Santa Susana High School
Chapter 1 – Student / Community Profile
"Going from Good to Great!"
The Santa Susana High School management team is composed of a principal, two assistant principals, and two counselors. There are four women and one man on the management team. There are fifty-two (52) teachers, including five special education teachers, and one certificated librarian. Twenty-eight of the fifty–two teachers are women (53%) and twenty-four are men (47%). Thirty-five percent (35%) of the faculty holds advanced degrees. Another forty-six percent (46%) of the faculty has earned over thirty (30) credits beyond the bachelor’s degree. One hundred percent (100%) of the teaching staff is assigned to classes in their major, minor, or developed areas of expertise. Twenty percent (20%) of the Santa Susana High School staff has been in education twenty-six years (26) or more. Of the fifty-two (52) teachers, thirteen (13) have taught fewer than five years and five (5) are in their first full year of teaching during 2005-2006. Through the use of SIP and grant funds providing on- and off-campus professional development opportunities, Santa Susana High School teachers continue to update their teaching skills and strategies and keep abreast of the latest educational research.
New teachers (and teachers new to Santa Susana) attend once-a-month meetings with the administration designed to improve their skills and to answer questions regarding the operation of the school. In addition, new teachers are required to attend BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support Assessment) meetings to help ensure their success. Department chairs observe and mentor new teachers regularly.
The certificated staff has been very stable at Santa Susana High School. There is a wide-range of experience among the certificated staff, with an average age that is slightly declining as new teachers are hired. This year ten (10) new teachers were hired - four (4) due to retirement and six (6) to growth. The average number of years of experience is sixteen (16) which indicates – overall - a seasoned staff. The staff is predominately white—with, slightly more females than males. One hundred percent of Santa Susana’s Teachers are highly qualified for the classes they teach (NCLB).
The school is proactive in providing quality academic and personal support to students, staff and parents. SSHS has two full-time counselors at a ratio of 644:1. Troubadour Advisory Program (TAP) classes serve to assist in the monitoring of students’ academic and personal progress by supplementing the guidance and advisement students receive from the counselors who have unusually large caseloads. The counselors monitor students to keep them on track for graduation, facilitate non-disciplinary conferences with parents, students and teachers. Counselors divide their caseload of students alphabetically. Most responsibilities are shared by both counselors, but each is chiefly responsible for specific special programs: one oversees master scheduling and GATE; and the other oversees Special Education, and ELL. Counselors schedule, coordinate, and lead conferences with parents, students, and teachers at the request of parents or staff. In addition, counselors are involved in School Study Team (SST) meetings, Individual Education Plans (IEPs), and “504” meetings in the course of a year. Counselors also conduct at least one formal meeting with each junior and senior student yearly to review progress toward graduation—but informal meetings are held far more frequently.
In addition to teachers, counselors, and administrators, specially trained part-time and full-time personnel are assigned to Santa Susana High School. Support personnel include a nurse (.4 FTE), a psychologist (.2 FTE), a speech therapist (.2 FTE), an ELL teacher (.2 FTE), a career guidance technician (1.0 FTE), seven clerical personnel (7.36 FTE), an ASB account clerk (1.0 FTE), twelve instructional aides (5.36 FTE), a plant manager (1.0 FTE), seven custodians and grounds (7.0 FTE), nine campus supervisors (5.0 FTE) , and six cafeteria personnel (4.0 FTE).
Support services are available to all students with special needs. These services are provided by the school nurse, speech and language specialists, the school psychologist, instructional aides, an adaptive physical education teacher and other auxiliary personnel as needed.
The faculty and the staff at Santa Susana High School are very involved in, not only students’ in-class academic learning, but in their co-curricular lives as well. “Co-curricular” activity is defined as any school-sponsored student activity outside the classroom. Since the inception of SSHS, faculty involvement (club sponsors) has always been in the sixty-five (65%) to seventy-five percent (75%) range. The involvement of SSHS advisors extends all the way in to the ranks of our classified personnel. Our current faculty involvement is at sixty-five percent (65%).
Classified Staff Profile, 1996 – 2006 (CBEDS)
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