Running Head: SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

Jessica Vasquez
School Assessment
PPE 310 Health Literacy for Schools
October 3, 2015

SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

After answering the questions assessing Mesa High School, it came to the conclusion that
the school fails for an Active and Healthy School Program. The four sections that it
included all received a percentage that was under a 70% (Active & Healthy School
Program, 2015).

The two strengths, even with a failing grade, came from the during school portion of the
questions and the curriculum portion. The section, during school, had the better
percentage out of the four with a 60% while the curriculum section had a 40%. The two
weaknesses of the school came from the last two sections, the recess/lunch portion and
the after school portion.

SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

Based off my own observation/experience, the two strengths that I notice at Mesa are the
sections of whats happening during school and the curriculum. During school, they do
show ways of being active and healthy. The school may not put up a lot of signs relating
to being active and healthy, but they have some that students can see. In the P.E. classes,
they do offer a curriculum that focuses on staying active by teaching the students ways of
being active outside of school. The curriculum does also provide a healthy side, but it
could use some improvement.

Based on my own observation/experience, the two weaknesses I notice at Mesa are the
sections regarding lunch and after school. The school doesnt really provide activity after
the students eat their lunch or have any kind of facility where students can be active
during lunch. The lunches that they provide do have a healthier side to it, however, they
do still offer other foods that would be considered unhealthy. Once the students get
released from school, they dont really provide any programs for the students to get
together to be active. If the students are not playing sports or involved in sports, they get
left out. The community also doesnt have a way of being informed on how to be active
because Mesa does not provide any kind of newsletter or programs meant for them.

I believe in order to improve the policies placed at Mesa, two things need to happen; the
school needs to be more involved and the school needs to provide something for the
students after school, aside from sports. Improving the involvement of the school can
help create a better result to becoming an active and healthy school. Creating an event
such as a wellness week can include the school and start a new habit for being healthy. A

SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

wellness week can involve the staff, students, and families in the community. They can
all be on the same page and help each other achieve goals they might come up with
during the week. If a wellness week were created, I would expect the entire school and
community to be involve and help Mesa be a more active and healthy school. Another
type of improvement that is needed is to create a program of some sort after school to
assist any student looking to create a healthier lifestyle. The program can give the
students information about how to be more active and provide classes and examples that
they can pass off to their families so they are involved as well. If a program were to be in
place after school, I would expect it to be successful and ran by someone who is
knowledgeable in that area such as a physical education teacher.
Seeing the results about Mesas assessment, showed that it was in need of some
improvement. Half of the sections were on the right track, however there are still areas
that need to be improved. This information is not something to be proud of and I would
use this type of information to push for the school to have wellness weeks throughout the
school year to improve these numbers. I would also use this information to have the
students come up with ways to change their school behaviors. For this to work I would
get the questions that were asked for this assessment and show the administrators what
was answered with nos and find solutions on how to change them to yes. Involving
them as well as the teachers can improve the behaviors of Mesa.

This type of information can be used to show why a program like a wellness week can be
beneficial to changing the environment at the school. This can also help assist the topic

SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

to describe to the reader that physical activity and a comprehensive school program can
help improve the overall performance of the students health and performance in school.

Mesa High School is a public school located in the Mesa Public School District. They
are a Tile 1 school and have 3,330 students enrolled (School Digger, n.d.). As of 2008,
the percentage that receives free/reduced lunch was at 52% for the district (Mesa Public
Schools). Mesa Highs percentage for free/reduced lunch was 62%, according to the
website Great Schools (n.d.). As mentioned before, there are 3,330 students enrolled at
Mesa High. The proportion of ELLs at Mesa High was unable to find, however back in
2008, there were 11,500 students who were considered English Language Learners (Mesa
Public Schools).

The average class size for Mesa High School was about 22 students and the average
grade level size was about 817 students according to the 2012-2013 school year (US
News, n.d.). Mesa High School has a suburban campus. The ethnic makeup of Mesa is
Hispanics, Whites, African Americans, Asian, and American Indian. Hispanics and
Whites are a big majority of the ethnicity with Hispanics being 58% of the population
and Whites being 33% of the population (School Digger, n.d.). Mesa Highs grade for
their school is listed as a B (AZ Report Cards, n.d.).

SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

6
References

Active & Healthy School Program. (2015). Assess Your School. Retrieved from
http://www.activeandhealthyschools.com/home/assess_survey.cfm
AZ Report Cards. (n.d.). Academic Indicators. Retrieved from
https://azreportcards.com/AcademicIndicators/Indicators
Great Schools. (n.d.). Mesa High School - Mesa, Arizona - AZ - School details.
Retrieved from http://www.greatschools.org/arizona/mesa/976-Mesa-HighSchool/details/
Mesa Public Schools. (2008, October). Fast Facts. Retrieved from
http://www.mpsaz.org/parents/files/ff_081028.pdf
School Digger. (n.d.). Mesa High School in Mesa AZ - SchoolDigger.com. Retrieved
from http://www.schooldigger.com/go/AZ/schools/0497000404/school.aspx
US News. (n.d.). Mesa High School in MESA, AZ | Student Body | US News. Retrieved
from http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/arizona/districts/mesaunified-district/mesa-high-school-1007/student-body

SCHOOL ASSESSMENT
Criteria

Exemplary: Points (5)

Assessment

SCORE:

School
Context
SCORE:

Proficient: Points (3)

A minimum of 2 strengths and 2

weaknesses were described
Assessment was completed online
and posted to your EPortfolio
Suggestions to improve school
policies were clearly stated
At least 2 suggestions to engage
stakeholders were provided

School context contained detailed

information on
grade levels
% free/reduced lunch
enrollment,
proportion ELLs
average class size
urban/rural/suburban,
ethnic makeup
state test scores
AYP status
All of the following are listed in the
file document name submitted
Lastname.firstname.assignment#.cou
rse#
This rubric was added to the last
page of the document submitted

A minimum of 1 strength and 1

weakness was described
Suggestions to improve school policies
were stated but lacked sufficient detail
At least 1 suggestion to engage
stakeholders was provided
Assessment was completed online and
not in your EPortfolio

School context contained some

detailed information on
grade levels
% free/reduced lunch
enrollment,
proportion ELLs
average class size
urban/rural/suburban,
ethnic makeup
state test scores
AYP status
Most of the following are listed in the
file document name submitted
Lastname.firstname.assignment#.cours
e#
This rubric was added but not at the
end of the document submitted

PPE 310 Healthy and Active Schools, Assessment and

School Context