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Snapshot of Success, April 2015: Point Quest Education

Posted by 
Mitch Weathers
 on 
April 28, 2015

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SCHOOL PROFILE

School: Point Quest Education (PQE) | Sacramento | California

School Information: PQE is a nonpublic school that serves students with emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges; arguably the highest need students in their region. Students who can no longer be served by public institutions transfer to PQE where they can learn the tools and strategies needed to return to a less restrictive environment. PQE adopted Organized Binder four years ago. At that time the school was struggling to develop both a safe and effective learning community. Since then the school has transformed into a thriving academic community culminating in the highest WASC Accreditation in the Spring of 2014.

BACKGROUND

When asked about the impact Organized Binder has had at PQE the Director and CEO, Ronda Jaggers, had this to say,

"The main change I have seen on campus is the pride of the students.  They are very proud of their binders and their work.  When the CA Department of Education (CDE) came for a visit students hand delivered their binders to show their work and what they had learned.  Students were very reluctant to leave their binders with our CDE representative and came back before they left for the day to re-collect them. Any time you walk in a room, you can ask to see a binder and the students are able to walk through what they have done with fantastic verbal explanations.

As far as the teacher perspective – Organized Binder has brought a unity to our campus.  It doesn't matter what a particular teacher is teaching or the level of their students, they are able to collaborate with other teachers on Organized Binder strategies and share what is working and what isn’t.  It has been fantastic.

During our WASC visit, one of they key components is looking at how students are learning.  We were able to present the Learning Logs as evidence of student involvement in the learning process – this element was vital!  Their binder checks as well as having a master binder for reference were much appreciated by our visiting committee."

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FEEDBACK

Navin Sharma, 12th Grade

I have been using Organized Binder for three years now. Three years ago, I didn’t even want to come to school. My grades were bad. I had a hard time with classes. My teacher started me with the Organized Binder, and I started to learn how to organize my work. Now, I can find whatever I need quickly and I answer questions the teacher asks the class all the time. The Lifeline Page helps me remember what I learned. The Table of Contents keeps me organized. The Agenda Page helps me to make a schedule and keep a calendar. The Academic Toolkit Page helps me find and learn important things I will need further in life. Organized Binder has helped me earn straight A’s on my last three report cards.

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Denzel Smith, 12th Grade

I love the Organized Binder. It is a great system. It helps me be organized and know exactly what I have to do each day. We just had a big test on the United States Constitution. I was able to study and find all my notes easily for this unit because of my Organized Binder. We have competitions and games in class, and I win a lot because I am organized and can find answers quickly. Organized Binder is helping me stay on track to complete my senior project. It helps me learn in all my classes. Probably the biggest thing about Organized Binder is it helps me be very responsible with my work. My teacher and parents are very proud of me.


Jaceri Moody, 12th Grade

I never used to do work in any of my classes. You can’t do that with the Organized Binder. It forces me to stay on track and be organized. I am surprised that it is actually really fun to do too! I like doing the Kick-Off question at the beginning of class. We discuss it, act it out, research stuff on the smart board, and draw stuff. We talk about what we learned with the whole class after we do the Learning Log. We talk about how it will help us for college and career. My teacher teaches us about Common Core standards. Organized Binder helps me learn them because we write them on our Table of Contents and Agendas and we talk about them. I feel like I’m being responsible because of Organized Binder, and that will help me in college.

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Junior Lopa, 11th Grade

Organized Binder, that’s my “boy!” The other day in my IEP, I told everybody about how I use my Organized Binder. First, we come in and do the Lifeline. “Understand me?” Then we check our Agenda for our assignments. We don’t have to ask the teacher what we’re doing or what page we’re on because it’s all there. Then, we do our lesson, and we make sure we write the assignment number on it so we can write it on the Table of Contents. We keep our assignments in order behind the table of contents so we can find them fast. “Understand me?” Then, we take big unit tests, and we have all our papers to study all stapled together with numbers on them to help us study. Then, I get a big, fat “A” (or a “B”). “Ha ha ha!” They told me in my IEP meeting that I am doing a “fantastic” job in my class.

 

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