Running Head: HIMS PROFILE 1

School and Community Profile:

Hamilton International Middle School
Virginia Philbrook
Seattle University


HIMS PROFILE 2
Table of Contents
Table 1. Total Student Enrollment Page 3
Table 2. Student Enrollment by Gender Page 3
Table 3. Student Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Page 3
Table 4. Other Student Demographic Information Page 3
Table 5. Student Enrollment by Academic Track. Page 4
Figure 1. Student Enrollment by Academic Track. Page 4
Figure 2. Student Enrollment in Academic Track by Race/Ethnicity. Page 4
Figure 3. Asian Identifying Students at HIMS by Academic Track. Page 5
Figure 4. Black Identifying Students at HIMS by Academic Track. Page 5
Figure 5. Caucasian Identifying Students at HIMS by Academic Track. Page 6
Figure 6. Hispanic Identifying Students by Academic Track. Page 6
Table 6. Absent Rate Page 6
Table 7. First Quarter D, E and NE Grades, by Race/Ethnicity. Page 7
Table 8. First Quarter D, E and NE Grades by Academic Track. Page 7
Figure 7. Student Enjoyment of School. Page 8
Figure 8. Student Reported Bullying Page 8








HIMS PROFILE 3

Demographic Information

Table 1. Total Student Enrollment
Total Enrollment (May 2013) 975 Students
Total Enrollment (November
2013)
1109 Students
Source: Washington State Report Card. (2013). Hamilton International Middle School.
Retrieved from: http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us.
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.

Table 2. Student Enrollment by Gender
Gender Number of Students Percentage
Male 574 51.7%
Female 535 48.3%
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.

Table 3. Student Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity Number of Students Percentage
Asian/Pacific Islander 124 11.2%
Black/African American 26 2.3%
Caucasian 793 71.5%
Multiracial 80 7.21%
Native American/Alaska
Native
4 0.3%
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.

Table 4. Other Student Demographic Information
Program Number of Students Percentage
Free or Reduced-Price Meals (May 2013) 130 13.3%
Special Education (May 2013) 85 8.7%
Transitional Bilingual (May 2013) 14 1.4%
Migrant (May 2013) 1 0.1%
Section 504 (May 2013) 35 3.6%
Foster Care (May 2013) 2 0.2%
Source: Washington State Report Card. (2013). Hamilton International Middle School.
Retrieved from: http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us.






HIMS PROFILE 4

Table 5. Student Enrollment by Academic Track.
Track Number of Students
Advanced Progress Program (APP)/
Academically Highly Gifted
542
Spectrum/ Academically Gifted 143
General Education 394
Special Education Services 28
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.

Figure 1. Student Enrollment by Academic Track.
.
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report

Figure 2. Student Enrollment in Academic Track by Race/Ethnicity.

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HIMS PROFILE 5
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.

Figure 3. Asian Identifying Students at HIMS by Academic Track.

Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.

Figure 4. Black Identifying Students at HIMS by Academic Track.

Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.











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HIMS PROFILE 6


Figure 5. Caucasian Identifying Students at HIMS by Academic Track.

Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.

Figure 6. Hispanic Identifying Students by Academic Track.

Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.

Table 6. Absent Rate
Unexcused Absence Rate (2012-13) 530 0.3%
Source: Washington State Report Card. (2013). Hamilton International Middle School.
Retrieved from: http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us.





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HIMS PROFILE 7

Table 7. First Quarter D, E and NE Grades, by Race/Ethnicity. 2013-2014 School Year.
D/E/NE Column indicates the total number of students who identify with a racial group who also
received one or more D, E or NE grades in First Quarter. The Percentage column notes the
portion of students in racial group who received one or more D, E or NE.
Race D/E/NE Percentage
Asian 9 7%
Black 9 35%
Caucasian 65 8%
Hispanic/Latino 23 28%
Multiracial 7 9%
Native American/Alaska Native 4 100%
Total 117 11%
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). First Quarter D, E and NE Grade
Report.

Table 8. First Quarter D, E and NE Grades by Academic Track. 2013-2014 School Year.
D/E/NE Column indicates the total number of students who are enrolled in that academic
program who also received one or more D, E or NE grades in First Quarter. The Percentage
column notes the portion of students in that academic program who received one or more D, E or
NE. Some data is represented twice, as students with an IEP or ELL services are also often
enrolled in General Education, Spectrum or APP classes.
Program D/E/NE Percentage
General Education 97 25%
Spectrum 6 4%
APP 14 3%
IEP 9 9%
Bilingual 23 96%
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.
Source: Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). First Quarter D, E and NE Grade
Report.














HIMS PROFILE 8
Figure 7. Student Enjoyment of School. This figure compares the percentage of 6
th
and 8
th
grade
students who reported often or almost always enjoying being at school on the annual
Healthy Youth Survey.



Source: Washington State Healthy Youth Survey. (2012). Highlights from the Healthy Youth
Survey: Hamilton International Middle School.

Figure 8. Student Reported Bullying. This figure indicates the percentage of students, by grade,
who reported being bullied at least one time in the previous month while at school. The figure
then compares that data with state-wide student numbers.



Source: Washington State Healthy Youth Survey. (2012). Highlights from the Healthy Youth
Survey: Hamilton International Middle School.
71%
59%
50%
49%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Grade 6 Grade 8
14%
30%
21%
31%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Grade 6 Grade 8
HIMS Students Washington State Students
HIMS Students Washington State Students
HIMS PROFILE 9

Data Interpretation
Data available on Hamilton International Middle School shows that the school is one that
serves predominantly white students of middle to upper middle socio-economic background.
The school has very small numbers of students who represent non-white racial or ethnic
identities, and very low percentages of low-income and/or homeless students. Absenteeism is
very low at Hamilton, which may be the result of a welcoming school climate. Student-reported
bullying was significantly below the Washington State average for both 6
th
and 8
th
grade
students, according to the Healthy Youth Survey. Students of both grades also reported feeling
safe at school higher rates than their counterparts across the state.
Hamilton International Middle School (HIMS) is one of two middle schools in the Seattle
Public School District that offers the Advance Progress Program (APP) for Academically Highly
Gifted students, as identified by the district (Seattle Public Schools, 2012). HIMS is unique in
that it also offers the Spectrum Program for Academically Gifted students. Both APP and
Spectrum classes are homogenous by ability, and are not open to students who have not taken the
required test. Data available about the racial make-up of the APP and Spectrum Programs
indicate that students are not proportionally enrolled in either program. As seen in Figures 2
through 6, Asian and Caucasian identified students are more likely to be in APP or Spectrum
classes than their Black or Hispanic counterparts, and less likely than those same students to be
in General Education or Special Education classes.
Data on students who received one or more D, E or NE grade
1
also demonstrates some
racial disparity. Students who identify as Black, Hispanic or Native American were much more

1
Seattle Public Schools uses the letter E to indicate a failing grade. NE grades are used when students are Not
Eligible for a grade, typically related to the number of school days a student was enrolled in the school for the
grading period.
HIMS PROFILE 10
likely to receive a D, E or NE than their Caucasian and Asian counterparts. Overall, 11% of all
HIMS students struggled in the first quarter of the 2013-14 school year. Those grades were not,
however, distributed proportionately. While only 7% of Asian students and 8% of Caucasian
students received one or more D, E or NE, 28% of their Hispanic peers and 35% of their Black
peers received similar grades. Because Black and Hispanic/Latino students are over-represented
in the General Education and Special Education programs at HIMS, the fact that students in the
programs are more likely to have failing grades than students in APP or Spectrum classes
demonstrates consistency. However, percentage of Bilingual students who struggled
academically in the first quarter of the school year (96%) is remarkably high, particularly given
that it is a fairly small student group.
HIMS, like all schools in the Seattle Public School district, transitioned to a new database
system for tracking student information in the fall of 2013. With that change came the loss of
some information, including detailed data on Absenteeism from the 2012-2013 school year. The
district also set strict standards about the release of confidential information, such as discipline
data.
Based on the data available, interventions to encourage parents of students of color to
sign their children up for entrance testing into the APP and Spectrum programs are needed.
HIMS staff, perhaps within the Counseling Department, should also explore the degree to which
students of color feel academically engaged and supported at school. Black, Hispanic and Native
American students do make up a fairly small percentage of the student body, and may be feeling
overlooked or disengaged from the school.
After reviewing the data with my site supervisor, we agreed to share it with the entire
Counseling Department and to use that conversation to explore how to best support struggling
HIMS PROFILE 11
students. HIMS has undergone a significant transition in the past decade. In the 2002-03 school
year, students of color made up approximately two-thirds of the student body. This year, less
than one-third of the student body is made up of students of color. Similarly, in 2002-03, 55% of
the students qualified for Free or Reduced Lunch. In the 2012-13 school year, only 13% of the
student body qualified for Free or Reduced Lunch (Washington State Report Card). Those
significant changes happened in a short period of time, and, while the student body has changed
dramatically, the staff has not (N. Yeda, personal interview, November 7, 2013). As such, my
supervisor was surprised and disappointed that the school is failing to adequately serve students
of color and low-income students equitably.
School Counseling Program
Based on my own observations and the School Counselor Program Implementation
Survey (SCPIS), the Counseling Department at Hamilton International Middle School has some
clear strengths. The department has implemented a research based school-wide curriculum on
empathy, delivered by Homeroom teachers. The department conducts a Needs Assessment
annually to guide their interventions, mostly in the form of therapeutic groups. Two of the
counselors also head up student groups for diverse populations, La Chispa for Hispanic/Latino
students and a Gay-Straight Alliance. There are great resources for counselors to attend
professional development, the staff has a budget to support activities and there are strong school
resources to allow counselors to spend their time efficiently and effectively.
The counseling program does have some room for growth, particularly in data analysis.
The annual Needs Assessment could be delivered more efficiently to students, perhaps
electronically, and could be structured to offer disaggregatable data. Similarly, the empathy
HIMS PROFILE 12
curriculum should also use data to demonstrate that it is effective at HIMS. Most importantly,
though, the program lacks a clear mission statement to guide their practice.
The school counselors at HIMS are open and excited to improve their program. The
areas of growth I noted were consistent with requests from the building principal and would give
the department more effective tools to advocate for time in classrooms, at assemblies and staff
meetings. The counselors recognized that, as individuals, they could enhance their computer
skills to make data analysis accessible.
Strategic Elements
Hamilton International Middle School states its mission as such: We are a rigorous
academic and collaborative learning community that educates students to succeed and contribute
in a diverse world. We work hard to ensure a nurturing and stimulating environment for our
students as we prepare them to be both academically and socially successful (Seattle Public
Schools, 2012). The school has clearly set goals around math, reading and writing skills and
makes them public to parents and families. These goals are very measurable, setting percentages
of students who will be scored as proficient on state standardized tests. To achieve these
goals, the school has made many math and language arts classrooms co-teacher rooms, offering
students more teacher attention (Seattle Public Schools, 2012). Math classes also have begun
using standards based grading which administration believes will improve progress for
struggling students. Based on classroom observations, this system of grading is poorly utilized
in too few spaces to create systemic change for students.
The final plan for school improvement currently in progress is a move to implement a
Positive Behavior Intervention (PBIS) model of discipline. In the 2012-13 school year, a task
force of teachers, counselors and administrators made a plan to integrate PBIS into the HIMS
HIMS PROFILE 13
community this year. However, two thirds of the school principals left the building and new
administration was not prepared to take over the new program (N. Yeda, personal interview,
November 21, 2013). The task force has been reinstated, but it seems unlikely that PBIS will be
implemented with enough teacher and administrator buy-in to be as effective as it can be.
Key Relationships
Parents of HIMS students have frequent and thorough communication with teachers,
counselors and administrators at HIMS. Communication seems, anecdotally, to most often take
the form of e-mail. Parent meetings are also quite common and teachers make efforts to
accommodate parent schedules.
Intra-staff communication at HIMS appears to be more strained. Staff and administration
in particular struggle to communicate in a way which all parties find positive and effective. This
is, in part, due to the dichotomy of tenure at the school. Many of the teachers have been
employed at HIMS for five or more years, yet the administrators are either new or have been at
the school for one year (N. Yeda, personal interview, November 21, 2013). Moreover, there is a
new method of staff evaluation being utilized this year. Teachers and counselors have expressed
concern over the new system of evaluation and confusion as to the best route to success with this
model.
Being Visible
As the Counselor Intern at HIMS, I have attending the following meetings as a consistent,
active contributor:
Counselor Team Meeting
6
th
Grade Student of Concern
Students of Concern (whole school).
HIMS PROFILE 14
I have also been present for, or led, parent conferences and meetings to finalize 504s. Finally, I
am a part of a new taskforce at school to create practical plans to implement a Positive Behavior
Intervention System (PBIS) for the whole school.
Community Mapping
Hamilton International Middle School has two primary community partners: the YMCA
and Neighbor Care. HIMS hosts one mental health counselor employed by Neighbor Care. The
Neighbor Care counselor has space in the Counseling Department and provides small group and
one-on-one mental health counseling for students. This partnership allows more students access
to free mental health support, reducing the extent to which social and emotional needs impact
academic success (L. Sworts, personal interview, November 12, 2013).
The YMCA has a much more visual presence at HIMS, running the after school program
Hamilton Out of School Time (HOST). HOST is a program that provides snacks, transportation
home and a variety of academic and extracurricular classes for students. Academic classes,
such as Homework Club, are free to all students, while extracurricular classes have a cost
associated with them. Students who are eligible for free or reduced lunch can receive
scholarships to cover the cost of classes. HOST programming helps students feel more engaged
and involved in the HIMS community (N. Yeda, personal interview). Data about the
demographic breakdown of HOST participants was not available to the School Counseling
Department.
Conclusion
Based on the reported data, Hamilton International Middle School is a highly functioning
school that provides a quality education. The school does an excellent job creating a safe,
challenging environment for academically gifted students. Parents and families can access
HIMS PROFILE 15
information and support to ensure that their child receives the tools necessary for academic
success. HIMS does struggle to provide an equitable education for students who identify with
non-dominant groups. This may be the result of inequitable district-wide policies, which would
require meso-level advocacy. Regardless, the Counseling Department at HIMS should more
deliberately explore the policies and practices around assigning students to academic tracks as
well as the social-emotional experiences of students who identify as Black, Hispanic, Native
American and/or low-income.



HIMS PROFILE 16
References

Hamilton International Middle School. (2012). School Report for the 2012-2013 School Year.
Retrieved from http://hamiltonms.seattleschools.org/.
Seattle Public Schools. (2012). Advanced Learning Program. Retrieved from
http://www.seattleschools.org/.
Seattle Public Schools. (2012). Hamilton International Middle School. Retrieved from
http://hamiltonms.seattleschools.org/.
Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). Enrollment Report.
Seattle Public Schools Power Schools. (2013). First Quarter D, E and NE Grade Report.
Washington State Healthy Youth Survey. (2012). Highlights from the Healthy Youth Survey:
Hamilton International Middle School.
Washington State Report Card. (2013). Hamilton International Middle School. Retrieved from:
http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us.

HIMS PROFILE 17
Appendix 1.
School Counseling Program Implementation Survey
Circle your response using the following Rating Scale:

1 = Not Present; 2 = Development in Progress; 3 = Partly Implemented; 4= Fully Implemented

1. A written mission statement exists and is used as a foundation by all counselors. 1 2 3 4

2. Services are organized so that all students are well served and have access to them. 1 2 3 4

3. The program operates from a plan for closing the achievement gap for minority 1 2 3 4
and lower income students.

4. The program has a set of clear measurable student learning objectives and 1 2 3 4
goals are established for academics, social/personal skills, and career development.

5. Needs Assessments are completed regularly and guide program planning. 1 2 3 4

6. All students receive classroom guidance lessons designed to promote academic, 1 2 3 4
social/personal, and career development.

7. The program ensures that all students have academic plans that include testing, 1 2 3 4
individual advisement, long-term planning, and placement.

8. The program has an effective referral and follow-up system for handling student crises. 1 2 3 4

9. School counselors use student performance data to decide how to meet student needs. 1 2 3 4

10. School counselors analyze student data by ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic level to 1 2 3 4
identify interventions to close achievement gaps.

11. School counselor job descriptions match actual duties. 1 2 3 4

12. School counselors spend at least 80% of their time in activities that directly benefit 1 2 3 4
students.

13. The school counseling program includes interventions designed to improve the schools 1 2 3 4
ability to educate all students to high standards.

14. An annual review is conducted to get information for improving next years programs. 1 2 3 4
School counselors use computer software to:
access student data 1 2 3 4

analyze student data 1 2 3 4

use data for school improvement 1 2 3 4

16. The school counseling program has the resources to allow counselors to complete 1 2 3 4
appropriate professional development activities.

17. School counseling priorities are represented on curriculum and education committees. 1 2 3 4

18. School counselors communicate with parents to coordinate student achievement and 1 2 3 4
gain feedback for program improvement.