I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.

• What we teach and how we teach
• PK-8th grade over a quarter million devoted to students
• Small class sizes, 2 teachers in a class of 20. Started at 85 students
• Incredible amount of individual support
• Transportation is 7% of the budget. 
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day
• Wraparound services
• On-site partnership with Dayton’s Children's Hospital - full-time mental health, doctor, and other services for kids.
• Startup year - be naive about what starting a school entails. 
• Temporary site - Fire marshall
• Working with a local Medicaid provider
• 30% higher in every category than every other child on Medicaid
• Looking at lots of data for whole-child outcomes
• 51% at grade level at the start, and 85% at grade level at the end of the year.
• Not all roses and sunshine
• Screenings for character, mental health, etc. 
• Age 27 goals. 
• How they teach - Tried finding instructional strategies that really moved the needle. 
• Influenced by Hattie’s work - prioritized by effect size.
• Teacher quality matters
• Benjamin Bloom’s Research - Acton Academy
• Using personalized tools in a smart way. 
• Zearn math program - typically used as supplemental
• Thrown the idea out the window
• Mixed-age classrooms. 
• Start teaching at the instructional level, not the age or grade level.
• Personality and character benefits
• Looking at Age 27, and how that reflects in 1 year. 
• Hire in the top 10% of teachers. 

About AJ Stich

Adam J. Stich (A.J.) is the founding principal of The Greater Dayton School.  Prior to starting in this role, he spent nearly seven years as a principal in Chicago Public Schools, where he drove strong outcomes for students and teachers.  You can hear his first interview on Transformative Principal at this link.

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.