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WCA is a democratically structured environment that fosters
students' natural curiosity, creativity, and self-awareness. Students learn
to take initiative and assume responsibility for their own learning, which
supports constructive interaction with the local, regional, and global
community. |
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Recognizing that educational success will be realized only
when the essential underlying triad of student – teacher – parent/guardian is
in harmony, the mission of the Wisconsin Career Academy is to create a partnership
among this triad that will provide our youth with the support necessary to
reach their highest potential, intellectually, socially, emotionally and
physically. |
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The educational vision and innovation, which
are crucial to accomplishing this mission, are organized under two main
headings: specific elements and whole-school design. The specific
design elements fall into five categories: |
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Whole-school design involves the comprehensive and continuing
effort to realize these five essential elements in an integrated manner. |
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It is our belief that each child has an inherent curiosity and
love of learning; and that each child has a unique intelligence, level of
capability, and learning style. With this in mind, we motivate our
students and expect them to strive toward their highest levels of capability
while addressing their individual learning styles, this fostering within them
a life-long love of learning. |
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It is the educator’s responsibility to construct a program,
which engages and motivates students to invest their talents, energy, and
enthusiasm in completing their schoolwork in an exemplary manner.
Individual attention in the form of one-on-one tutoring, intensive counseling
and individualized goals is the key to motivating our students. Cooperation
with area universities is an effective means toward enhancing the
effectiveness of our tutoring system. |
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Since adolescents thrive in an environment
of diversity, we strive to create a diverse learning environment. Diversity
is not only a motivating factor, but is an essential element in a
well-rounded education. It also serves as a key to success in our
diverse American society, our institutions of higher learning, and our
inter-connected global economy. Multi-cultural aspects are integrated
into our curricula not only through geography and foreign language but also
within each of our subject areas. Our students are encouraged to make
additional contact with other cultures by participating in our student
exchange programs and academic olympiads. |
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The development of healthy attitudes and
values are integral parts to a student’s success in the classroom and in the
community. These attitudes are instilled most effectively through adult
role models. Besides being crucial to implementation of the mission of
WCA, staff provides the most immediate role models for our students. Staff
are thus meticulously selected and trained, then held to the highest
standards of conduct. |
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It is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees,
in alliance with the community, to guide the school - holding it true to its
mission. To this end the Board of Trustees will provide the school with
support, which will ensure optimal conditions for the achievement and
continuing growth and development of each student. |
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Continuous improvement, persistent
innovation, positive response to change, and a commitment to continuous
growth will be expected of all the people and programs at WCA. The
public’s resources and those of the Board of Trustees must be effectively
committed to ensure that these expectations will be met. Then, and only
then, will our tested educational vision, infused with the energy of local
innovation, harmonize the triad of student-teacher-parent/guardian support to
accomplish our mission, that of providing each student with the motivation
and resources to reach his or her highest potential and realize his or her
greatest aspirations. |
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WCA’s vision is to bridge
the gap between the school and community with 6-12 educational program where
children and adults, school and community work together to understand and
interpret our relationship with the world around us. We educate the whole
child, recognizing or exceeding state and national standards: prepared for
adult life, including the possibility of post secondary education; possessing
effective leadership and communication skills; possessing critical thinking
skills; and with a desire to be a lifelong learners. |
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In support of these concepts, we have created a school that |
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§ Self Esteem |
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§ Commitment |
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§ Respect |
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§ Responsibility |
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§ Citizenship |
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WCA is a non-instrumentality Milwaukee Public Schools charter school.
Wisconsin Career Academy is a small, structured school, with 280 students
attending at almost full enrollment in grades 6-12 in 2005-2006 school year. The school aims to reach 350 students for 2007-2008
school year. The school started in another MPS high
school facility with 120 students in grades 6- 9 in 2000-2001 school year. |
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The majority of the students are in the high school section
and school intends to grow with the same cohort of students towards high
school. Currently, there are three 9th grades, three 10th grade
groups, two eleventh grade groups, and one big group of 12th
graders in the high school section. |
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Remodeling of the building was one of the major challenges in
the second year. Only one-third of the planned remodeling was completed in
the second year and it continued throughout the school year. Elevator was
completed at the end of the school year and the building complies with the IDEA
and State laws for accessibility to the second floor. There were no
physically handicapped students in 2001-2002 school year,
however we gained one handicapped student in the 2004-05 school year. |
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In 2006-07 WCA was chosen as one of the 18 best schools under
the MPS diversified community schools. Additionally, WCA ranked in
the top three among MPS non-instrumentality charter high schools according to
the 2005-2006 WKCE and Terra Nova scores. |
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The immediate goal of Wisconsin Career Academy
is to prepare students for academic success in their further education. One
of WCA’s targets is that at least 90 % of its
graduated students are accepted to a post secondary education program. WCA
exists to enable students to keep open a broad spectrum of options for their
future endeavors and provide them communication and leadership skills to
participate and work productively in a multicultural, globally oriented
environment as responsible and productive citizens. |
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As a college preparatory charter school, the
educational program of WCA focuses on four core areas: math, science,
reading/language arts, and technology. The accountability that choice program
encourages will also help maintain strong public support for public education
as a whole. Wisconsin Career Academy aims at achieving the academic goals
stated under State Statue Section 118.01. Wisconsin Career Academy is
required to administer and score standardized tests at each grade level at
the beginning and at the end of the school year. In subsequent years,
WCA is required to administer and score standardized tests at each grade
level. |
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The curriculum at Wisconsin Career Academy meets the MPS and
state requirements for high school graduation with courses offered in a wide
variety of disciplines, including math, social studies, English, computer,
science and arts. However, we emphasize on math, science and computer and
encourage our students with strong academic skills in order to complete three
years of science, three years of math and two years of a foreign
language. |
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Today, the No Child Left Behind initiative
assures that students will be tested each year to see how they are performing.
WCA knows that testing is difficult for many individuals. We therefore,
conduct our own testing to prepare students for testing, making the process
so much a part of student’s academic life, that he or she is not worried or
anxious when tested. |
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As for 2006-2007 WCA’s
test results, WCA showed a need for improvement in our middle school scores,
but continued our consistency in the high school subject areas. Our high
school scores (grades 9-12) were all above MPS requirements. WCA is acting on
this and increasing the number of language arts hours per week to 7 hours for
middle school. We hope this will create substantial impact on the success of
our language arts program and comprehension level of language arts in middle
school grades. |
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For
Parents |
For
Students |
For
Teachers |
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College preparation emphasis |
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Science fairs, academic Olympiads |
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Effective and clear communication between staff and administration |
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High scores in standardized tests (WKCE, Terra Nova) |
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High graduation and college acceptance rate |
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Effective discipline to support education |
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Clear and effective communication |
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Small class sizes and individual attention |
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Self assessment and professional development |
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Dedicated and qualified state certified teachers |
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Electives and advanced classes |
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Standardization of best practices in |
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Fair discipline and safe environment |
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Fair and effective discipline education |
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Increased collaboration and support by administration |
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Tuition free college prep school |
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One on one tutoring |
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Sharing of knowledge, skills and |
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Low dropout rate |
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Science projects (MRSEF), Olympiads, contests |
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Small class size |
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High graduation and college acceptance rate |
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Extra Curricular activities and sports experiences including the MRAF (Art
Fair) |
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Collaborative atmosphere; shared decision making; team atmosphere |
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Safe and inspiring educational setting |
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Safe and inspiring educational setting |
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Safe and secure working environment |
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Small teacher to student ratio |
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Free ACT/SAT prep classes |
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Flexible and independent lesson plan development |
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What’s available at Wisconsin Career Academy for 2008-2009 school years? |
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AP Classes: In 2008-09, WCA will offer AP classes possibly in the following subject areas: English, Social Studies and Science. |
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Books from all subjects to each individual student: WCA has made a huge investment on student and teachers resources. The school is now providing each WCA student a book for every class and ample amount of supportive materials for teachers. |
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Milwaukee Regional Science and Engineering Fair (MRSEF) 2009 and Science Saturdays: In the preparation process for MRSEF; WCA will continue to offer Saturday science days for other schools staff and students in Milwaukee County. This year, WCA will organize ten science Saturdays and most of them will be scheduled to be at different universities and companies. WCA, organizer of MRSEF, will be hosting students from all Milwaukee area schools and suburban schools. The competition will take place in March 2009 and 200 projects are expected to be displayed during the Fair. A potential local science fair for only WCA students is be considered by the WCA staff. The best projects from WCA would represent WCA at MRSEF. |
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Milwaukee Regional Art Fair (MRAF): Last year, WCA sponsored the first annual regional art fair with preliminaries held at our school and the final display at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Five high schools participated in the collaborative program with UWM. The goal for this year is to have at least 10 schools involved and additional sponsorship. |
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Breakfast and hot lunch program: WCA will continue to offer hot lunch and breakfast for its students through MPS program. This opportunity has added a positive atmosphere to our school environment. |
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More sports activities: WCA encourages boys and girls to represent WCA through basketball, volleyball, and soccer activities. Our teams are competing in the Milwaukee Independent School League and this year our basketball and volleyball teams will be a part of WIAA. Last year our girl’s volleyball team finished 3rd in our division and our boy’s basketball team won their first WIAA regional tournament in school history. Under the auspices of our athletic coordinator, a number of colleges have shown an interest in several of our athletes. |
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The philosophy of the Special Education department at WCA is to provide students with the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to meet the academic, emotional and behavioral needs of their Individual Education Program (IEP). To achieve this, we offer a full continuum of service delivery options that run from full inclusion in regular education settings to services delivered within a special education setting. |
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During the 2006-07 school year, our Special Education program worked on the CIFM items requiring intervention and received a 100% compliance score from the Milwaukee Public Schools Special Education Department. On all other items not requiring intervention we met a 95% or higher compliance. We also added an additional state certified special education teacher to compliment our existing staff. We also designated a Special Services Administrator (SSA) to oversee the program including reviewing all special education activities to make sure they maintain compliance with state and federal regulations. |
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WCA currently serves 30 special education students with 14 identified as Specific Learning Disability, 12 identified as Other Health Impaired; one student identified as Cognitively Disabled and one student with a duel identification of Other Health Impaired and Specific Learning Disability. Our small school size (250-300 students) allows all staff to work cooperatively to meet IEP guidelines. |
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WCA employs two full time state certified Special Education Teachers with one acting as Department Head, and one full time state certified School Social Worker. The primary responsibilities of the Special Education Department Head is to write IEPs, transition plans and a Summary of Performance (SoP) for graduating Seniors annually and insure Special Education programming is carried out in accordance with state and federal guidelines. The Department Head provides one to one and small group instruction and assistance to students daily in the Resource Room, meets with regular education instructors and communicates with parents and administrators. The individual in the role of special education instructor is responsible for collaborating with regular education instructors to generate and support curriculum accommodations and modification, communicate with regular education teachers, parents and administrators daily and provide one to one and small group instruction and assistance in the special education Resource Room. The role of the School Social worker is to meet with students individually and provide strategies to deal with emotional and behavioral issues, monitor attendance and truancy and conduct home visits. |
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Within the continuum of services that WCA offers, for the students who are fully included, special education students participate in regular education classroom and curriculum full time with monitoring by special education instructor. Special education instructors work collaboratively with regular education instructors to support IEP progress with inclusion practices and accommodations and modifications to general education curriculum as set forth in IEP goals. The special education department works closely with faculty to insure curriculum is aligned with state standards and reflects IEP content and outcomes. Student goals are aligns with best practices for special education delivery and reflects the school’s overall philosophy of meeting the needs of individual students and providing services that lead to successful behavioral and academic outcomes for all students. |
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For those students who require more intensive support the Resource Room provides students with access to the regular education curriculum, Fundamental and Life Skills classes and Independent Study. The small group environment of the special education resource room allows students unable to experience success in a large classroom setting access to the regular education curriculum. The special education instructor and regular education instructor teach the class cooperatively to the student. The regular education teacher grades students daily work and provides semester and quarter grades. The special education teacher instructs student in the resource room setting. The student is able to attend class for pertinent lectures, speakers or movies. Next, WCA offers fundamental English and Math classes. These classes provide special education students with curriculum taught at a slower pace with text and materials individualized to meet the student’s academic needs. Our life skills program will concentrate on life skills, post adult and vocational needs to meet the needs of students identified as CD. Finally, Students are provided with additional support including one to one assistance, organizational assistance, quiz and test preparation, and assistance with class work during school and in our after school tutoring program to build skills necessary to be successful in the regular education classroom. We have 31 high school IEP students and we do not have any middle school IEP student . |
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The Special Education Department works is part of WCA’s Collaborative Support Team (CST) that provides proactive interventions to any student experiencing difficulties at school by providing faculty support, guidance and interventions that are designed to meet the unique needs of the student. |
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Wisconsin Career Academy has a mission of graduating students who will go on to institutions of higher learning in the areas of science, math, technology, and engineering, and land jobs in these high paying fields in Milwaukee. One of our key programs is the Milwaukee Regional Science and Engineering Fair (MRSEF). |
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WCA organized the MRSEF several years ago to help close the achievement gap and provide a new vehicle that would give students throughout our region ‘hands on’ experience in science and engineering. Many leaders in our community believe that the MRSEF serves as a bridge for students to make contacts during competitions with professors at Milwaukee area institutions of higher learning that could lead to scholarships in science and engineering. |
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In the past, MRSEF has received a dissemination grant of up to $150,000 from the Department of Public Instruction. It allowed WCA to be able to expand development of young scientists and engineers by providing schools in Milwaukee free booklets, DVD’s, and science modules to help students prepare projects for science fairs, and help schools put on science fairs. In 2005, one of our ninth grade WCA students took the top award at MRSEF and went on to place second in the International Environmental Project Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey. This is an example of how MRSEF encourages students to do their best in science and math. |
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Originally called the Wisconsin Career Academy Art Fair,
it was recently changed to MRAF to open its doors to every student in
Milwaukee County. Started in 2004, WCA invited hundreds of schools in the
Greater Milwaukee Area to participate or view the displays. MRAF promotes art
in the Greater Milwaukee Area. |
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The Milwaukee Regional Art Fair (MRAF) is founded on the belief that students deserve the opportunity to create and communicate their ideas through art. Part of the artistic process is public display of one’s work, and MRAF provides that opportunity. Students and teachers submit works to the preliminary judging stage, from which the final show is selected. Each participating school or institution sends one representative juror to the preliminary stage. During the preliminary process jurors select the best work in four separate categories: design and photography, 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, and mixed and experimental mediums. Final selections will be displayed in the Milwaukee Regional Art Fair, and an independent juror will determine prizes for each category. |
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MRAF recognizes the importance of publicly displaying student art, as it provides an opportunity for students and teachers to gain recognition for their dedication, allows the public to witness the impressive art being created in schools, and builds confidence and character in young artists. Student voices need to be heard, and their art needs to be shown. Although there are many art competitions in the Milwaukee area, none serve all the students in grades 5-12 in our Greater Milwaukee school systems. That is why Wisconsin Career Academy is re-establishing an art fair for students in grades 5-12 throughout Greater Milwaukee. Interested students will have many opportunities made available to them through the website at www.wiscca.org, where they can click on to MRAF for more information and application forms. |
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Previously displayed at General Mitchell International Airport, in May of 2007 we collaborated with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The artwork remained on display at the UW-M Fine Arts building for an additional four weeks. Hundreds of people viewed the impressive work of area high school students from Milwaukee County. |
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Student Demographics |
06 |
07 |
08 |
09 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Total Pupils |
% of Total |
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Female |
53.2% |
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Male |
46.8% |
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African-American |
36.5% |
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Hispanic |
35.6% |
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White |
19.3% |
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Asian |
3.9% |
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Native American |
1.7% |
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Other |
3.0% |
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Free Meal |
60.9% |
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Reduced Meal |
12.4% |
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Not F/R Meal |
26.6% |
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13.3% |
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86.7% |
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4.3% |
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95.7% |
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Grade Count |
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Special Education Category |
09 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Total Pupils |
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CD |
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OHI |
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SLD |
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Grade Count |