Nestled in the rolling hills of Rancho Peñasquitos, you will find Mt. Carmel High School. Opened in 1975, Mt. Carmel has long been the focal point of the community. The expansive campus offers performing arts and athletic facilities, as well as classrooms including 12 science laboratories, visual arts labs, and a library, to students and the community. This year, the campus is finishing a three year 56 million dollar renovation. For the 2006-07 school year MCHS opened a new cafeteria facility, administration center and the new SUN Center housing grade level teams of assistant principals, counselors, guidance technicians, as well as student services, records, attendance, finance and health offices. The final phase of construction will conclude during the 2006-07 school year with renovations of the theater, library, and the construction of a new ASB Room and a new Gymnastics/Wrestling facility. This renovation is a direct result of district voters having passed Prop 'U', a facility improvement bond measure in 2002.

Rancho Peñasquitos is a predominantly middle-class area with more than 47,000 residents in over 14,000 households living in apartments, condominiums and single-family houses. Seventy-two percent own their homes and 28% are renters. Slightly less than four percent of families have incomes below the poverty level. Twenty-two percent of families have incomes of less than $49,999 per year, 68% between $50,000 and $149,999 and 10% have incomes of $150,000 or more. The predominant racial/ethnic groups of the community are African-American (4%), Asian (13%), Filipino (14%), Hispanic (9%) and White (53%). More than one-quarter of Peñasquitos residents are foreign born and one-third speak a language other than English.

Mt. Carmel’s student enrollment is 2,286 and has grown by 131 students from the previous school year. The student demographics are similar to that of the community. Mt. Carmel has a significant and growing population of students who qualify for Free/Reduced lunch (13%) and also a population of limited English proficient students (4%). Mt. Carmel's staff, is predominantly white (92%) with some Asian, Filipino, and Hispanic staff members. MCHS is attempting to hire well qualified diverse staff members whenever possible.

Parent and community involvement at Mt. Carmel is deep and positive. With an emphasis on the common goal of educating young people academically, physically and emotionally, Mt. Carmel maintains excellent relations with parents. We sponsor parent events throughout the year, such as Back to School Night, Eighth Grade Night and College Night to keep parents informed and involved. Numerous parent booster groups support the teams in our wide-ranging interscholastic athletic program. Similar parent groups support our award winning instrumental, orchestral and vocal music programs. The PTSA acts as a force for positive change including offering grants to staff members and scholarships to students.

Reach 'em with Relationships, Teach 'em with Rigor, Let 'em Soar with Relevance

This motto summarizes the mission of Mt. Carmel High School, and stands for what we believe is the vision and purpose of our school community from our positions as educators, parents, students, and community members.

Reach 'em with Relationships: Provide a caring environment where students feel connected to one another and the community.

Teach 'em with Rigor: Ensure students learn the knowledge, skills and habits of mind to be successful and productive members of society.

Let 'em Soar with Relevance: Enable students to find their future by creating learning opportunities that connect to the real world.

The staff at Mt. Carmel has agreed to the following commitments in order to realize our vision:

1. We will meet the needs of ALL learners in our classrooms

2. We agree to restructure the school day to allow for increased teacher collaboration.

3. We will establish and implement common course curriculum aligned to standards and measured by common course assessments and to developing consistent grading policies.

4. We will establish a system for reaching struggling students and supporting them in their learning.

5. We will hold students accountable for school wide policies

6. We will develop the means for all MCHS students to be involved in a co-curricular activity.

Mt. Carmel is a data driven organization. No longer do we rely on estimates and gut feelings to make decisions affecting teaching and learning. We now gather hard data on dozens of measures spanning academics, behavior, and attitude. Our current efforts focus on fine-tuning our data gathering, interpreting data to improve instruction, and making data easily available. The shift to data driven decision-making has developed in parallel with the move toward standards based instruction. In the context of these changes, the staff has spent much time discussing and reflecting on our mission and vision for Mt. Carmel. Most recently, Mt. Carmel has updated its mission of “Reach’em, Teach’em, let’em Soar”, to "Reach'em with Relationships, Teach'em with Rigor, and Let'em Soar with Relevance."

The 2006-07 school-year brings change to the approach to meeting the needs of ALL learners at Mt. Carmel. This year, MCHS has devoted eight Friday mornings of professional time coupled with Professional Growth days and work beyond the school day to provide training for teachers in the areas of teaching reading across the curriculum, understanding diversity and connecting with all learners, differentiated instruction and formative assessment, and improving teacher communication through Learning Point sites.

Each academic department at Mt. Carmel is revisiting data and how it is used in the classroom. Each department annually sets a data driven SMART goal that is closely tied to our school-wide goal. For 2006-2007, MCHS Departments are crafting SMART goals and intervention strategies that align with the school wide goal of reducing the number of students with G.P.A.s below 2.0 (the D and F rate) by 5% at each grade level.

MCHS administration, counseling and support staff work in an integrated services approach rather than as separate departments. Each grade level is assigned a team that consists of an Assistant Principal, Counselor, Guidance Technician, Attendance Clerk, Administrative Assistant and a Student Support Services specialist. These teams follow that cohort of students through to graduation. The Grade Level Teams are charged with monitoring grades/credits, attendance, discipline, test scores and emotional/social needs and providing support and/or intervention for students. Support comes in the form of college guidance, tutoring, and counseling services. Intervention may include CAHSEE classes, Math/English Intervention classes, SAT preparation, Adult School or alternative schooling placement, and referrals to outside agencies for student/family counseling.

New for 2006-2007, the MCHS Academic Intervention and Monitoring Program (AIM) requires students to attend tutoring time already built into the school day. Students earning less than a C in any class are now divided into two intervention programs.

"Red Alert" students are those earning 2 or more F's. These students have their progress checked weekly by the Grade Level Team through a "Blue Card" that teachers update with their weekly progress. These students are also required to attend a weekly Success Class in addition to teacher tutorials. These students are also asked to attend a "Homework Club" at least one afternoon each week. "Red Alert" Intervention involves parents and community support in the process of assisting students in improving their academic status at MCHS.

Students on "Gold Alert" are those who have earned a 'D' or one 'F' in any course. They are required to have their progress checked weekly by the Grade Level Team through a "Blue Card" that teachers update with their weekly progress. In addition, all students are encouraged to attend teacher sponsored tutorials.

All departments have developed standards for major courses and summative Common Course Assessment (CCA). This work is currently being continued as departments revise existing CCA and develop new CCA to be used as pre-assessments and as formative assessments. In addition, Common Course Assessment data is being analyzed with the goal of being able to identify and share good teaching practices across the faculty.

Annually, teachers submit course syllabi that outline course standards and how students will demonstrate mastery of those standards. These syllabi are a center-piece to a school-wide discussion around curricular consistency. Syllabi will also serve as a document for students and parents to monitor progress in a particular course and to have a clear understanding of teachers' high expectations.

To continue to better prepare for their futures, Mt. Carmel is redefining its career program. The different facets of the program will span all grade levels and will connect to college readiness. Using these web-based resources, students will investigate careers based on a personal interest survey or any other criteria that they choose. As a students move through high school, they will be guided in their use of web based resources to focus on particular careers and to investigate the preparation necessary for these careers.