La Center Elementary School

Annual Report

June 2008

 

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of La Center Elementary

is to empower every student to become

a successful lifelong learner in a changing world.

 

OUR SCHOOL

The school serves as a hub for the
La Center community. The facilities are used from early morning until late at night for both student instruction and community events and activities.

The elementary school shares the 17-acre campus with the middle school, bus barn and the maintenance shop. The original school was constructed in 1938. Our round building, which now houses 4th and 5th grade, was constructed in 1968. Remodeling of all elementary buildings was completed in the fall of 2004.

La Center Elementary School is a safe and exciting place to learn. Children are the highest priority of all staff members. All work is directed towards meeting the individual needs of our students. We recognize that no two individuals are the same; therefore, we make every effort to accommodate the unique talents of each student.

 

Good things happening at La Center Elementary . . .

K-3 Bobcat Awards Program
Our primary students do an excellent job following the school and classroom rules. Many students are seen helping others, being kind and considerate, and inviting other students into their games and activities. Our "Bobcats" that are "caught" doing something wonderful and meet the Guidelines of Success, are given a Bobcat ticket. Half of this ticket is taken home and shared with the parents of the student, and the other half of the ticket is placed in a Bobcat box within the classroom. Those tickets from all classrooms are brought to the office weekly for a special drawing. Ten students are selected and called to the office to receive two prizes for their recognized achievement.

 

Bobcat Buck Incentive Program
All students in fourth and fifth grade have the opportunity throughout the school year to earn "Bobcat Bucks." This incentive program awards students for exhibiting outstanding "Life and Learning Skills" as found on our report card. Students collect their Bobcat Bucks and use them nine times a year at the Bobcat Buck Store purchasing items from school supplies to fun "goodies."

 

Good News Postcards
Many of our teachers mail home a special La Center Elementary postcard sharing with the parents something positive their child has done in school. Our teachers work hard to let parents know the extraordinary effort students make while building their academic and social skills.

 

K-3 Student of the Month
Each month two to four students are selected from the K-3 classrooms that show outstanding qualities in a variety of areas and reasons, which include academic performance, behavior, citizenship and other areas of excellence. These children selected are awarded a special certificate of accomplishment, pencil and treat. In addition, the student's picture is taken and is posted on our "Wall of Fame" for one month. Students are recognized with a "SOM Celebration" in which parents and friends join in the recognition celebration.

 

General Music
All students were involved in several performances throughout the school year. Our music teachers, Mrs. McKay and Mrs. McCord, provided outstanding evening "Holiday Concerts" featuring first through fourth grades and an afternoon concert for the kindy students. Third and fourth graders also performed a "Spring Celebration" that included songs from around the world. The fifth grade band and choir performed twice throughout the school year under the direction of Perry Calabrese and Rhonda Stoll. It is exciting to see our talented students perform!

Mrs. McKay and Mrs. McCord also presented a fantastic Veteran's Day Celebration. Our students learned and performed several patriotic songs for the student body and parents.

 

Junior Great Books
Junior Great Books is an after school reading event that selected children in grades first through fifth are invited to attend. Junior Great Books stresses the enjoyment of literature; while at the same time develops comprehension, interpretive thinking, and oral and written language skills. The program's structure offers children opportunities to develop their ideas about a challenging piece of literature and share it with others.

 

StoryTown
We are excited about our new literacy adoption! StoryTown is a research based, developmental literacy program for all of our students. It is full of high quality children's literature as well as informational text.

StoryTown includes explicit and systematic instruction in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. The program provides many opportunities for practice and application.

 

WASL
Washington Assessment of Student Learning

The WASL is administered each year to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in late April/early May. Below are the percentages of the 4th grade students who met the standards in each of the tested areas:

% Of students meeting the State Standard

2006

2007

2008

Math

57.1%

63.6%

44.4%

Reading

84.0%

78.5%

81.3%

Writing

57.9%

54.2%

70.3%

Science-5th Gr

30.0%

34.3%

44.4%

For additional state results, please check out the OSPI Website: http://www.k12.wa.us/ESEA/pubdocs/Reportcardchecklist.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading Club
This year in Reading Club, we served approximately 140 students in grades kindergarten through third grade. These children worked with either our Reading Specialist or one of our two highly qualified Reading Assistants. Two Reading Assistants also worked with students in nine of our kindergarten through third grade classrooms.

We assess all students three times a year using DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). We use the information from these assessments to better meet the needs of students in Reading Club and the classroom.

Interventions used to assist struggling readers included: Storytown Strategic Intervention Materials - materials that provide extra support and reading practice for struggling readers. Students in grades first through third were served in Reading Club for 30 minutes, four days a week using these materials. The materials are designed to be used in conjunction with the StoryTown core program in the classroom.

StoryTown Intensive Intervention Materials - materials designed for use with students needing substantial reading support. These materials were used with second grade students in Reading Club. They were served for 30 minutes, four days a week.

Road to the Code - a program designed to help kindergarten students who are having difficulty on their early literacy skills. Kindergarten students were served in Reading Club for 30 minutes, two to three days a week.

Read Naturally - a reading intervention to improve fluency and comprehension. Parent volunteers work with small groups of students for 30 minutes, three times a week in grades one through five. Volunteers are trained and coordinated by a Reading Assistant.

 

Math Club
This year, we had a Math Specialist and two full-time Math Assistants serving the needs of our students. This was accomplished by pullout and by inclusion, depending on the class structure and specific needs of the student. We served an average of 95 first through fifth grade students.

Currently the Math Club program requires that we identify and work with students with a Level 1 or Level 2 WASL score (fourth and fifth grades) or the bottom 15% of students as determined by district testing (first, second, third grades). When students come to the Math Club classroom, the pullout model, we support and reinforce what students are doing in class. For inclusion, we help keep our Math Club students on-track and ensure that they comprehend challenging concepts to the best of their ability during their classroom math time.

This year, we continued the Investigations math program that emphasizes hands-on math activities as students in all grades discover mathematical principles and build student knowledge of basic facts. Time, money, story problems, grouping, and graphing are intertwined in this curriculum. Manipulatives are used on a daily basis to aid students in developing conceptual knowledge.

One of our main goals this year has been to show students the relevancy of math in their daily lives. The real-life situations used in the curriculum allow students to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics and realize that math is not scary! Many children, even those who struggle with the concepts, feel that they are good at math and consider it their favorite subject.

 

Volunteer Program
There are many ways we encourage parents to participate in our school. As a volunteer, you can ask your child's teacher if they need help with bulletin boards, classroom activities, or chaperoning on a field trip. We also encourage parents to help in our "Read Naturally" program, which includes a parent training class. This program is organized through the building Reading Coach. Another way to help is to sign-up outside the office on a list of building needs, such as head checks, Vision/Hearing testing and additional helpers at the Student of the Month celebration. If you are interested in helping in any of these ways, you need to stop by the office and fill out the Volunteer Packet as well as a district fingerprinting form for a background check. We thank you for your understanding, as we are always thinking of the safety of all students with any adult.

 

Fundraisers 2007 - 08
We have two fundraisers a year. These provide money to pay for assemblies, fieldtrips and buses. It is also used for additional playground equipment, supplies for the Bobcat Buck and Bobcat ticket programs, Student of the Month Celebration Students also have the opportunity to use our old fashion pencil machine and can purchase a pencil for twenty-five cents. This is located in the K-8 library.

-Family Reading Program = $2,187.09

-Masterpiece Cookie Dough = $7,985.50

-Pencil Machine = $153.75

 

Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO)
Our PTO is very active and responsible for many extra events for the students at La Center Elementary. This group of parents and teachers spend countless hours to bring exciting opportunities and programs to our school and community. Thanks to everyone that has helped provide some of the following activities:

"Tea & Tissues" Greeting the parents of Kindy students the first full day of school helps welcome parents to the school. Parents meet in the cafeteria for tea/coffee and goodies while socializing with other parents.

"Fall Carnival" This is the biggest event of the year! We have over 200 volunteers that help with this HUGE festival. Students, parents, teachers, and community members enjoy the many games and activities, including a very scary Haunted House!

"Holiday Workshop" The shop is open to students to buy gifts for their family and friends during the holiday season. Students learn to budget their money and spend wisely.

"Scholastic Book Fair" We love reading and PTO presents the Scholastic Book Fair each year, giving students the opportunity to purchase their favorite books. Parents also check out our teacher's wish lists and some purchase the books requested. Students in all classrooms benefit from this event.

"Field Day" This end of the year activity involves the entire school! Students are engaged in a variety of activities on our field, which parents have organized. Students look forward to this big day as we end another year.