School Highlights

Equity & Current Educational Programs

Equity was of utmost importance at J.C. Harmon High School and in the minds of administration, staff, students, parents and community members. Every effort was made to insure inclusion and shared curriculum that addressed all areas of diversity including, but not limited to:

• Disabilities
• Ethnicity
• ESL/ELL
• Gifted

Programs at Harmon did not discriminate against any group of students and most often built respect and understanding for our diverse population. The primary structure of our school into small learning communities (SLCs) allowed all students to feel like part of a smaller school "family". The SLC structure facilitated relationship building and learning opportunities that engaged students in collaborative efforts with peers that represented Harmon's diverse culture. SLCs allowed students and teachers to engage in and benefit from:

• Continuity of care
• Collective responsibility
• Interdisciplinary units of study
• Collaboration
• An adult advocate/advisor for every student

In order to meet the needs of a diverse population and provide innovative educational choices to the students, the school had numerous programs. Programs and brief descriptions are listed below.

• Area Technical School (ATS) — Seniors who fulfilled their necessary credit requirements at Harmon and who were on track to graduate could attend Kansas City, Kansas Area Technical School for free during their 12th grade year.
• Career Cruising — Online career guidance resource was utilized in the SLC's to help students explore available career paths.
• College and Career Coordinators — These positions were created this year for the purpose of assisting students with the college admissions and career exploration process. Each SLC had it's own College and Career Coordinator.
• ELL/ESL – English Language Learners/English as a Second Language — Students who were not proficient in English could be admitted into the ELL/ESL program for instructional support in language acquisition. In addition to the shared curriculum and SLC structure, students in ESL/ELL received additional supports.
  • Sheltered core classes were provided for level one, level two and some level three ELL students.
  • Students were transitioned into the themed academics as soon as they reached level three
  • At least fourteen teachers had ESL endorsement or were currently seeking that status
• Family Advocacy Period — A twenty minute period was held everyday but Wednesday from 8:55-9:15 a.m. which was designed to build rapport and relationships with students and families to promote academic success.
• GEAR UP — Program through the University of Kansas which served our seniors in the areas of academic success, career options, the postsecondary admissions process, and sources of financial aid.
• Harmon Scholars — This was a college preparatory program implemented for the first time in 2006-2007 which included approximately 100 students this year from 9th, 10th, and 11th grade. Students were being accelerated in the areas of English and Mathematics for the first year of this program, but will eventually be accelerated in all four of the content areas. In addition, all Harmon Scholar students took a Seminar course where they learned needed college skills such as Cornell note-taking, organization, Costa's higher order questioning, Socratic Seminar, etc. Students must apply and go through an interview process in order to be admitted.
• Higher Dimensions — After school program begun in the Fall of 2006 in partnership with Living Stone Family Worship Center. Provided supervised extra-curricular activities at the school and church for those students who wanted to attend from 12:30-2:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.
• I.C.A.R.E. — I.C.A.R.E. was an after school tutoring program every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30-3:30 p.m. that operated in each SLC. Students could receive additional instruction from certified staff members in the areas of math, science, English, and social studies.
• Kauffman Scholars — Low socioeconomic minority students were identified at the middle school level and were closely monitored throughout high school for academic achievement. Students who successfully completed program requirements were eligible for post-secondary financial assistance.
• KUPDS — J. C. Harmon was a member of the Kansas University Professional Development School Alliance. This partnership provided Harmon with teaching interns, enriched opportunities for professional growth, improved instruction, and guidance in interdisciplinary teaming and action research.
• North Central Association / Quality Performance Accreditation — Harmon High School was a fully accredited high school. It was accredited through the North Central Association and the Kansas State Department of Education.
• Prepare House — This program was community-based instruction for 18-21 year old students with moderate to severe disabilities. The purpose of the program was to increase students' opportunities for self-advocacy.
• Professional Development — Every Wednesday afternoon from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m. the entire staff was involved in Staff Development designed to improve instruction leading to continuous student improvement and achievement.
• Service Learning — Courses were designed to encourage and promote students to participate in volunteer work. Transportation was provided as needed.
• Small Learning Community (SLC) — Harmon High School was divided into five smaller learning communities. They were Business and Management, Health and Science, Invention and Technology, Music and Communication, and Visual Arts. Each of these SLC's had all four-grade levels assigned to it and each community had approximately 250 students. The students stayed within the same SLC over a four-year period.
• Special Education — Five Special Education programs functioned at Harmon. These programs were the Vocational Training Workshop, Trainable Mentally Disabled, Special Learning Center, Behavior Disorder, and Autistic Behavior Communication Disorder. Students at Harmon were placed in the least restrictive environment that their specific disorders allowed. In addition to the shared curriculum and SLC structure, students in SPED received additional supports.
  • Students with IEPs met with caseload teachers daily during advisory
  • Collaborative classrooms provided inclusion in core and elective classrooms
  • Transition skills planning, counseling and training were provided for all SPED students
  • Gifted students were provided with a computer lab and were allowed to compact classes
• KU Partners — This was an ongoing partnership with the University of Kansas which allowed those college students majoring in the area of social work to serve the needs of the Harmon students in the areas of counseling, mediation, community resources, school attendance, and relationship building.
• Technology — To improve technology and information access for students, we continued to upgrade our computer labs.
• Twilight School — Twilight School provided an opportunity for students to make up credits required for graduation.
• Vocational Training Workship (VTW) — VTW's goal was to teach disabled high school students skills that would enable them to work and live in the community and achieve a level of independence. Students learned these skills by doing contract work for a variety of Kansas City area businesses. The workshop worked as a foundation to build lifelong work skills.

Mission Statement

Together We Continue To Learn

This building report card is a brief summary of how your school and students are performing and the impact of your local school improvement plan. However, it should not be used as a single source to judge students or school accomplishments. No single report can tell the whole story of a district's or school's education program. This report card does not provide information about curriculum, teaching methods, special programs, the "climate" of your school or the performance of individual teachers or administrators.

In addition, this report card is not a way of "rating" or "ranking" schools. Because of the distinct community and student characteristics, direct comparison between schools or districts are invalid. Rank-ordering school districts or schools is a clear misuse of the information. Rather, the information should be used to access local strengths and weaknesses based on past performance and to plan program improvements.

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