to focus on the whole child and meet their needs so they feel safe and confident.
And there is good news for Simmons. Even when a school’s scores improve, the School Transformation Office continues to help their schools with ongoing support to build instructional and leadership capacity beyond the school year the grade improved.