Potomac High School Performance Plan

In alignment with the goals and priorities of Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS), the School Performance Plan (SPP) allows for a transparent and collaborative school improvement process with a focus on student achievement.

The School Performance Plan was developed this school year as the continuation of the detailed work and planning completed in the previous school year. The SPP focuses schools on engaging in disciplined inquiry cycles through the use of Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA). Through the successful utilization of PDSA, schools are able to impact student achievement and teacher practice by taking a scientific approach to school improvement.

SCHOOL PROFILE
School Name:	POTOMAC HIGH
School Year:	2026	Area:	Innovation Zone
Local Education Agency:	Prince Georges County Public Schools	Supervisor Name:	Minus, Eric L.
State School No.:	1220	Supervisor Email:	Eric.Minus@pgcps.org
School Type:	01. High School	Title I:	Yes
Grades Served:	09, 12	Community School:	Yes
Principal Name:	DeMarco Clark	State Identification:	CSI:No, TSI/ATSI:Yes
Principal Email:	DeMarco.Clark@pgcps.org
School Address:	5211 BOYDELL Ave, OXON HILL,MD - , OXON HILL MD 20745
School Vision:	The vision of Potomac High School for the 21st century is to provide the opportunity for scholars, faculty, staff, parents, and community to develop; through communication and interaction, a sense of ownership, spirit, and pride in the school. A culture and climate of which, will be built on the foundation of mutual respect and academic achievement."
School Mission:	The mission of Potomac High School is to enable scholars to achieve academic, social, and career success by providing a supportive learning community that identifies, encourages, and develops each scholar's interests and abilities."

SMART Goals A targeted aspiration that serves as the focal point for collective improvement efforts Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic; Timebound
Math- By the end of SY 2025-2026, the percentage of Algebra 1 students who meet or exceed proficiency on the MCAP Algebra 1 assessment will increase from the SY24 level of 5% to 7% as measured by the SY26 MCAP results.	RELA/ELA-By the end of SY26, the percentage of English 10 students who meet or exceed proficiency on the Written Conventions category of the MCAP Assessment will increase from 42% in SY25 to 45% in SY26 as measured by the Spring MCAP results.	Graduation Rate-By the end of SY26, the graduation rate will increase by 6 percentage points from the 59.6% in SY25 to 65.9% in SY26 based on the Maryland Graduation rate. By the end of SY26 240 students will graduate from Potomac High School.
Problem of Practice One problem the school has chosen to address that will assist them in moving toward the overarching Smart Goal
Teachers do not effectively use Gradual Release as the "We Do" focuses on procedural knowledge.	RELA teachers are inconsistently following the curriculum, resulting in missed opportunities to engage students in diverse writing types that naturally build grammar and conventions through authentic writing experiences.	PHS is not graduating more than two-thirds of the students.
Change Idea A specific, actionable idea or technique that school teams will use to address the SMART* Goal*
Teachers will intentionally plan and implement the "We Do" phase of lessons by engaging students in guided practice where they analyze sample problems collaboratively, explain their reasoning aloud, and justify solution steps using academic language. Response: 11/12/25	When assessing curriculum writing tasks, teachers will use the Written Conventions category of the MCAP Rubric to provide students with scores and descriptive feedback across the writing process. Teachers will document into a tool to monitor student progress.	There will be a graduation team that will monitor the 4th and 5th year graduates biweekly.

The likely root cause for teachers not consistently using the "We Do" phase (Guided Practice/Collaborative Learning) of the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) model often relates to Instructional Habits, Perceived Time Constraints, or Lack of Specific Training on the "We Do" Phase.

This inconsistency suggests the adult practice gap is a deficit in skill or commitment regarding shared responsibility and active monitoring during instruction.

Target

The AIM set to determine if the implementation of the change idea was successful

**Seven of the ten** look fors will be evident in all Algebra classrooms by March 2026.

Response: 11/13/25

\***API Targets**

The targets for this change idea is incremental, focusing on the percentage of observed lessons that meet the criteria.

<table><tbody><tr><td style="padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Measureme nt Period</td><td style="padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Target Percentage of Lessons Meeting API Criteria</td></tr><tr><td style="padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Initi al Baseline</td><td

On at least three occasions before March 2026, English teachers will complete a full data protocol with grade level teams to reflect on Written Conventions data and revise their practices as needed.

Team will review 100% of students that are in red/yellow and ensuring that a plan is in place for graduation.

100% of students will be monitored.

Team will complete 100% of the monthly tasks.

style="padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">0% of observed lessons demonstrated at least five look fors</td></tr><tr><td style="padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Mid

-Point (e.g., 6 weeks)</td><td style="padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">50

% of observed lessons will demonstrate at least five of the seven Look-Fors.</td></tr><tr><td style="padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">En d-Point (e.g., 12 weeks)</td><td style="padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">80

% of observed lessons will demonstrate at least six of the seven Look-Fors, with Look-For #5 (Real-Time Feedback) being non-negotiable.</td></tr></tbody></table>

* Growth in skill scores from the Speak Agent Pre-Test to the Post-Test

* Growth in constructed response scores on common assessments and between Benchmark 1 and Benchmark 2.

* Growth in skill scores from the Quill Intermediate Pre-Test to the Post-Test

* Growth in Written Conventions scores between Benchmark 1 and Benchmark 2.

By the end of semester one (January 2026), 20% of the students who are categorized as yellow will increase to a green category. The green category students will increase from 86 students to 100 students.

240 students will graduate.

Based on the 68 Red students, 25 students will increase to the yellow or green category.

Current data

		Green: 86 students Yellow: 108 students Red: 78 students (10 CRI students)
Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) / Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) This section is for state-identified schools only.
Identified Group(s)	Evidence-Based Strategy (EBS)	EBS Target
Multilingual Learners	Effective Instruction and Assessment Achieve3000 * All students in the sheltered ELD Classes in English 9 and English 10 will be given a baseline assessment. * Each student should complete a minimum of two complete 5-step lessons per week * Each student should aim for a score of 75% or higher on the multiple-choice activity (first try). * Teachers will monitor the usage of Achieve3000 weekly to monitor the completion of assignments. They will also monitor monthly to measure student progress. High Impact Tutoring - ELO * The ELO will consist of 18 instructional days consisting of two hours of instruction. * Target groups for the ELO classes - All ELD Students (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Mainstream) * Conduct a student orientation session with the outliers (those who scored 4.0 to 4.4) to explain the goals for the ELO program * ELO classes will consist of Reading, Writing, and Math (each session will be 40	Achieve3000 Tracker * The goal is to have students gain a minimum of 5-7 Lexile points per month. ATSI ELO Profile (insert link); ATSI Pre/Post Test Data (Insert Link) * By the end of the ELO Program (Date), 70% of students will show a 3% increase in focus standards measured by the pre and post assessments in literacy (reading, writing and math). Key ELD Strategies (insert PD Calendar) ; Learning Walk Tool (Insert Link) * All teachers will use the ELD Strategies

minutes)

**Professional Development** - Providing MLL students with instruction using the Key ELD Strategies outside of the sheltered ELD Language classes.

* **Key ELD Strategies**

* The Professional Development (PD) will happen quarterly and facilitated by an ELD instructor or County ELD Team. Strategies will be grouped so that teachers can put into practice what they learned from the workshop. The cycle 1 PDs will focus on making content visual, building vocabulary and developing/activating background knowledge.

* The monitoring tool will be Learning walks and informal observations. These monitoring tools will help the team determine the effectiveness of the PD and where further coaching or refinement is needed.

* Supplemental resources will be provided for staff such as visual learning guides and graphic organizers.