Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) covers a large area in the south-eastern
Phoenix Metropolitan area. Its boundaries run from Warner Rd. to Hunt Highway in the West, all
the way East from Price Rd. to Recker Rd. in Gilbert. The district reaches and is able to serve
just under 50,000 students in 45 schools, with an increase of 1,400 students in the past
I am a 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts teacher at Legacy Traditional Charter
champions”, providing students a back-to-basics, traditional learning environment where they are
challenged and guided by our dedicated and qualified staff ("Chandler | Legacy Traditional
School", 2018)
Legacy’s test scores are above the state average by 20% in English, Math, Algebra I and
Science tests ("Explore Legacy Traditional School - Chandler in Chandler, AZ", 2018)
.Legacy’s students excel above the state average in every grade and subject save 7th
grade English Language Arts. In an analysis by Stanford University, CUSD was revealed as the
“second highest educational growth rate amongst large school systems in the nation” ("Tableau
Approximately 32% of the school is non-Caucasian, 14% of the students are low income
students, and 22% of the students have exceptional learning needs (ELNs) ("Explore Legacy
I am one of two ELA teachers, and four 7th/8th grade teachers at Legacy Traditional
Chandler. I teach six hours a day, two 8th Literature periods, two 8th English periods, one 7th
English, and one 7th Literature class. I teach the majority of the junior high students by their
graduation, but there is a small percentage that I do not get to teach for logistical reasons. The
class periods are approximately 55 minutes each. There are anywhere from 25-30 students in
each class. ELA teachers work closely with the other ELA teachers to coordinate units and
homework for the week. Teachers are unable to develop or vary any of the assessments for the
curriculum so many teachers try to come up with creative ways to check student comprehension
during the week. For example, I have them take quizzes is which they answer a particular prompt
in whatever format best suits them (drawing, poetry, essay, bullet points etc.) to get a better idea
of where they are with the curriculum. I try to include various forms of assessment so that I can
engage my students in the various different ways that interest them and include them. They have
a consumable textbook that is rather dull so I explore various websites and find various ways of
presenting the material to them so that they can hear the material, read the material and engage
Legacy Traditional Chandler has the following technology available for teachers and
students:
screen. This can be used for bell-work worksheets, to save paper, to show-and-
tell, etc.
tests. Note: I very rarely use this as my class is focused more heavily on
A computer on wheels that a teacher can check out and bring into the classroom
for various needs. Students are not allowed to use any “technology” in the
Study Sync is an online curriculum with vocab, quizzes and extra info about the
I have a website for my parents and students where I post PDF links to books and
The school uses PowerSchool to handle lock downs and log students/faculty as
present.
The school uses DriveLine to manage dismissal. Students are only able to leave
when their parents punch in a number, and their name shows up on the screen
Many faculty members at Legacy Traditional Chandler have been pushing for greater
technological use in the classroom. The students are taught to write in MLA, but have very little
experience with an actual computer and very little typing skills. I allow my students to type their
responses at home if they wish, but not everyone has that option. We hope the school better
recognizes the ever increasing need for technological skills in the classroom and changes their
policy to integrate more and more to better prepare its students. While technology is scarce, I