Title I & School Improvement

This page contains information related to our designation as a Title I school.

Title I is a federally funded program through the Elementary & Secondary Act (ESEA) designed to provide support to students who are performing below grade level in reading and/or math. The goal is to emphasize high academic standards in an effort to help students succeed in the regular classroom and reach grade level performance.

What are some typical Title I services?

At Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), we offer Title I programs to meet the needs of students at individual schools. At some buildings, this may mean a ‘targeted’ program where selected students receive additional academic instruction or other types of assistance to support them in school. The majority of schools in MPS have a ‘school-wide’ Tile I program which means additional services are available to address the needs of all the students at that school. Typically services focus on providing additional help in reading and/or math instruction, but services could include social skills instruction, attendance support, health services, etc.

Do all MPS schools have a Title I program?

No. The Federal law requires that Title I programs are available in schools with the greatest concentration of low-income families. Once a school qualifies, academic need – not economic status – determines the school programming and whether students receive extra instruction. Contact your child’s school for more information about its Title I program and ask when the school’s annual Title I meeting for families will be held.

Who are Title I students?

Typically students identified as needing Title I services are those who are having academic difficulties or other concerns that are affecting their academic achievement in school. Usually students’ needs are identified by their classroom teachers based on their test scores and other measures of academic performance. Those who show the greatest educational need and are not already receiving special education services are served first.

How are parents/guardians involved?

In ‘school-wide’ and ‘targeted’ programs, parents are invited to attend the school’s annual Title I Meeting
In ‘targeted’ school programs, parents are notified of their child’s eligibility for and participation in Title I
Parents, staff and students may participate in the development and carrying out of a compact that spells out the goals and shared responsibilities of the child, school and parents for student success
Parents are encouraged to participate in Title I meetings and learning opportunities

As a parent/guardian, you have the right...

to know the qualifications of your child’s teacher
to know when your child has a substitute teacher for more than four weeks and the qualifications of the substitute teacher
to know how your child’s school is rated on its state test scores
to expect regular communication with your school in a language that you can understand
to work with other parents and staff to develop a school-level parent compact between the school and its families
to help plan how money for family involvement should be spent
to work with teachers, parents and the school principal to develop your school’s family involvement plan
to ask for a meeting with your school principal or your child’s teacher at any time

State of the School Presentation

School Improvement Plan (SIP)

Mission & Vision

Introduction

Andersen United Middle School is home to sixth, seventh & eighth graders in the heart of the Phillips neighborhood. We are home to a community school program serving the students in the attendance boundary for Andersen as well as the students in the Dual Language magnet serving students district wide. We are proud to provide services to a diverse group of newcomers with native languages coming from over 30 different countries.

In addition, we work to engage students with IEPs in their least restrictive environment both for students in our setting 2 resource program as well as our citywide specialized classrooms serving students with ASD, DCD, EBD.

We are proud of the strong grade level support teams that provide wrap around services from licensed educators (counselors, social works, psychologists & administrators) and our restorative practice deans.

We have nearly 200 employees that collaborate daily to provide Andersen students with a rigorous education both in core content lessons & social emotional learning.

School Mission Statement

School Vision Statement

Programs & Community Partners

School Improvement Plan Goals

Strategic Plan Goal 1: Academic Achievement

Every student achieves their full potential through equal access to programming that is academically rigorous and connects learning with student experiences.

24-25 School Year SMART Goal

60% of our Latine, African American, and American Indian students will have typical or aggressive growth on the aReading.
60% of our Latine, African American, and American Indian students will have typical or aggressive growth on the aMath.

Strategies

Core Instruction: Tier 1
Focusing on 4 elements selected by staff to strengthen tier instruction.

MOA Strategy
Teachers will do ongoing progress monitoring assessments for reading and math after benchmark assessments.

Strategic Plan Goal 2: Student Well-being

Every student’s physical and mental well-being is addressed as an integral part of their education.

24-25 School Year SMART Goal

To increase student wellbeing through an intentional racial harm response plan that includes immediate verbal response from educators, follow-up with students involved that includes repair and restorative practices.

Strategies

Restorative Practices
Intentional use of restorative practices when racial harm occurs in at least 10 incidents.

Response Plan to Racial Harm
Students and staff will create a response plan and 100% of staff will be trained in the plan.

MOA Strategy:
We will ensure that every American Indian students feels connected to at least 3 adults in our building.

Strategic Plan Goal 3: Effective Staff

School and district staff approach all work centered on students and equity.

24-25 School Year SMART Goal

90% of PLC groups will grow in at least one measure on the PLC At Work: Building a Collaborative Culture through High-Performing Teams rubric.

Strategies

PLCs
Focus on building a collaborative culture through high preforming teams using PLC At Work Rubric.

Strategic Plan Goal 4: School and District Climate

MPS is known by our community as welcoming, responsive, and connected.

24-25 School Year SMART Goal

Family engagement will increase through participation in the caregiver volunteer program and through increased engagement with the parent portal on Infinite Campus (IC) in order to understand their child’s attendance, grades and overall school needs.

Strategies

Ensuring Access to IC
Families will self identify need for access, be given access, and all families will be provided with information on how to use it.

Andersen Family Volunteer Program
Program will be developed including recruiting, training and scheduling families.

Family Engagement Plan (FEP)

Family Engagement Plan Andersen United Middle School School Year 25-26

Andersen United: Family-School Compact 2025-26 School Year

Family & Community Voice & Engagement

How family and community voices are gathered at our school

Families are welcome to our school at all times. We invite families and caretakers to be part of the site council, where our school provides opportunities for parents to give feedback and provide their opinions during Site Council and Parent/Caregiver-teacher conferences. We will also have an open forum before each Site Council Meeting for families to voice their opinions, comments, and concerns. Additionally, polls are part of our community input and are available through bi-weekly family communication. These polls provide input and voice opinions and concerns throughout the school year.

The primary challenges/areas of need identified by families and community members at our school

Our goal is to communicate with all stakeholders. We are looking at having different means of communication (digital, print, phone calls, texts) in multiple language to ensure everybody can be informed.We are using School Messenger to send out emails, texts, and phone calls to all of our caregiver. Our newsletter "Phoenix Flyer," which is sent out to families bi-weekly with relevant and supportive information for caregivers. Teachers are using "Talking Points" to communicate directly with families. We are also partneirng with Collectiva Bilingüe to get the word out of events and any communication we want out to families.

The primary hopes and aspirations identified by families and community members at our school

Family Engagement Goals & Strategies

Goal: All families feel welcome in our school and have equal access to opportunities to be involved in their students' education.

2024-25 Andersen Student/Family Calendar

Strategies

We will notify families of how to get involved in the events listed on our FEP, how to access school staff, and how to volunteer through the following methods:

Texts, emails, and phone calls via School Messenger
We have also printed an Andersen Calendar this year with all events included.
We inform families and any news or upcoming events through the Phoenix Flyer—newsletter.
All families have received a physical copy or digital access to a Family Folder with the following information: Admin team welcome, school bell schedule, staff roster with phone numbers, student cell phone procedure, supply list, mission, vision, core values, map of the school, and a district calendar.
Additionally, the school website has links for families who are interested in volunteering to follow and register to become a volunteer.

We will ensure all families can participate by providing the following:

During family events we hope to provide childcare, and interpreters for families to feel supported.
We translate documents, provide multiple meeting dates and times, a digital and in-person option for families to participate.
We provide transportation and home visits to support our families.
We will record or provide digital copies in multiple languages of information distributed for families who are not available during the meetings and events - that will be available in the newsletter.

Goal: All families are informed of the steps our school is taking to improve student outcomes and achieve equity.

Strategies

We will host our annual State of the School (Title I) meeting virtually, recorded and posted in our school’s website with an opportunity for feedback and clarifications on anything mentioned. Links to recordings will be shared on our Phoenix Flyer and on the school website.

We will inform families of the steps our school is taking to improve student outcomes and achieve equity through the State of the School presentations and invite them to participate in open forums during Site Council meetings throughout the school year. All of our work this year in the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) is centered around student outcomes and equity achievement. Additionally, all updates will be communicated in the family newsletter.

Goal: Families will play an important role in developing our School Improvement and Family Engagement plans, and will provide valued input on how we spend our resources.

Strategies

We will get family input on our School Improvement Plan for next year in March 2025.
We will get family input on our Family Engagement Plan for next year at our April 2025 Site Council meeting.
We will get family input on how we'll use our resources next year to support student achievement and engage families at our February 2025 Site Council Meeting.
We will host regular Site Council meetings monthly from 5 - 6 p.m. on Sept. 26, Nov. 14, Dec. 5, Jan. 23, Feb. 27, March 27, April 24 and May 22.

Goal: All school staff members, family members, and students understand the important role they each play in making sure students achieve success at our school.

Strategies

We will get family input on our School-Family Compact for next year at our March 2025 Site Council Meeting.
We plan to share the School-Family Compact with families on our school website and through our student handbook.
- We also plan to share it in the family newsletter and have it available through the "Helpful links" section.
- Families and students will fill out a Google form acknowledging that they have reviewed the compact, which we will review.
- The Andersen School Calendar and Student Handbook are available on the website, and the student handbook and our newsletter contain the School-Family Compact.

Goal: All families understand how to support their students’ academic achievement.

Strategies

At the following events, we will help families understand our school curriculum, state standards, assessments their students take, and how we measure student achievement and success:

December Open House
January Event for Curriculum Night

In addition to the events above, we will also help families understand our school curriculum, state standards, assessments their students will take, and how we will measure student achievement and success in the following ways:

Our weekly newsletter, "Phoenix Flyer" will include information to support understanding of curriculum, assessments and how we measure achievement and success.
Additionally, the assessment calendar with information about each assessment is linked in the document for parents to understand what is being assessed. Specific information will be shared about MCA results before they are sent home by mail.

We will host the following academically-focused family events:

Parent-Teacher Conferences
December Open House
January Event for Curriculum Night

Goal: All staff will be trained on how to effectively partner with families.

Strategies

We will provide professional development on family engagement to our staff on the following topics this year:

As Minneapolis Public Schools has adopted a new Strategic Plan this fall, our staff development will reflect special emphasis and connections between Andersen’s Mission, Vision, and Core Values as they relate to the MPS Strategic Plan.
Our Instrucitonal Leadership Team focuses on Strong Tier 1/Core Instruction goals for this school year, with professional development that will support teachers instruction throughout the year.
This year our focus is on Inclusion: Andersen is dedicated to the inclusion of each member of our community. Our school is collectively created by and for people of all abilities, languages, races, ethnicities, genders, religions, sexual orientations, ages, and socio-economic status.

Title I & School Improvement

Related Content

School Improvement Plan (SIP)