1. COMMUNITY (Mill Creek)
    2. Community connections to classroom and instruction
    3. DISTRICT
    4. SCHOOL
    5. District and school connections to classroom and instruction
    6. CLASSROOM
    7. Demographics
    8. Set-up
    9. Connections


    SLC Julie Jones 1/29/09: Page 1

     


     





    COMMUNITY (Mill Creek)
    □ Total population of Mill Creek: 13,501
    o Home owners: 3,103
    o Renters: 1,528
    o Median income: $69,702
    o By race:
    □ White: 81%
    □ Asian: 13%
    □ African American: 1%
    □ Hispanic/Other: 5%
    □ Suburban community -Many new housing developments and apartments draw young families.
    □ 3.2 % of families are below the poverty level
    □ One large Section 8 (subsidized housing) apartment complex
     





    Community connections to classroom and instruction

    The suburban make-up of Mill Creek gives the impression that by school, Woodside, is a middle-class SES school. The neighboring two schools have a much higher SES and draw mainly from single family homes. However, Woodside draws mainly from apartments and has the highest number of minorities and ELL students from the Mill Creek area. To best serve my students, I conduct an initial survey for all my students regarding their home languages to help me know if any families might struggle with my newsletters or will need interpreters at conferences.

     





    DISTRICT

    The Everett School District extends from Mill Creek/Bothell to north Everett. There are 17 elementary schools in our district and the district serves 18,838 students K-12. Each area of the district is separate and unique from the others. The north end schools have a lower socio economic status than the south end schools. Woodside, is a Title 1 school and has the lowest SES of any of the south end schools. For me, this means more ELL students in my classroom and a transient population of students moving from different housing throughout the year.

     





    SCHOOL

    Woodside Elementary is a Title 1 school with 605 students. School population is increasing every year. Of the 605 students:
    o 36.8% of students are on free/reduced lunch,
    o 10.8% are enrolled in special education, 35 students are on IEPs.
    o 12% of the students at Woodside are bi-lingual, 79 are ELL, and there are 16 different languages spoken in the homes of our students.
    o 127 receive Title 1 services in math, reading, or the extended day program.
    o There are approximately 90 students living in Section 8 housing and 25 children living in foster homes.
    o We have 9 students in transition.
    o Last year, 160 students came and left Woodside and 29 experienced suspensions.
     


    We have 34 classroom teachers, 113 approved parent volunteers, 220 PTA members, science fair, after school programs such as: extended day, tutoring, guitar club and choir club.

     

     

     

    WASL Scores 2006-2007: Students meeting standard

     
    Grade level
    Reading
    Math
    Writing
    Science
    3
    76.7%
    77.8%
    		  
    4
    83%
    64.4%
    71.3%
    		 
    5
    85.4%
    69.7%
    		 
    57.3%





    District and school connections to classroom and instruction

    Because the district is so large – and serves a diverse economic and multi-lingual population there are district staff assigned to support Title 1 students and reading specialists at each building. Our school’s specialist and the district reading support person help coach me in focused reading instruction including Guided Reading.

     

    The size of the district also means focused support for implementing a new math curriculum along with training teachers in specific instruction (GLAD) for students whose primary language is not English. I benefit from colleagues who have completed this training and plan to take the program in the next two years.

     

    The diversity of the population at Woodside makes teaching both challenging and rewarding. The language and cultural barriers with students and parents creates struggles for all of us. I am continually conferencing about students, planning with colleagues and looking for new strategies to work with students with high mobility, who struggle with issues of poverty and who speak other languages. Part of that work is as part of the staff who works hard to include parents in many activities at the school. I participate in the after school program and use parent volunteers to promote our after school program. I implement the recommendations of our discipline team who developed a 3 step behavior plan that all students follow.

     





    CLASSROOM





    Demographics
    Ø 25 students: 15 boys, 10 girls
    Ø Student population by race: White: 14; Black: 2; Hispanic: 7; Asian: 2
    Ø Students living in subsidized housing: 4; Students living in single-parent households: 4
    Ø Students on an IEP: 3; ELL: 4; receiving Title 1 services: 3
    Ø Reading levels of the students in this class:
    o 1st grade: 1; 2nd grade: 3; 3rd grade: 8; 4th grade: 6; 5th grade: 3; Above 5th grade: 4





    Set-up
    Ø Key concepts: responsibility; respect; problem resolution


    Consistent throughout school

    Step Behavior Plan
    · Step 1: Warning
    · Step 2: Student leaves room to fill out behavior form
    · Step 3: Office referral form, parent meeting
     


     

     





    Connections

    Classroom guidelines have been created to consider poverty issues and cultural differences and in order to explicitly teach school behaviors so students have opportunity to “learn school”. The classroom guidelines help students treat one another with kindness. With the different ethnic make-up and socio economic status of the children in the classroom, it is important to have all students treating each other respectfully while striving to reach their full potential.

     

    To provide access to all students regardless of SES, we have a “Student Resource Center” with school supplies for all.

     

    As the students in our school are highly mobile, it is important to create a classroom community that flexibly welcomes newcomers. In order to do this, I use:
    o Table groups of 6 or 7 for collaborative learning activities
    o A large meeting space in the middle of the room so the class can also come together when I am working on community building


    The ability levels and need in our classroom are very spread which can make engagement of all students a challenge. In order to keep everyone engaged and allow for varying time needs –centers are around the room for math, science and language for students who finish early. Also there are “choice” activities on 6 student computers for those who learn better kinesthetically engaged on the keyboard than with pencil/paper. I also use a menu-style of assignments so students can work on concept at their level of comfort

     

    (Question from Tessa - What else could the writer have included in this last and most important section?)

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