• Category 2

    Selected in 2022

  • Grades: 3 - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 30
    Student Enrollment: 918
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 15%
    White/Caucasian: 68%
    Hispanic: 6%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 8%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:12.9
    % Reduced Lunch: 56%
    % ELL Learners: 0.5%
    Founded: 2013
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Angel Owens
  • CONTACT:
    225 Idaho Road
    Austintown, OH 44515
    330-797-3901
    aowens@austitntownschools.org
Austintown Intermediate School
Austintown, OH
"We believe strongly in shout-outs, phone calls home, smiles, hugs, high fives, and words and actions of positive praise."
1. Tell us about your school’s success.
AIS has much to celebrate! We have won a PBIS Gold Award three years in a row! On top of that, we have continued to make strides each year with our performance index and gap closing. Our staff continues to be recognized within the community for their excellence and dedication to our students.
Every day starts with staff and student shout outs! Teachers or students can submit shout outs each day and the whole building hears about student success and teacher appreciation. AIS is a place where positivity grows and it is evident from the moment the doors open each day. Our school has grown each year by making strategic decisions at the district and building level to never overhaul and undo, but only to refine and add to. Targeted data driven decision making combined with a culture of going above and beyond for students have helped the building grow into a very special place to see students achieve and thrive everyday.
2. Talk about the greatest contributing factor(s) that promoted positive change in your school.
First and foremost is our staff. We have hired and maintained a high quality staff and made staff appreciation a top priority. This helps us retain and support amazing educators.
Additionally, we continue to develop our servicing models for all students, but especially students with special needs. We extended our continuum of services from gifted to inclusive co-teach, and then varying levels of support all the way to self-contained units. Because of this, we feel that we are able to place students into settings that are not only least restrictive, but responsive to their needs.
Thirdly, we have a supportive family culture and community sense of pride in the district. Parents are involved in the building and even our dads! Our WATCH DOG program (Dads of Great Students) come into the building and connect with students.
Lastly, having a positive culture with unwavering high expectations for everyone has pushed AIS to improve every year.

3. How has ESEA funding supported the school's success?
Our funding has helped us align our resources with our goals. Purchasing curriculum supplies to student online resources to target intervention assistance has made all the difference for us. Aligning our spending with our “rocks” has prevented us from creating that junk drawer of resources to instead an organized toolbox! This helps all students in any class know what is expected of them and allows for a common language and progress monitoring. AIS has also continued to invest in tutors and aides that provide extra assistance to students in only ways they can. Again, with relationships being one of our constant foci, we have continued to work to hire quality support staff to
deliver interventions and supports in and out of the classroom. The funds for professional development have also been invaluable in building teacher knowledge and capacity. The funds that support our parent engagement and family events have continued our bridge with parents in and out of the classroom.
4. What professional development activities were used to improve teaching and learning?
At first, we started with a commitment to team building and staff activities. If student relationships matter then staff relationships matter too! Once we built that culture of communication and collegiality with staff, we continued our journey into academic development. Differentiation was a building goal and we underwent book studies and time in our TBT’s looking at and furthering our differentiation in instruction and assessment.
Math adopted the Bridges program and committed to the development of those best practices. Language Arts dove into the ARC curriculum along with LETRS and the Science of Reading. The building’s report card committee also spent a great deal of time researching grading best practices and continues to meet annually to tweak and further develop our report card which is a unique standards based and letter grade hybrid. We also spent time developing a retake policy for AIS as well.
5. Talk about the cultural shift leading up to your school's success.
AIS has consistently focused on our “rocks”: academic programs, learning and targeted interventions, social- emotional learning, and relationships.
We went all in on curriculums, student resources, interventions as well as a homework focus in each subject and grade.
AIS starts each day with “Morning Meetings” as a way to deliver of Leader in Me habits. We believe strongly in shout outs, phone calls home, smiles, hugs, high fives and words and actions of positive praise. AIS harnesses the power of data to remain steadfast in our mission, making adjustments along the way using the data as our guide.
The AIS Squad can be seen around the building as our squad greets students, keeps the building tidy, and passes out positive quotes as they leave for the weekend. Shifting students out of their seats and into important leadership roles helps them succeed, take pride in their building, and gives younger students something to aspire to.
6. How has community involvement strengthened your success?
From school supplies to meals, coats, shoes and clothing along with mentoring and financial support for families has helped wrapped AIS students in support and love. Our community businesses, PTA members, trustees, and churches have always had AIS students at the forefront of their giving efforts. These types of supports have allowed students to be students in times of need and also makes them feel special.
AIS has been a consistent winner for our Toys for Tots drive in the district. We partner with former board members and local police to bring in toys for less fortunate children in the county. Our PTA has a long legacy of Falcon Outreach Days as well. Students can participate in dress up days for any donation that they can give. Those funds are collected and then given back to AIS to be used for families in need. We feel that the support from the community as well as building a culture of giving helps students grow into compassionate empathetic classmates.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2022

  • Grades: 3 - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 30
    Student Enrollment: 918
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 15%
    White/Caucasian: 68%
    Hispanic: 6%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 8%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:12.9
    % Reduced Lunch: 56%
    % ELL Learners: 0.5%
    Founded: 2013
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Angel Owens
  • CONTACT:
    225 Idaho Road
    Austintown, OH 44515
    330-797-3901
    aowens@austitntownschools.org