Halfmoon Bay Elementary is a place where staff and students take pride in the reading and writing achievements of learners. Certainly, when looking at classroom work linked to provincial performance standards, PM Benchmarks, DART, FSA and NWEA data, students are shining overall in the area of literacy. In fact, the results from the February 2009 FSAs are truly exceptional. In grade four, 97% of students are meeting or exceeding expectations for reading, with 62% exceeding and 100% meet or exceed in writing, with 38% exceeding. Among grade sevens, the meeting or exceeding percentages are the same (97% in
reading; 100% in writing), with 63% exceeding in reading and 44% exceeding in writing.
A variety of factors form the underpinnings of these stellar snapshots: • The community is actively involved in supporting learners. This is a community school wherein parents are warmly welcomed and present throughout the school day. (Parking lot space is
often at a premium!) Parents are invited to weekly Coffee & Conversations with the school principal. Sue Lamb, our community school coordinator, works with new and not so new parents in the Halfmoon Bay area to ensure that families feel connected to the school and the community. Moreover, volunteerism is a core component of the school, with a large pool of volunteer readers (many of whom are retirees), classroom helpers, lunch program coordinators, adult Sprockids participants and coaching volunteers. • Faculty members treat all learners with warmth and dignity. It doesn’t take a research article to show that people learn more when they feel welcomed and accepted. The evidence is present on a daily basis in classrooms and on the school grounds at Halfmoon Bay Elementary. This feeling begins when parents and students stop in the school office and are greeted by our extraordinary administrative assistant, Mrs. Katherine Kelly. Classroom teachers, our special education team, our library staff and our community school coordinator convey care and genuine concern about all learners in our school. • Reading and writing instruction is explicit and persistent. More importantly, teachers are sharing their successes and challenges with regard to literacy lessons, thereby helping colleagues better understand the language arts learning continuum over a period of years at the school. Knowing what the previous and next teachers focus
on helps build on the work of other teachers and creates smoother transitions for students, allowing the learning momentum to continue.
Ray Clayton will be new as the school principal for 2009-2010. In supporting staff members and students, I believe it is wise to take an approach whereby the focus (at least in a first year, if not longer) is on strengthening the strengths. Accordingly, continuing with the literacy goals for the school makes senses. [Moreover, our learners are also shining in other areas that commonly form the basis for school growth plan goals. This year’s math FSA scores showed that 100% of grade four students 94% of grade sevens met or exceeded expectations. As for social responsibility, while students can occasionally make poor decisions, they readily acknowledge what they’ve done and accept responsibility for making things right. Social responsibility projects (e.g., peer
mediators, Kids For Kids Africa campaign, school-wide Pitch-in Day, Student Council, student leadership roles) are ongoing.]
In our third year of looking at ways to improve reading and writing, the intention is to keep doing what we’re doing, to the extent that these practices foster success in students. However, we are further challenging ourselves as educators in exploring ways to use technology and Universal Design for Learning principles to differentiate instruction so that students on modified programs and students minimally meeting expectations may be more closely connected with classroom learning and achieve greater success in reading and writing. Ideas and practices connected with this aspect of literacy support will comprise the Strategies section of this document. |
